Bridgehead chooses 15 more start-ups for support in 2nd selection round for 2019

Incubators, accelerators and clusters provide assistance with expansion

In its second round of selections for 2019, EIT Health’s Bridgehead chose 15 promising start-ups to receive support on their international journeys, during which they will take their healthcare innovation products and services beyond their home country and into new markets in Europe.

The start-ups described below will be supported by the Bridgehead network of helpers, known as “CATalysers” for their role in catalysing development.

CATalysers include prime incubators, accelerators and clusters, each with a proven track record in helping foreign ventures and providing local expertise in their market to facilitate a soft-landing.

In the coming months the CATalysers will be supporting Bridgehead start-ups with tailored market-entry strategies, while opening doors for validation, pilots and local expertise. These start-ups had a chance to meet with mentors at a Bridgehead programme matchmaking meeting, hosted in Stockholm, Sweden, by the Karolinska Institute on 18-19 June (pictured above).

Start-ups chosen for the second round of Bridgehead

3D LifePrints (3DLP): One of the UK’s leading specialised medical 3D printing organisations provides innovative medical products and services to the NHS and the private sector. For the past five years, 3DLP has been advancing the use of 3D technologies to improve patient care and lower operational costs across the UK with a wide variety of surgical planning, simulation and training solutions.

ARCON srls: Their SONE devices are able to digitise the sounds detected by any classic stethoscopes, and then improve the sound with amplifying and filtering. Through a SW application, the device allows recording and sharing of auscultation among specialists, with the aim of improving diagnosis and performing Remote Patient Monitoring services. All this is integrated with a predictive algorithm for sound recognition that will revolutionise the healthcare system with significant cost reductions. The devices (SONEremote and SONE pro), are protected by a PCT patent. This project has the ambition to allow a better diagnosis of COPD.

Fizimed: Fizimed develops Emy, a connected medical device to allow any woman to do Kegel exercises to strengthen their pelvic floor, in order to avoid or stop urinary incontinence. Emy is a patented medical device, connected to a user-friendly smartphone app. By following the medical protocols, women can monitor in real-time the effect of the contraction of the pelvic floor on the vaginal probe. Emy can also be used for prevention. After three weeks of using Emy, patients can see the first improvements.

HandInScan Zrt.: A health-tech company focusing on the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Hand hygiene is the most effective way to reduce the spread of pathogens. The Semmelweis Scanner device examines what areas are covered on the hands after regular hand disinfection with a handrub. It also provides immediate quality-assured feedback regarding hand hygiene. The reporting system is a personalised IT dashboard, providing statistics about hand hygiene status and progress. The technology-induced behavioural change in hand hygiene by medical professionals can save lives.

HealthTextiles: Creates clothes and uniforms for the health-care sector made from TorTex, with proven bacteriocidal activity. The clothes are comfortable to wear throughout a working shift at the hospital, are good for the environment, and keep healthcare workers protected from bacteria exposure on the job. These clothes protect against Staphylococcus Aureus, a stubborn bacteria for which there is no vaccine and one of the five most common causes of hospital-acquired infections.

HEALTHY MIND: A combination of technology and advanced psychological principles makes it possible to produce a medical virtual reality solution in a Class I medical device. With the use of virtual reality and audio headsets, the patient is transported into purpose-designed 3D experiences, to journey through the natural and therapeutic environment of her choice. The company’s first solutions are already used daily in hospitals.

LactApp Women Health, SL: LactApp is the breastfeeding expert to consult, track and connect for new moms. It has become the number-one resource for consulting on maternity-related issues and is deeply personalised. It holds an automated system of tailored responses, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, inside an app. It also features a live chat that is used to train an Artificial Intelligence model based on Case-Based Reasoning technologies.

moveUP: The mission of moveUP is to drastically improve the outcome and cost efficiency of rehabilitation after joint replacement. moveUP is a data driven healthcare startup, which has developed a CE marked medical device for treating patients after knee and hip replacement. These are routine surgeries, and exploding in number, but they can cause chronic pain, and dissatisfaction remains high, at almost 30%. moveUP combines objective and subjective patient data – via a wearable device and mobile app that is followed by a care provider through a dashboard. The system enables a fully personalised care pathway after prescription.

Munevo GmbH: Munevo DRIVE is a smart glass application for hands-free control of electric wheelchairs. The application uses built-in sensors to translate head movements into control signals. These signals are then transmitted to the wheelchair control unit via an innovative adapter. Along with allowing hands-free control of the wheelchair, Munevo DRIVE also lets users navigate through the menu with head movements.

Neurab: An innovative startup in the field of neurotechnologies developed Neurotablet, a cognitive rehabilitation application that patients with acquired cognitive disorders can perform on a tablet. Neurotablet consists of more than 40 highly customisable exercises that automatically adapt to a patient’s performance, providing an optimal training for all kinds of cognitive conditions. The Neurotablet can thus be used by home patients, therapists, and healthcare institutions.

Psious: Psious is a virtual reality (VR) platform for mental health and wellbeing. VR allows therapists to expose patients to situations in a controlled way. This therapy can be delivered in person and remotely, to offer the patient choice of the best treatment for them. Thanks to the quality and convenience of the product, Psious has been used to treat more than 10 000 people.

Quantbio Ltd: The Prelife Project of Quantbio Ltd. translates up-to-date science into robust and globally accessible diagnostic tools. Their first development is improving the efficiency of in-vitro fertilisation procedure. The test uses gene expression methods on samples collected by routine clinical procedures. The implementation of the method can reduce time and cost for every party involved in the in-vitro fertilisation process. Patients can enjoy the gift of a child earlier, and clinicians can achieve higher efficiency and more customer satisfaction.

RelieVR BV: The first serious game especially designed for patients and consumers to help manage their chronic pain while educating them on how pain originates. Thanks to this unique combination of gaming and education, patients are more able to manage their chronic pain, even after the game has ended. Amazing visual graphics take patients on a journey through their own body, as they are immersed in the experience that virtual reality offers. By playing different games, patients learn different techniques that they can use to manage their chronic pain.

Super Seton BV: This innovation consists of a better treatment for the fistulas that come with Crohn’s disease. In Crohn’s patients, perianal fistulas are usually treated by inserting a wire (a seton) with multiple knots. The seton can causes distress and require extra hospital visits because the knots slide around when a person moves. The SuperSeton, a Dutch invention, IP protected and CE IIA, is a closed loop silicon wire that is inserted and locked by a smart applicator to form a smooth ring, which eliminates the need of knots, the main shortcoming of using setons to treat fistulas.

USMIMA S.L.: The company has developed MOWOOT, the first non-pharmacological, non-invasive solution to chronic constipation. The MOWOOT device consists of a desktop unit and a wearable belt: The desktop controls, personalizes and administers the treatmentin in real-time and the wearable belt produces a wave-like exo-peristaltic effect that promotes intestinal secretion and intestinal transit using a novel pneumatic technology.”

About the Bridgehead programme

The EIT Health Bridgehead programme aims to bring together European health entrepreneurs who have a desire to grow their business beyond home markets with European top incubators, accelerators or clusters who can facilitate this growth.

Bridgehead functions as a relocation programme for start-ups interested in being hosted by one or more top-notch organisations from EIT Health’s vetted network of European accelerators. Start-ups travel to accelerators of their choice, to speed up access to markets, tap into local networks of partners and clients, access infrastructure and get the first-hand feeling for local regulatory and business context.

They are guided by a trusted and seasoned local support team, who open the right doors to establish and grow cross-border business. The accelerators, incubators and clusters catalysing start-up development are referred to as CATalyzers (CATs). In 2019, after two rounds of selection, the EIT Health Bridgehead programme will support 31 start-ups ready and willing to establish their activities in new European markets.

The full list of incubators, accelerators and clusters that are participating in the Bridgehead programme includes:

• IMEC, Belgium
• Yes!Delft, Netherlands
• Brightlands, Netherlands
• CapDigital, France
• iPEPS, France
• Neighborhood , France
• MedicAlps, France
• Medicen, France
• EuraSante, France
• Medical Valley, Germany
• Life Science Factory Gottingen, Germany
• BioRN, Germany
• Centre for Innovation and Technolgy Transfer Medical University of Lodz, Poland
• IPN Incubadora, Portugal
• PACT, Portugal
• Biocant, Portugal
• Campania New Steel, Italy
• Lifescience Krakow Klaster, Poland
• BGI, Portugal
• Teclabs, Portugal
• SMILE Incubator, Sweden
• KI Innovation, Sweden
• STING, Sweden
• Health Tech Hub, Denmark
• IBV, Spain
• IESE Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC) Incubator, Spain
• UPF Ventures, Spain
• Ideas UPV, Spain
• Fundacion Parque Cientifico Madrid, Spain
• Parc Cientific de Barcelona, Spain
• BioCAT, Spain
• Innovation Agency NWCAHSN, United Kingdom
• The Hill, United Kingdom