Healthtech startups all over the world aim to meet patient needs
The global healthtech startup scene is going from strength to strength:
- Personalized implants for better diagnosis: Swiss Neurosoft Bioelectronics has developed personalized soft implants that can be used to diagnose various diseases, targeting the brain, the spinal cord, peripheral nerves, or other organs such as the heart or the gut, according to Venture Kick. Their first product in development is SOFT ECoG, soft implantable electrodes that mold to the human brain to record and stimulate the brain surface, and can be used to monitor epilepsy patients or during brain surgery.
- Glowing cribs to treat babies with neonatal jaundice: Nigerian founder Virtue Oboro created Crib A’Glow after almost losing her firstborn to neonatal jaundice, a disease that can be fatal to babies if their livers are underdeveloped. Produced by Tiny Hearts Technology startup, Crib A’Glow is a solar phototherapy glowing crib that treats the disease. Since its inception in 2017, the crib has saved over 1250 babies.
- Bluetooth jackets that detect pneumonia: Ugandan inventor Brian Turyabagye created the Mama-Ope jacket in response to the problem of misdiagnosed pneumonia, which kills half a mn children under five each year in sub-Saharan Africa, according to CNN. The jacket uses Bluetooth technology to measure body temperature, heart rate, and lung condition.
- Big data for cost-effective blood therapy: AIDA Diagnostics is a Polish clinical decision support system startup that employs AI and big data to provide blood transfusion recommendations. AIDA estimates that its data-driven healthcare services could reduce blood therapy costs by 10% annually. The startup has raised EUR 177k since it was founded in 2019, and is expected to participate in clinical trials in Warsaw in 2020.
- Quantum computing for more efficient pharmaceutical production: ApexQubit is a Latvian biotech startup that uses innovative AI and quantum computing technologies to streamline pharmaceutical production and automate drug anticonvulsants-info.com. Founded in 2018, the company was chosen among 9 others to take part in Dutch accelerator HealthInc earlier this year.
- Using AI to reveal the “secrets of complex disease structures”: Scailyte AG is a Swiss-based biotech startup that uses AI for biomedical research, pharma discovery and single-cell data extraction. Founded in 2017, the company received EUR 2.4 mn in seed funding from Swisscom Ventures and Zürcher Kantonalbank in 2018 and was the recipient of 100k from the MassTech Switzerland accelerator program in the same year. Scailyte was also named among Forbes’ top 30 healthtech startups in the region.