29th August 2019
The three most popular domains of early-stage healthcare innovations in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe
As the EIT Jumpstarter Programme enters the second phase, validation of selected business concepts, we look at the kind of ideas developed by participating young healthcare innovators
On the basis of their experience with participants of EIT Jumpstarter programme, experts running the programme are seeing trends in the types of healthtech business ideas that are most often developed by the youngest talents and start-ups from emerging European regions.
After an intensive Spring period with six business-planning bootcamps, the EIT Jumpstarter programme has reached its second phase, where the best teams from the healthcare, agri-food and raw materials sectors will receive further training and mentoring in order to validate their concepts, and receive knowledge on how to jumpstart their ventures. The programme has been developed by three collaborating organisations – EIT Health, EIT Raw Materials and EIT Food. In 2019, the EIT Jumpstarter programme was awarded and named as the Best European Association Training Initiative, thus it can be treated as the litmus paper of trends and tendencies among young innovators.
Based on the teams that have been selected, we can make some observations about the top healthtech ideas that are evolving in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe.
1) Digital solutions on the radar
Half of the teams selected are developing digital solutions designed to revolutionise the healthcare systems of Europe or improve the quality of life of its citizens. Solutions tackle real-time monitoring of hospital wards’ occupancy, improved efficiency of clinics – and better diagnosis of patients using Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), for example with automated heart ultrasound analysis.
2) Biotechnology as a game-changer
Some 28% of the teams are working on biotech innovations, such as light-therapy-based treatment to cure lung cancer, or advanced therapy to cure multiple sclerosis. These innovations can take several years before reaching the market, as they need to pass clinical trials, but they can be real game-changers in the healthcare domain.
3) Healthtech for innovative treatments
Twenty-two percent of the teams are providing medical technology solutions addressing early-stage Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis, treatment of psoriasis, ambylopia (lazy eye) or innovative treatment for phobia.
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