Six start-ups to vie for €60 000 in InnoStars Awards grants

Competition culminates 16 November 2018 in Budapest

At the end of the InnoStars Awards training, six innovative start-ups were chosen by the international expert jury panel to proceed to the finals of EIT Health’s InnoStars Awards start-up competition on 16 November 2018 in Budapest, where €60 000 in grants will be given out.

The competition was organised for micro and small enterprises, spin-offs and start-ups that have already developed a prototype or an MVP (minimum viable product).

The teams were trained to improve their business plan and pitching skills to get their first investment at two consecutive bootcamps in Coimbra, Portugal organised at Instituto Pedro Nunes incubator (IPN), an EIT Health partner awarded the “Best Science Based Incubator” in 2010.

The six teams chosen as finalists will present their products at the finals, and the winning team will receive €25 000. The second prize is €20 000 while the third will be €15 000.

The finalists

DiabTrend from Hungary is developing an artificial intelligence-based personalised blood glucose level prediction service for diabetic people, producing real-time forecasts from their unique data. “Regulations are an utmost importance, sometimes we tend to think just about the technical details, development, efficiency and improvement, but from now on we will pay more attention and put a great emphasis on policies and certificates,” said Mr. Károly Havlik, co-founder of DiabTrend. His brother, Marcell, another co-founder of DiabTrend, added: “You have to be restless at finding the right investor. Investors do matter a lot, if you can’t dream together or if you loose trust, it is a very big problem. Communication also matters a lot, as well as good lawyers.” They work together with their third brother, Tamás.

FindAir, of Poland, produces a unique smart inhaler system that tracks all valuable data during normal use. The inhaler can help prevent an asthma episode, reduce the needed medication doses and teach patients what are the triggers, so users can have a higher quality life. By synchronising with the FindAir app, the system provides patients with irreplaceable and personalised information on how to avoid asthma episodes and how to prepare for worst-case scenarios.“The most important things which we have learned while working with EIT Health are the factors that influence listeners and it was extremely helpful to exchange information with other start-ups on the medical process and clinical evaluation of medical devices,” said Tomas Mikosz, Co-Founder and Head of Business in FindAir.

Genomtech from Poland is developing an innovative and patented diagnostic mobile genetic analyser.

HepC, a Hungarian-based company, is working on Superinfection therapy (SIT), a biological therapy that stimulates the host’s innate immune system to combat viruses. The patient takes the drug orrally and can be cured of the disease-causing viral infection during a finite course of treatment.

Holey from Italy developed an automatic 3D scanner, which can acquire, in less than 30 seconds, the shape and size of a patient. The 3D modelling software can automatically generate the virtual model of medical braces allowing doctors to modify parameters. In the end there is a fast and reliable 3D printer which can fabricate several braces at the same time using plastic material.

Oxipit from Lithuania offers a deep-learning-based image search solution that takes a digital X-ray image and uses the database of a hospital to find similar cases. This results in hundreds of templates readily available, and an unprecedented ability to consult prior cases from an archive worth several lifetimes of experience. Any hospital with a digital database will benefit as the approach is immune to language barriers and classification differences.

Click here to learn more about the EIT Health InnoStars Start-up Competitions.