Health VentureLab Weekend workshop in Budapest

Nearly 40 participants, in seven groups, took part in the first Venture Weekend in Budapest

The Venture weekend, part of the EIT Health VentureLab programme and hosted by GE Healthcare in Budapest, gave potential applicants a short insight into the four-month mentoring programme which will begin in September. It was also a good chance for participants to learn about the skills and competencies necessary in the start-up market.

The weekend programme consisted of two parts, a training and a coaching session. During the training, the groups learned the basic tools for running their own business: designing the business plan, discovering their motivations, targeting the costumers, and pitching in front of investors.

Each training session was followed by a mentoring part where experienced business coaches helped teams in developing their business models and then pitching their ideas. The programme started on Friday, and ended on Sunday night with teams pitching in front of the jury.

From among the various innovative ideas the jury chose the team called Mrida. Their idea on developing a very special mill for those suffering from food intolerance was novel and well researched. The second place went to the team named InstaAid, who are group of high school students. Their idea on helping bystanders give the most adequate help while professionals arrive on site, gave a unique solution to a real problem.

Team Mrida, coming from the University of Debrecen (team members originated from India and Cambodia) found this programme very helpful for developing their product and in giving them motivation to work on entering the market as soon as possible.

After the training had taken place, the InstaAid team representatives expressed that they were highly motivated to further work on their idea. They were keen on continuing to learn with EIT Health and finding the best programme from within the EIT Health education programmes. Furthermore, this programme helped them in their future learning plan orientations.

We wish both teams success in developing their ideas and hope to see them soon among our start-ups.

Neil Sheridan, the trainer of the programme, said that he himself found it very motivating working with these youngsters who all were very dedicated on being innovative and open to learn more.

The EIT Health Venture Lab four-month mentoring programme, powered by GE Healthcare, is open until 22 July.

Register here.

Below is a short interview with Ferik Attila, GE Healthcare Digital – Engineering Director, where he shares his thoughts about the venture weekend:

Q: What goals and requirements did GE have for Venture Weekend and did the program fulfil your expectations?

A: The Venture weekend, organised by GE, was basically designed for entrepreneurs around CEE interested in healthcare, healthy ageing and medical business to find out if their start-up ideas are viable. GE Healthcare is committed to support the development of the start-up ecosystem surrounding the healthcare business by sharing its technology and innovation expertise. Our primary goal as core partner of EIT Health is to provide participants an opportunity to grow and to be ready to join the four-month incubation programme through building essential competencies and skills, applied learning, valuable feedback of the professional coaches and peers.

I do believe that the atmosphere of a competition helps the talented technology entrepreneurs to prepare for later meetings with investors, customers, collaborators and any other stakeholders so that they may successfully reach their goals. The event was a balanced combination of group work and coaching. I’m proud, that participants favourably compared the Venture weekend to start-up weekend experiences, highlighting that they received excellent instruction and clear guidelines to the next steps for future development.

Nearly 40 participants joined the Venture Weekend, mainly doctors, programmers, residents, psychologist and also foreign students studying in Hungary (MA, Ph.D.). Our specialty in this programme were the 15 talented high school students, forming three teams, who had the opportunity to participate in the incubation programme once a month preparing for the venture weekend. I trust it is important to promote entrepreneurial mindsets during the school years and Venture weekend is an excellent opportunity to get them acquainted with the start-up world.

Q: What do you think about the teams participating in the programme?

A: There are two things I would like to highlight. One is the openness, eager attitude, ability to learn, adapt and apply. This helped them through the initial forming stages and they became a single entity during the presentations and by end of the programme.

Second, is the enthusiasm they showed during the presentations and Q&A sessions. It was evident that this positive thinking helped them to find the right challenge that they all, as a team, can work for and contribute all that is needed.

I really believe that the teams that were formed at the beginning of the programme will stay together at least as friends but hopefully they will carry on with their business ideas and turn them into reality.

Q: What do you think about the training during the Venture weekend?

A: I liked that they got a toolset that is universal. For the start, this is exactly what they need. These tools work in most of the cases and provide a good leading line in their journey that gets them in front of an investor or any stakeholder. Then, later on, as the team matures, they will adjust these to their own style in order to be unique.It is great that the teams could learn from experienced coaches and practice during these three days.

Learn more about the EIT Health VentureLab programme here.