Pioneers Discover is pleased to announce that it has partnered with UNIQA, Pfizer and INiTS in a joint project to host and run the HealthHubVienna international startup acceleration program this spring. HealthHubVienna, a collaboration between our consultancy arm, corporates and academia, aims to position the Austrian capital as a hub for innovation in HealthTech. With the spring program not far away, we can also share the names of the 10 startups selected for the latest intake.
This is the first joint project between Pioneers Discover, UNIQA, Pfizer and INiTS. UNIQA is one of the leading insurance groups in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, Pfizer is an global pharmaceutical giant and INiTS is one of the world’s top academic incubators. The latter has led many life sciences startups to success, including mySugr, the winners of the first edition of our flagship event in 2011.
“We’re proud to be part of such an amazing initiative,” says Pioneers Discover Program Manager Anton Schilling."The HealthHubVienna program showcases very well how corporates and academia can support and collaborate with startups to innovate and solve future challenges in the HealthTech industry.”
At the core of the three-month spring program lie four ‘Sprint Workshops’, featuring an intense transfer of knowledge on areas critical to a startup’s success, such as product certification and the regulatory framework. But an even greater emphasis will fall on the exchanges between the young companies and their mentors, who will include experienced managers, successful founders and innovation coaches. The mentors’ skill sets will provide a strong boost to the startups and their existing solutions as they scale their businesses.
HealthHubVienna’s focus on startups who already have a product and their first clients, but who now need to manage their market entry. Pioneers Discover drove the process of selecting the most fitting candidates through direct outreach to our extensive life sciences network. Ten startups were chosen for a pitching event in Vienna, at which the a jury representing all stakeholders in the HealthHubVienna partnership was so impressed with the quality that all the startups were ultimately invited to the accelerator.
“Startups bring new ideas and technical solutions for existing health care challenges,” said Professor Robin Rumler, Country Manager of Pfizer Austria. “We’re supporting the implementation with market know-how and our international network, because together we can make people healthier sooner.”
“Our collaboration with startups allows us to immerse ourselves in modern technologies and processes," added Andreas Brandstetter, CEO of UNIQA. "In this way we can offer our clients added value, which is both demanded and expected in the digital age.”
Among the chosen ones are two Pioneers Ventures portfolio companies. One is smart healthcare startup Medicus, which helps individuals understand and act upon their own health data. The other is ThinkSono, which has developed Deep Vein Thrombosis diagnostic software for hand-held ultrasound devices.
The ten startups, who hail from right across the European continent, are as follows:
- mHealth Pioneers (Germany)
- ImageBiopsyLab (Austria)
- GoClinic (Netherlands)
- SzelesTIM (Austria)
- Medicus (Austria)
- Contextflow (Austria)
- ReFlex (Romania)
- Healthbank (Switzerland)
- B-Wom (Spain)
- ThinkSono (United Kingdom)
Between 20 and 25 startups per year are selected for the HealthHubVienna program, there will be further intakes in autumn 2018 and spring 2019, so if you’re a startup anywhere around the world, stay tuned to our channels for news of the open calls!
