Startupbootcamp’s Digital Health Demo Day Pt.1
SBC Digital Health Berlin
On November 30th, my colleague and I received a generous invitation from one of our Mindspace neighbors Haroon from boca-health to attend Startupbootcamp's Digital Health Demo Day.
That's one of the cool things about working in a place like Mindspace, you never know who you’re going to meet (or where you’ll end up!)
So here we are, my colleague Mai Ito and I, sitting in this incredibly elegant and historic building called the Meistersaal, waiting to watch our neighbors give their pitches. As representatives of Classmethod (Europe) GmbH we were eager to see the creative ways that Big Data and IoT were being incorporated into Digital Health sector.
Although we ourselves are not creating Digital health products, we thought maybe in the future we could be an asset to the Digital Health business, as we have extensive knowledge in cloud solutions, as well as cloud affordability. Also, the end-goal remains the same, which is to empower the end user by reducing costs and enabling efficiency by introducing them to innovative solutions.
And juuust in case anyone was wondering, here is a brief summary of SBC, if you would like to know more, check out their site! It’s pretty cool what they do for startups :-)
What is Startupbootcamp?
Startupbootcamp (SBC) is a three month startup accelerator program aimed at helping promising startups "with direct access to an international network of the most relevant mentors, partners and investors to help them scale.”
“Startupbootcamp Digital Health Berlin is the leading program supporting innovative companies combining medical knowledge with smart technologies, with a special focus on behavior change, diagnostics and genomics, big data and analytics”
What is Demo Day?
Demo Day is in a way the startups' graduation from SBC. It marks the end of the three-month journey, probably more importantly it’s the day where each carefully chosen startup comes face to face with potential investors. Each startup pitches their product in hopes of receiving future funding for their projects.
What Happened?
At exactly 2 o’clock, the velvet curtains closed and the lights dimmed.
And, in walks Ralph wearing neon blue glasses playing a key tar.
Looking like someone straight out of a Tron movie.
Talk about an attention grabber. And so EXTREMELY Berlin. Techno music, fog and lasers. If you’ve ever been to a Berlin nightclub you probably know what I’m talking about.
Ralph’s act had three parts:
- His grand entrance, a brief explanation of the Laser Harpsichord which he said “was a way for the audience to see and hear every note.”
- a variation of Mozarts Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
- and a tribute to the history of the room we were was sitting in.
So now I’m trying to make the connection between Ralph and digital health startups. Maybe the laser harp was some sort of an analogy. Digital health, digital Mozart? Maybe all the notes of the laser harp were all stored on the cloud somewhere? It turns out I was wrong. Master of Ceremonies and Managing Director of Startupbootcamp Lars Buch clarified why they chose Ralph to start to the event. He asked the audience why we think they opened this way. His answer: " Because we can!”
The program of Demo Day was simple. Five startups and mentors presented in the first half followed by a brief intermission, then the remaining 6 in the second half.
Here are the startups that presented in the first half.
The Pitches
Before the CEO of each startup gave their pitch, they were first introduced by their mentor someone who helped and worked with the startup during the 3 month SBC program. Each mentor is a leader in their field with expertise ranging from legal to marketing.
The products demonstrated true entrepreneurship and ingenuity.
Here is a list of the startups in the order they presented along with their website and their products:
Biolumo
FOUNDER: OLGA GRUDNIAK
This company’s aim is to combat antibiotic resistance by increasing accurate antibiotic prescription, and greatly reducing the time it takes to send a sample to lab. The company is based in Poland. Their product is a compact machine, a “fully-automated point-of-care solution.” The main users of this product are doctors and hospitals.
Aisens
CO-FOUNDER: ADAM WOZNIAK
Aisens is also a company from Poland. They are a developer of smart sensors for rehabilitation and physiotherapy patients. The product is a device that connects to the exercise apparatus of rehab patients and opens as an app on your phone. It helps people do at home exercises correctly with feedback about their movements in real-time. The ultimate aim of this product is to speed up the time it takes to recover and increase safety at home.
hedia
CEO: PETER LUCAS
Hedia is originally from Denmark. Their product is a diabetes assistant in your pocket. It’s an app built with the intention of helping people with type 1 diabetes to “be in control of their blood glucose level.”
Torafugu
FOUNDER: SAWAS NEOPHYTOU
Torafugu’s goal is to utilize data and machine learning to create a more personal and accurate insurance rate. They seek to help both the insurer and those insured to escape from the vague one size fit all insurance policies that are too easily found today.
CardioCube
CEO: OSCAR KIWIC
CardioCube had a memorable introduction of the company. Instead of a mentor coming up to introduce the startup’s CEO, they used an Amazon Echo that went by the name of "Dr. Alexa Braveheart.” This was very entertaining. Their product wants to help people with heart disease connect with their doctors faster and remotely using voice-first devices.
Break
That concluded the first half of Demo Day. There was a 30 minute intermission before the second half would begin. Digesting what just took place isn’t as easy as it would seem. The high energy, and the promising products were really something to make anyone think and ponder how the latest technologies will soon be changing the playing field of how people will consider and take control of their health care. It was almost beautiful to witness the universality of technology and the universal desire for optimal affordable and efficient health to merge as one.
Classmethod (Europe) GmbH provides migration onto AWS, introductory support of applications on AWS, AWS operational support, consultation in cost-effective model of AWS, as well as localization in Europe/Japan and translation support.
For more detailed information and/or inquiries, please contact us via our inquiry form on our website