InnoStars selects winners for the Headstart Funding programme

Eight start-ups were selected for the Headstart Funding programme and additional training

The purpose of the Headstart Funding is to accelerate market entry product development and create new economic activity. The grant will support the applicants in achieving their next steps towards market and shorten time-to-market for innovative products and services. Moreover, the grant will increase the possibility of attracting further private investment.

The selected start-ups will have the unique opportunity to participate in the EIT Health Innostars training programme, which will help in preparing their business plan and pitches for the final selection that will take place during Autumn of 2018. The selection of the best start-ups and projects was based on the quality of their written business plans describing their technology, innovation and capacity to enter the market. The selection of the best business plans was highly competitive and was performed by a group of experts in innovation, investment and management at a European level.

To assure a high degree of quality and transparency, each project was evaluated by three independent experts from different countries which differed from the country of origin of the applicant start-ups. The 12 best start-ups in the Innostars regions were selected for the pitch event in Naples.

All Headstart applicants are competing for a grant to further develop their company and for the opportunity to proceed within the EIT Health Innostars training programme. The pitching teams presented innovative ideas which varied from Medtech, Digital Health and Biotech.

The Pitch event in Naples was moderated by Adam Sebestyen, Business creation project manager from EIT Health Innostars and the Jury panel was composed by:

• Luigi Pavia- Frontiers Health (Italy)
• Gyorgy Kozmann- CEO at Wearable Health / HeartBit (Hungary)
• Marcin Mital- Academic teacher from the University of Computer Sciences and Skills in Łódź (Poland)
• Sónia Teixeira- Innovation and Entrepreneurship office at Lisbon University (Portugal)

After a very productive pitch session, the selected start-ups which will receive the grant award and further education are:

1. Ineye
2. NU-RISE
3. HeartWatch
4. Koatum
5. NeuroPsyCAD
6. CMPI
7. BiomimX
8. Stethotelephone

After the award ceremony, Marco Nemov, CEO of Stethotelephone – one of the selected teams – expressed that he was very happy to be able to proceed with EIT Health following last year’s succes. Being selected for an InnoStars award brought his company very fruitful industry connections. Nemov and his team are looking forward to the mentoring programme to develop their business and to be able to be more visible to the industry and investors.

From the jury side, we asked György Kozmann, CEO of Wearable Health, about his impressions on the pitching teams. Kozmann emphasized that it is essential for the business to have a team behind you where expertise can cover those fields needed for a successful business. He was happy to see this group of experts behind the selected teams which will help them grow.

The programme will continue with the mentoring programme for teams and by using the smart money they won to develop their product. We will meet the teams during the InnoStars final pitch event.

Click here to learn more about the Headstart Funding programme.