It’s Demo Time! WERK1, Roche and Plug’n Play jointly organized the first Digital Health Accelertor in Munich and after months of concentrated work, five outstanding startups presented their results on June 7th. It’s absolutely clear that our eventspace is reaching its limits. Fortunately, however, we have suitable alternatives in the factory district: In the Technikum right next door, the startups presented themselves to more than 350 interested people and then celebrated themselves and the results well into the night – well deserved!
In addition to start-up support and coworking, the accelerator programs are an essential part of the work at WORK1. After the successes in the InsurTech area, we discovered Digital Health as a new topic for us in 2018 based on the successful launch of the Future X Healthcare Event (www.fxh2017.com). Together with Roche, one of the leading companies in the healthcare industry and Plug and Play, the world’s largest provider of accelerator programs, we launched the first Digital Health Accelerator for Munich.
The startups worked on their projects for five months from WORK1 with the help of mentors, and from 7 June it was time to present the results. The right location was quickly found with the technical centre on the factory premises. All in all, it was a long day. We started with a press brunch to present the results to the trade press in a relaxed atmosphere. Freshly strengthened, the event continued quickly in front of a large audience. After the greetings of Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Franz Josef Pschierer and some board members, the startups had the floor. One pitch followed the other and it quickly became clear what a professional level each of the young companies had reached in the short space of time. The quality of the lectures, videos and presentations was outstanding. But even after that it was not over yet. Only rarely do you have so many leading representatives of the health industry in one place and so the rest of the evening was used until late into the night for networking and deserved celebrations.
STARTUPS
1. Fibricheck
Fibricheck is a prescription, medically certified screening and monitoring application for the detection of cardiac arrhythmia including atrial fibrillation.
2. inveox
Inveox automates sample preparation in histopathology.
3. Medicus.ai
Medicus.ai is an AI-based platform that explains and interprets medical reports and health data in order to gain meaningful insights from figures.
4. SagivTech
SagivTech offers research and development solutions in the areas of computer vision, machine learning and deep learning as well as hardcore code optimization for various hardware platforms.
5. StethoMe
StethoMe is the first medical diagnostic device of its kind that monitors the airways and measures body temperature accurately and in a user-friendly way.
DR. FLORIAN MANN ABOUT THE ROLE OF WERK1 AT THE DIGITAL HEALTH ACCELERATOR
“After the experience with the InsurTech Accelerator and the construction of the InsurTech Hub supported by de:hub Initiaitve, we chose a very fast and pragmatic path. Working closely with Roche, we developed a tailor-made programme within 2 months, based on the requirements of startups that had already been pre-selected and Roche. Here the focus was on collaboration and pilot projects with strong contacts to Roche and external experts. Our experience helped us a lot to find the right mentors and coaches for the 5 startups of Batch Zero.
Digital Health is definitely one of the most regulated and complex market fields! There are a lot of stakeholders and parties that make up the vast ecosystem. Hats off to the start-ups who dare to build their business here!
It is very important to be flexible with the program structure and to respond to the individual needs of startups and partners at an early stage. Only then can the program bring real added value. An extensive network and a good feel for matchmaking (bringing the right people together at the table) are essential elements to create a significant added value for everyone and to take it to the next level.”.
TO BE CONTINUED
The representatives of Roche’s Executive Board who were present emphasised time and again that an accelerator does not help the startups on its own. They praised the creative cooperation, in particular the technical know-how and the attitude of all five start-ups, from which companies like Roche could benefit enormously. After the successful pilot phase in WERK1, the Accelerator will be continued with Plug’n Play and Batch 1.
