Last week, Rockstart presented the ten Digital Health Accelerator startups at Demo Day in Nijmegen. This year’s startups were able to take full advantage of the highly innovative healthcare ecosystem Nijmegen provides. During the program, the founders have been engaging and working with experienced mentors, healthcare professionals, and partners to help validate and scale their businesses.
Story: Dina Farag. Photos: Dieter Schalk
Anticipation and Validation
With Demo Day being the final milestone towards the end of the 180-day program, stakes were high and emotions boiling. Ten startups from four continents gathered in De Vasim, an event space in a converted industrial building, to share their vision in front of the press, alumni, partners, and investors, on how they want to make a sustainable impact on people’s health. According to Rune Theill, CEO and co-founder of Rockstart, “the purpose of the Demo Day is to get everybody excited about the ten startups. We know that established businesses are really good at executing existing business models, but when it comes to to innovating and doing something new, they actually suck at it. We focus on the startups, and we bring them closer to the corporations, and hopefully the magic will happen.”
Rockstart Know-How and Dutch Healthcare system
Entrepreneurship and innovation is a necessary means to to make an impact, especially in digital health. After all pitches concluded, Casper Smeets, program director of the accelerator said, “We were looking for the world’s best digital health founders. I really believe that with the know-how of Rockstart, combined with the Dutch healthcare ecosystem, this is the place to be. I think the startups did an amazing job. If you look at where we were a few weeks ago, they had amazing stories, businesses were tight, so I’m really happy with the outcome.”
The 10 Startups
Healthbit is a clinical analytics company that develops, markets and sells predictive health software. Healthbit software helps caregivers in clinical decision making for more efficient and faster diagnosis of medical conditions.
BabyMoon is a biomonitoring system for premature babies that combines skin-to-skin care with real-time vital sign tracking and analysis.
iThrive offers technology that encourages people to become more productive and motivated to change certain habits using virtual reality.
MedinReal uses virtual reality to empower medical professionals all over the world. The aim is to build the most affordable, accessible and accurate education and training platform for everyone.
RenalTracker is a self-management platform for chronic kidney disease patients in between doctor’s visits. It uses behavior change-focused technology and personal renal health coach to delay dialysis.
EyeSense is an artificial intelligence app that helps blind and visually impaired users to discover their surroundings while at the same time enhancing human to human interaction. The team is working on a wearable device to take the idea even further.
GoClinic is a mobile platform for patients and hospitals that aims to improve care and boost patient’s’ recovery. Important information is being explained in simple ways while being present with the patient throughout the recovery process.
iVitalz is a platform that gives people in Central Africa (soon all of Africa) the opportunity to connect with medical specialists in real time. iVitalz allows patients to voice their medical concerns and questions to a professional doctor just by having access to a landline or smartphone.
Totem has created an open source healthtech platform that empowers patients, researchers and medical professionals. They own, research, build, test and market innovative digital health products.
SmartBridge offer second opinion on a diagnosis or treatment plan and can provide medical expertise from world-class oncologists through their platform.
