CareTech program: MedAssist.online is the Captain of Remote Care

Written by Tessa van Breeden on . Posted in All Focus Areas, MedTech, News.

In general, humans are doing well. We have developed new treatments and medicines for all kinds of diseases, and our lifespan gets longer and longer. However, it also means our healthcare system is under more pressure. Fewer people work in healthcare, and the workload is ever-increasing. That is why stimulating innovations in healthcare is more important than ever.

The CareTech Network Program helps startups in care or assistive technology to expand their network and thereby realize innovations in healthcare. In six weeks, they receive masterclasses and access to various stakeholders in the social domain. Finally, a jury selects the most promising idea. The winner will receive an opportunity to run pilots with the help of the municipality of The Hague, the Netherlands.

Last year, MedAssist.online won first prize: their Live app makes remote care assistance possible. Thanks to ‘two-way’ augmented reality (AR), a doctor or nurse can provide step-by-step real-live aid to patients. In this interview, founders Walther Boon and Remko Huigen discuss their experiences with the CareTech Network Program and show where they are now with their startup.

Two men standing holding a cheque

Congratulations on winning the award in 2022! What is MedAssist.online?

Walther: MedAssist.online helps provide remote care to anyone – anywhere. I am a doctor and mainly work in the maritime industry. It is an enormous challenge if you have a medical problem as a captain at sea. There is no hospital nearby. At our training center, captains learn to provide necessary care assistance. That’s where the idea for MedAssist.online came about. So, now we also offer applications for remote care. Of course, these can be used everywhere, not just at sea. With that in mind, we participated in the CareTech program last year and won the prize.

How has the CareTech program helped you?

Remko: It is beneficial to talk to many stakeholders: the municipality of The Hague, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, hospitals, healthcare suppliers, investors, and, of course, other startups. It is nice to exchange experiences and add various parties to your network.

Walther: Participating in the program also helps to validate your product. The jury consists of people who understand it, from YES!Delft and Innovation Quarter, among others. It’s a good sign if these experts think your solution is a good idea.

How has winning the award helped the growth and development of MedAssist.online?

Remko: We will start a trial this month with a supplier of care devices. For example, people often return wheelchairs with problems easily solved at home. So, we are going to help repair care devices remotely. That was an unexpected turn because we monitor care cases in the maritime industry. We are also preparing another trial, which focuses on remote care assistance on land.

What advice would you give to medical startups considering getting involved?

Remko: There are many startups with good ideas, but they need to remember to validate them properly. We sometimes forget to do that, too. I recommend engaging in market research and product validation as early as possible. It’s a cliché, but you really have to work from the needs and problems of your target group.

Walther: Within the program, relatively objective experts give their opinion. Participating in a program such as the CareTech program offers you an opportunity for honest feedback.

What is the most positive experience you have had with MedAssist.online?

Walther: With the help of satellites, it is possible to establish fast and stable connections at sea, which can be a technical challenge. Last week, a Greek doctor at sea quickly resolved a care problem thanks to our Live app. That’s precisely the sort of message that inspires me to keep going. Of course, it’s nice to win prizes. But helping people with our technology is the best part of my job.

Remko: The idea is simple: you start the Live app, log in, and help each other. Making it happen is challenging, but our technology works both at sea and on land. We have created something that benefits people, and that makes me happy.

Conclusion

MedAssist.online helps people remotely with care situations everywhere: at sea and on land. The app has many possibilities, and thanks to the CareTech program, MedAssist.online is testing various uses of their versatile app. In addition to the pilots they run with the municipality of The Hague and additional partners, they are also open to other collaborations.

If you have a technology that can help people live independently at home, sign up for the CareTech Network Program. Visit this webpage for more information.

Surfing

Aquablu: Eliminating single-use plastics, one water bottle at a time

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in All Focus Areas, MedTech, News.

Almost 1 million plastic bottles are sold every minute. In one year, that number goes as high as 480 billion. This is what a report found back in 2019 and those numbers are likely to keep increasing in the future. Finding alternatives to single-use plastics, and in particular water bottles, has thus become a priority embraced by governments as well as businesses.

Aquablu, a Dutch startup from the YES!Delft ecosystem, is one of those companies working towards a more plastic-free future. With their smart water purifying technology, the team have set themselves the ambitious goal to eliminate 1 billion bottles by 2030. 

But how did it all start?

A few years back, co-founder Marnix Stokvis was on a trip to South Africa when he got the idea for what is now known as Aquablu. “I was in Cape Town, surfing, when I encountered the plastic problem South Africa was facing,” he says. “Plastic pollution was very evident there, and especially so in the water. It got me thinking about water accessibility and what could be done to minimize the use of plastic bottles.”  

Marnix reached out to his friend and soon to be fellow co-founder Marc van Zuylen and the two turned his initial idea into a business concept. They founded Aquablu at the end of 2016 and started developing their first water purification system. Yet, their ambition went way beyond a single product. 

“We came together around one core mission and that was to enable a plastic-free world,” Marc says. 

In working towards that mission, Marc and Marnix knew that their solution would also be an ambitious one. They set off to develop a smart purification system that would not only provide clean drinking water, but also feed its users a wide range of data about the quality of the water and the technical status of the system, among others. In the spirit of personalization, it also makes it possible for users to quantify their positive impact on the environment by knowing just how much water they have purified with their Aquablu system. 

The smart technology behind the solution plays another important role, too. The fact that their technology can monitor how much water is being purified with their systems enables them to make very specific promises. 

“Together with the Made Blue Foundation, an entrepreneurial charity in the Netherlands, we offer the Liter for Liter promise. That means for every liter of water that is purified with our systems, a liter of clean drinking water is donated to places where it is a scarcity,” Marnix says. 

Purifying water – at home and abroad

And while Aquablu has a global mission, the team has made the conscious choice to start at home before they expand far and wide. “Our  initial idea was to sell internationally – and we did that. We delivered our system to 13 different countries,” Marc says. But with time, he and Marnix kept talking to people around them and realized that even in the Netherlands, where there is access to clean drinking tap water, many still buy single-use plastic bottles. “We decided to tackle the issue at home first.”

Since then, they have tweaked their business approach and are mostly focusing on the local B2B market with their Aquablu Refill solution, which transforms “ordinary tap water into purified mineral water.” Large offices and commercial buildings have been among their key customers. As of recently, they are also running a pilot project with supermarket chain Jumbo. 

“We currently have our system at a Jumbo supermarket in Amsterdam, where customers can either refill their own bottle or buy an Aquablu bottle with purified water,” Marnix says. The goal for the future is to expand their offering to more supermarkets and become a feasible alternative to bottled water. 

While already having its own revenue flow, the startup is still dependent on external funding – so far made available by family and an investor – in order to scale its R&D and production. Once they are well established in the Netherlands, the team will look to expand to the rest of Benelux, Germany and then further into Europe. 

“In up to three years, we are aiming at total domination in Europe,” Marc and Marnix laugh but they sure mean it. “After Europe, we will expand towards either the US or Asia. It depends where the need is greater and where we find reliable partners first.” 

The plan ahead of the two co-founders and their team is big but after all, their goal is to eliminate 1 billion bottles by 2030. Ambitious as they are, “we think we can even exceed it.”

Are you inspired by this story and would you like to boost your business and become part of the YES!Delft ecosystem as well? Sign up for our accelerator program!

If you would like to work for a startup like Aquablu check out our vacancies and become visible to more than 300 startups in the YES!Delft ecosystem.

 

Gyromotics prosthetic foot

Gyromotics: The go-to prosthesis for active people

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in All Focus Areas, MedTech, News. 1 Comment

For people who use prosthetic feet, a comfortable fit and a wide range of functionality are key. From walking and going about everyday life, to running and doing sports, a prosthesis would ideally accommodate various activities requiring various intensity. And as this is not the norm in the market just yet, Gyromotics – a startup from the YES!Delft ecosystem – has made it their mission to change that.  

A personal story leads to a business

The beginnings of Gyromotics come from a personal story. Guido Hendriks, one of the two co-founders, has first-hand experience with finding just the right prosthetic feet. His son, Olivier, now 18 years old, was born with a congenital limb deficiency and has been using prostheses ever since he was a child. 

“It wasn’t until Olivier was about 6 years old that we got him on small blades instead of his everyday prostheses,” Guido remembers. “That’s when we understood how restricted he had been by his prostheses at the time. Adults tend to underestimate that.” 

All Olivier wanted as a child was to be able to play on the playground and run with the other kids. As soon as he got on running blades, he was able to move a lot more – and faster – and started playing football. 

“He played football until he was around 12, at which point he was scouted for the Dutch running team,” Guido says. “It was obvious that he was moving quite fast. My wife and I always wanted him to be able to run – and that’s exactly what he is doing now.”

As one of his latest achievements, Olivier won a silver medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in the 400m sprint. 

Silver medal Paralympics     

Striving to create the most functional prosthesis out there

Over the years, Guido has done extensive research on what prostheses are available on the market. His conclusion: there are no prosthetic feet yet, which people can use both for day-to-day activities and sports. That is what he and his co-founder Jaap Roggeveen set out to change. 

Guido and Jaap founders of Gyromotics“To be able to have only one type of prosthesis for multiple activities and different shoes at the same time, it would need to adjust at the ankle. Our users are in control and decide what shoes they wear during the day and how they use them. Gyromotics’ users change from work to sports with the heel just off the floor to high heels at a party – all with the same foot,” Guido explains. “Our solution is the only prosthesis on the market that allows you to stand on the toes of your shoes and so combines a daily foot and a running blade in one product.” 

Gyromotics prosthetic footWhat makes Gyromotics’s prosthesis smart is exactly the fact that it provides the user flexibility to be able to perform different activities with the same foot, such as walking and running. Also, the bottom is made up of two halves that are separated to offer more stability in case the person steps sideways.

 “Since we started, we have proven the concept and in the last year, we have been working on improving the design and the looks based on customer feedback. In the near future, we will start working with two big companies that make sockets for prosthetic feet and we’ll become part of their standardized assortment.” 

At the moment, Gyromotics is only offering feet for adults. Yet, since it all started with the goal to make it easier for young children to move around, they are soon going to expand their offering.

“We recently won a project with SportInnovator, the programme for sport innovation and research by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport,” Guido says. “As part of it, and together with the TU Delft and Team Para Atletiek, we will develop a prosthesis for kids. That way we can finally come a full circle.”

Along the way, they have been getting help from the experts and community of YES!Delft and that is something Guido considers very valuable. It has not only increased their credibility with potential investors and partners, but it has taught them how to run a company as a small team. This is knowledge that will surely propel Gyromotics on their way to success. 

 

Are you inspired by this story and would you like to boost your business and become part of the YES!Delft ecosystem as well? Sign up for our accelerator program!

If you would like to work for a startup like Gyromotics check out our vacancies and become visible to more than 300 startups in the YES!Delft ecosystem.

 

Momo Medical’s smart bed sensor helps nurses provide the tailored care their residents need

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in All Focus Areas, MedTech, News. 1 Comment

Being at the right place at the right time is something that care staff in nursing homes know all about. Attending to each and every resident when they most need them is what defines their work. Yet, that doesn’t mean it’s easy work to do. On the contrary, keeping an overview of an entire floor of residents is bound to become overwhelming at some point. That’s where Momo Medical comes in. 

The startup, part of the YES!Delft ecosystem, has developed a technology that gives nurses a tool to know who needs their help at which time. Designed specifically for care staff working the night shift, Momo Medical has been able to save them precious time and make their work more effective. 

Pivoting to address the right market needs

Founded in 2017, the startup has gone through a journey of defining and redefining its proposition to best suit the needs of nursing home staff. In its earlier days, Momo Medical’s technology was there to provide healthcare professionals with relevant and accurate data about resident mobility in order to help reduce the occurrence of pressure ulcers. 

“The initial idea was to indeed focus on the prevention of pressure ulcers,” says Jorien de Jonge, Marketing & Implementation Lead at Momo Medical. “It is a major issue, but the solution we had at the time was to give night shift nurses a reminder to reposition a resident. We soon found out that that was not what they needed.” 

The fact is that nurses are well aware of the need to reposition residents, but doing so at scheduled times during the day and night was not always feasible. “There are times when they are either very busy or the resident is sleeping and repositioning them would only disturb their rest,” Jorien says. “So, we asked ourselves: What does the night shift nurse really need?”

To find the answer to that question, the team tagged along with night shift nurses on quite a few occasions to find out what would make their work easier and more pleasant. The struggle was evident: Nurses wanted (and needed) to have an overview of the entire floor or unit, and know who is safe in their bed without having to open the door. 

The team took that with themselves and ended up creating the BedSense – a smart bed sensor that provides nurses with the information they need to be at the right place at the right time.

Finding and nurturing the right partnerships

The startup is currently focused on providing their solution to memory care and psychogeriatric nursing homes. “The BedSense is now available at a care unit for people with dementia,” Jorien says. “Residents with dementia have a hard time expressing what they need and our tool helps nurses understand their mobility and movement patterns. For example, if a person is turning a lot in bed, that may mean that they need more comfort.” 

A recent milestone, and perhaps one of the team’s most important ones to date, has been their partnership with the tanteLouise nursing home in the Netherlands. It has not only proven the importance of their solution but has also meant working together with one of the leading nursing homes in the country. 

“tanteLouise is a pioneer of innovation,” Jorien says. “For us, it’s great to be working with them, also because a lot of other nursing homes follow their lead when it comes to adopting new technologies.” 

They have been working together for almost a year now and the nursing staff has been very enthusiastic about how well it supports the night shift. Momo Medical will be providing its BedSense to all residents with dementia in the nursing home. 

Each BedSense is assembled in-house, Jorien says. “We have a production room at YES!Delft, which is very convenient. At the moment, we have more than 1,000 pieces of the BedSense in the field and all of them have been made at YES!Delft.”

For the team, this means a lot of hard work and if that weren’t enough, they are also expanding to the US. CEO Menno Gravemaker has been doing field research and tagging along with night shift nurses in San Francisco to understand what their needs are and how they differ from those of nursing staff in the Netherlands. The company already has its first local contract and is working with a nursing home as of August. Further defining their proposition for the US market is a key next step on their agenda.

Expanding to the US happens to coincide with Momo Medical’s participation in the Y Combinator accelerator program, which – next to investing in the startup – is also helping it scale its technology. “Y Combinator helps you set very extreme targets and get you to prove that there is a market for your solution,” Jorien says. Demo Day is scheduled for the last week of August and it will allow Momo Medical to present to a large audience of investors and media, and make the right connections. 

Going forward, the team is looking to expand its presence in the US and further meet the needs of local nursing staff. Various markets in Europe are also on their list to expand to, Jorien says. With the current shortage of nursing home staff globally, the BedSense is a very much needed solution. At the end of the day, Momo Medical wants to provide as much value as possible to nursing home staff – and that is what drives them day in and day out.

Prognoix: The tech company behind better analysis and care management for sexual dysfunctions

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in All Focus Areas, MedTech, News.

There is a wide range of medical conditions that patients simply don’t feel comfortable talking about – neither to their family or friends, nor to their doctor. Founded in 2018, Prognoix is a company that sees the need to provide a safe environment – next to a great tech solution, of course – to tackle a group of such stigmatized disorders: sexual dysfunctions. 

The startup’s mission is to bridge the gap between the healthcare system and its patients, and create an inclusive and open environment that allows diagnosis and treatment of these conditions in the comfort of people’s homes. Prognoix’s first product is an innovative tool that diagnoses the cause and severity of impotence (erectile dysfunction or ED) in order to prescribe the right care required for alleviating it.

Creating the solution that patients need

Founder Abhinav Jain knows that being proactive and addressing health concerns in time is crucial for staying in good health in the long run. Yet, to achieve that, patients need to feel comfortable to address those concerns in the first place. 

What’s more, certain sexual dysfunctions, such as ED, may even indicate early onset of diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. At the moment, there are no simple and objective tools available to diagnose ED, and because of that, the precious window of opportunity to reverse the problem is often lost. This serves as a motivator for the Prognoix team to utilize their medical device development and clinical expertise to create solutions that help both the patients and the clinicians serving them.

“I love the journey of designing a product,” Abhinav says. “It’s always unique, customer-centric, and meant to serve a purpose.” His passion and the relationship of trust he shares with his business partner – Timo Tscharnkte, have allowed the two men to develop innovative products by adopting an ambitious, yet pragmatic approach.

Prognoix takes into account that ED can be caused by various reasons – physiological and quite often, psychological too. To develop a solution that fits the needs of the specific target audience, “we have gathered feedback from more than 250 patients and medical professionals. Sadly, we have also learned that more than half of all ED patients experience depression or anxiety because of the condition,” Abhinav says.

It is essential to clearly identify the cause of the problem first before starting a treatment. The solution that Prognoix has developed will be initially used as a prescription tool under the strict supervision of clinicians. The startup is currently working with a Dutch academic hospital to conduct clinical studies to ensure their product matches customers’ and regulatory expectations. 

The long-term ambition is to have this solution available as an over-the-counter product, thus reaching out also to the patients who are uncomfortable to even talk about this topic with their doctor. 

Finding just the right product-market fit

For a long time, the startup has been bootstrapped by the founders and has also secured funding and commercialization support from JUMPstart, a MedTech-focused accelerator in Singapore.  

The team also received a boost when Dr. Christoph Pies, a renowned German urologist who has been regularly seeing ED patients for the past 24 years and authored three books on men’s health, made an investment in Prognoix and joined as their medical officer. This is especially important as it validates the market needs and enables the startup to develop a product based on them.

Prognoix is looking to raise up to €800,000 over the course of the next year. 

Starting with Europe as its beachhead market, Prognoix aims to expand to its main target market in the US. While the company started and is currently registered in Singapore, Asia does not seem to be their key focus at the moment, Abhinav says. “Unfortunately, sexual dysfunction is still seen as a wellness problem in several Asian countries with little to no push from their healthcare systems.”

Prognoix has also taken part in YES!Delft’s Accelerator program, which has helped them secure several partnerships with product developers and manufacturers, as well as clinical studies. In the short time that they have been around, they have checked off quite a few milestones – and have many more lined up.

SocialTech: the way forward in solving the health and societal challenges of tomorrow

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in All Focus Areas, MedTech, News.

The past year has posed challenges that many of us had never even thought about. Challenges to our health, to the way we interact with each other, and to the way we go about our day-to-day lives.

Yet, with new challenges come new solutions, and the Dutch innovation ecosystem has not fallen short of that. SocialTech has gained vital importance, with entrepreneurs looking for smart solutions to today’s most pressing societal issues.

To clarify why we need SocialTech, our program manager Noortje van Sambeek and our partners explain more about the rise and potential of this new domain, and look into its role in the future healthcare system.

The rise of SocialTech

Over the past year, two main trends have come to the fore with regards to smart social tech solutions. One is focused on directly tackling the health and societal challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the other is more focused on prevention, ensuring that health and societal challenges do not become an issue in the future.

Both trends have played a significant role, and arguably, the prevention aspect may become even more crucial as we move forward.

For Peter Hulsen, Advisor and Changemaker at the Nederlands Centrum Jeugdgezondheid (NCJ) – the Dutch Center for Youth Health – the prevention of health problems is crucial, and it starts at a very early stage in one’s life.  

“We see a great urgency to tackle health issues in young children as early as possible in their lives. It is crucial to give them a strong foundation to grow up on so there is no need for interventions later on.”

And it is not just about health, he adds. “It is about how our cities and villages are organised and spatially arranged. How much space there is for children and young people to move around.” Fostering a healthy and nurturing environment both in and outside of one’s home is not just a nice-to-have. It is a necessity.

The potential of SocialTech

SocialTech has the potential to transform our communities to make us more resilient, and as a result, stronger, too.

For sure, technology and innovation can help bring positive change to society, but it is important to remember that it’s not all about tech itself. It is also about the context, identifying the gaps in our community and finding ways to close them using innovative technology. 

This is also the motivation behind launching the SocialTech Validation Lab, a program developed by YES!Delft in partnership with Erasmus University Rotterdam.

A new program for new challenges, says Noortje. “Our goal with this Validation Lab is to make innovation happen that can help society. We are bringing together people from many different backgrounds to create the best teams and the best solutions.”

The challenges we face today are global, but the solutions are to be found locally.

This is confirmed by Ed Brinksma, President of the Executive Board of Erasmus University Rotterdam. “The province of South Holland, particularly the Rotterdam region, is a rich breeding ground in terms of diversity and entrepreneurship. A multidisciplinary approach is vital for innovation and especially for solving the social issues in this region. In this way, together, we can advance inspiring SocialTech ideas and make a tangible contribution to a resilient and healthy society. “

Organisations such as EUR, NCJ, Social Impact Fonds Rotterdam and Health Holland are among the partners that would support the selected startups in developing the solutions that society needs the most.

There is a great relationship of trust between YES!Delft and its partners.“The past performance of YES!Delft and their recently started SocialTech Validation Lab both provide the essential moral trust and intellectual support for social technology entrepreneurs that strive to create positive impact,” said Nico van Meeteren, Executive Director and Secretary-General at Health Holland.

 

The SocialTech Validation Lab is currently accepting applications until April 7.

APPLY NOW

Towards the healthcare system of tomorrow

A lot has changed concerning how our healthcare systems work. 

We are at the start of the transformation of healthcare, says Noortje. “We see it moving more and more towards people’s homes. Smart technology is making it possible to move towards the social domain and developing solutions that can make it more efficient.”

Today it’s clear that the pandemic has accelerated healthcare’s move in that direction.  

“In the past year of having COVID-19 among us, we have learned that people don’t always need to interact directly with a healthcare professional. They are a lot more open to the idea of relying on websites and chatbots for information. This is a positive development given the fact that our healthcare system has been squeezed for resources during the pandemic,” Peter says.

In other words, innovation can help create solutions that take away some of the more repetitive and simple tasks that are still part of the day-to-day of medical professionals and instead help them focus on the cases that they are most needed for.  

There is still a lot that technology can bring to the medical domain.

“This past year we’ve had to leapfrog when it comes to the digital evolution of healthcare,” says Noortje. “There is a lot more potential to be discovered, and we want to create the right environment and ecosystem for that to take place.

The SocialTech Validation Lab is looking for promising startups that want to bring innovation to society. The program will help these entrepreneurs find their product-solution fit and develop the business case around their idea.

Apply before April 7 for a chance to join the program!

APPLY NOW FOR THE VALIDATION LAB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praxa Sense: Leveraging smart technology to better monitor heart disease

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in All Focus Areas, Geen categorie, MedTech, News.

What does it take for two product designers to create a medical device that may well be the future of monitoring cardiac arrhythmias? For one, it takes a lot of hard work, especially in times of uncertainty. It also takes commitment to develop a device that can detect possible heart problems with high accuracy.

Meet Leonard Moonen and Liselotte Stolk, the initial co-founders of Delft-based startup Praxa Sense and the two product designers from the paragraph above. With little business experience of their own (at least initially), they have managed to not only develop a product the medical industry needs but also find their fit in just the right market. 

The wearable that detects cardiac arrhythmia

Detecting cardiac arrhythmias can be somewhat of a challenge and new technologies are always welcome in making the process more hassle-free. At the moment, it requires a patient to undergo a thorough monitoring procedure, which may not even yield accurate results as arrhythmias often happen sporadically. 

“Atrial fibrillation is the most common sign of cardiac arrhythmia but detecting it is not always that easy,” says Leonard. “In fact, there are a lot of people out there that don’t even know they have it.” Because it doesn’t occur consistently, atrial fibrillation can sometimes be overlooked – unintentionally of course – by current monitoring methods. People with this condition are also five times more likely to have a cerebral stroke, Leonard adds. 

That is how he first came up with the idea of a wearable that would monitor heart rhythm in a simple and non-intrusive way. 

“We’ve developed Afi, a small, user-friendly device that can detect heart rhythm disorders with high accuracy. It requires little to no manual effort and extends the time frame, in which a patient can be monitored.” If worn continuously, it can essentially monitor a patient 24/7 without interruption.

From a university project to a business venture

For Leonard, it all started during his studies of Integrated Product Design at TU Delft. There, as part of CardioLab – an initiative by the university and de Hartstichting focused on using smart technologies to detect cardiovascular diseases, he designed the first prototype of what would later become Afi. 

He saw the business potential of the solution, but he knew that a good idea and a nice design were not going to be enough to run a company. “I knew I had to learn more about startup life,” Leonard says. “I also knew that I would need a co-founder and I had just the right person in mind.” 

It didn’t take much convincing to bring Liselotte on board. And so, the two of them were ready to experience what having a startup would be like. 

Almost immediately, they signed up for the EIT Health Validation Lab in Dublin and went through eight weeks of market validation and meeting potential clients across Europe. “It was an intense program but it really helped us understand what it’s like to run a company and match its offering to the needs of customers.” 

One of the stops was YES!Delft and Leonard remembers how nice it felt to be so close to home. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that Liselotte and himself later became a part of YES!Delft’s Accelerator Program. That was also the time when they were joined by Pourya Omidi, who became the third co-founder of Praxa Sense.

Positioning Afi where it’s most needed – in hospitals

One of the key lessons that the co-founders have learned along the way is that being a part of a strong network is invaluable. 

“The community that we have around us at YES! is a great asset,” Leonard says. “If I have an industry-related question, I can go downstairs and just have a cup of coffee with the founders of Momo Medical, another MedTech startup. Or if I need advice on strategy or funding, I could walk up to the team of YES!Funded. It’s really that easy.”

Today, Praxa Sense is a team of eight and they are about to launch their first clinical trial in the Netherlands. This is a big next step, as their solution will make its way to Reinier de Graaf Gasthuis hospital in Delft and be used to monitor patients. 

As the year progresses, the team will continue to iterate their product, especially as they receive feedback from the trial, and will work to set up more pilot projects. Hospitals are on top of their list as potential clients, followed closely by e-health companies. 

So far, Praxa Sense has grown steadily, including during the past year with COVID-19 around. With their first clinical trial coming up, they are about to gain more insight into the potential and application of their product. It is only a matter of time for them to implement it and further improve it.

Milestones
  • October 2017: Leonard Moonen graduated from Delft Cardiolab with first prototype of Afi
  • October 2017: Leonard showcased Afi at Dutch Design Week 2017
  • April 2018: Praxa Sense B.V. was founded
  • June 2018: EIT Health Validation Lab in Dublin, Liselotte joined as co-founder
  • November 2018: YES!Delft Accelerator Program, Pourya joined as co-founder
  • May 2020: Received Innovation Loan from Rabobank and funding from ZonMw
  • October 2020: Funding from Innovation Quarter for R&D of Afi
  • September 2020: Expanded team from three to eight
  • January 2020: A larger new corner office at YES!Delft

Bi/ond: Taking the step towards personalized medicine

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in MedTech, News.

“Our mission is to create a world where personalized medicine will be made available to everyone. We want to achieve this by merging microelectronics with biology.”

Nikolas Gaio is the CTO of MedTech startup Bi/ond and together with his co-founders Cinzia Silvestri and William F. G. Solano, he is looking to bring innovation to the medical field.

“Microelectronics is being used in a lot of markets but in biology, it has still not been utilized to its full potential,” Nikolas says. “We want to take advantage of that and make a difference.”  

FROM A SIMPLE IDEA

The idea behind Bi/ond evolved as a result of years-long Ph.D. research at the TU Delft. The three co-founders were fascinated by the possibilities that personalized medicine had to offer but were struggling with the little progress that was being made in that field. So they took things in their hands.

“At the moment, medicines and pharmaceutical products are developed based on middle-aged white men, so people from other ethnicities and women are rarely taken into consideration during these development processes,” Nikolas says. “The number of genetic differences plays an important role in how medicines affect different ethnicities, age, and sex.”

The reason why there is not enough progress in the field, he believes, is because current technology is not accurate enough to handle the complexity of the differences between people. Bi/ond hopes to change that.

What the startup is working on is a technology for more accurate drug testing and simulations of any tissue type. “We’ve developed a computer chip with a small blood vessel that can nourish, stimulate and monitor cells. For example, it can stimulate cells in the heart to keep it beating or in the lungs to help them keep expanding,” Nikolas says.

THROUGH YES!DELFT

Supporting the team along the way has been YES!Delft and their community of mentors and experts. One of the biggest challenges for Nikolas and his co-founders has been turning Bi/ond from a research project into a business.  

“We were and still are engineers, so YES!Delft have helped us a lot in improving our technology while also teaching us how to build a company. They took us out of our engineering bubble and showed us what it’s like to run a business,” Nikolas says.

They learned the importance of validating their technology with potential customers and talked to tens of medical professionals to gain insights into their needs and challenges. Currently, Bi/ond is supplying its product to three academic hospitals across Europe and is mostly focusing on its cardiac application.

“Together with our customers, we are now mostly looking into cardiac toxicity,” Nikolas says, “which essentially means that we are trying to find out if a medication is affecting the heart in the wrong way.”

TO A GROWING COMPANY

While the startup does have competitors on the market, Nikolas believes that Bi/ond has a unique advantage. It is the only company currently that combines microelectronics with biology, making it possible to stimulate cells and “bring what is inside the body outside of it,” he adds.  

The hospitals that they are currently working with are different in their approach of using Bi/ond’s technology. Some of them are interested in only buying the chips, while others are also happy to work together with the startup and help develop the technology further.

A little bit further down the line, the team will aim to add biotech companies to its customer base, alongside hospitals. “Our goal is to strike partnerships with such companies later on and establish our credibility in the field.”

Today, Bi/ond is a team of seven and they are well equipped to tackle the challenges that lie ahead. So far, they have been financed via local and international grants as well as a first round of funding from UNIIQ, the proof-of-concept fund of South Holland. Going into 2021, they will be looking at a second, bigger investment.

Nikolas and the team have surely gained momentum over the past year and are moving closer to their mission of making medicine more personalized in the future.

Milestones:
  • Collaboration with a complementary biotech company for the development of a Heart-on-Chip model;
  • Integration of electrodes and sensors inside the Bi/ond’s product to guarantee “more-than-imaging” to our customers;
  • Deal with a pharmaceutical company.

Manometric: The 3D-printed braces that make a difference in people’s lives

Written by Mina Nacheva on . Posted in MedTech, News.

Tailor-made hand braces and orthoses are expensive and not fully tailored to the needs of the person using them. Not to mention, they are not the most beautiful pieces out there. Pieter Smakman came across this problem during his graduation project at the TU Delft and together with his friend and colleague, Robin Jones, took on 3D scanning and printing technology to design and create braces that people love to wear. 

It didn’t take long until the two of them founded Manometric, a Delft-based startup looking to make the above possible for people who need a brace. 

FROM A SIMPLE IDEA

“We believe that braces are a consumer product and the experience of wearing them is more comparable to wearing a watch than a bandaid,” Pieter says. “It enables you to work again and perform your job. A piece of plastic can make a huge difference to someone’s life so it needs to fit the person him- or herself.”

During his Master’s in Integrated Product Design, Pieter came up with the idea of using 3D technology to create 360-scans of a hand and based on them, design a brace that is fully tailored to the person who needs it. The first version of the scanner was far from perfect, but it bore the potential of what it could become. 

“The first time we tried to scan a hand was not easy at all,” Pieter remembers. “Someone had to put their hand up and sit on a turning plateau in front of the 3D scanner so we could capture every angle. You can imagine how hard it is to keep a hand in a steady position even for a couple of seconds, so this was definitely not a very viable solution to collect information.”

Today, close to four years after founding Manometric, Pieter, Robin and their team have made leaps both in terms of their technology and in running a successful business. They are accredited as an orthopedic company, which enables them to see patients and work directly with health insurers. Even during COVID-19 times, they have been able to continue doing that – under strict measures, of course – and it is something that gives the team not only new insights for their research and development, but also a lot of positive energy. 

THROUGH YES!DELFT

Supporting them along the way has been the community of experts at YES!Delft and their international network. Manometric joined the YES!Delft Accelerator Program in September 2017 and quickly learned what it’s like to run a business. 

“The first thing we had to get into our system was to stop being so busy with our technology and instead focus on validating our product. We had to find out if there was a market for it before we spent more resources and effort developing it,” Pieter says.

Their mentor wasted no time in throwing them into the deep. “We were advised to organize a demo day, promote it on Facebook and see if people were willing to participate and pay for it. We went for it, but we were terrified,” Pieter remembers. “It just didn’t feel natural to promote a product that was not fully developed yet.” 

And while the two co-founders were surely outside of their comfort zone, they quickly saw the benefits of approaching their target market early on. They communicated their demo day to a large group of patients and were surprised to receive more than 150 responses overnight. Eventually, about 20 people signed up and traveled from all over the Netherlands to experience Manometric’s technology 

 “That meant a lot to us and it was the point where we knew we were onto something,” Pieter says. 

Those initial insights were what they needed to continue developing their technology. Today, the startup has a 3D scanner that can perform a 360 scan in a hundredth of a second, a software that can automate the production of orthoses and works together with hospitals, clinics, health insurers and other orthopedic companies. 

TO A GROWING COMPANY

Starting out, Pieter and Robin’s goal was to leverage technology in such a way that they could provide patients with the best-fitting hand braces possible, which look good too. At the same time, they also wanted to make the design and creation of those braces more efficient and less labor-intensive. 

“If you look at the traditional patient journey, there is a lot of time from intake to delivering the final product. With our 3D technology, we can achieve results much faster.”

Manometric has been working together with Gerald Kraan, an orthopedic surgeon from Reinier de Graaf hospital in Delft, who has helped them immensely over the past years. With his support, they have been able to develop their software and algorithms, and to make sure that the braces they create perform as well as traditional ones, if not even better.

The startup’s goal going forward is to have their scanners placed in hospitals all over the Netherlands. “Our solution is scalable and we can’t wait to distribute this widely,” Pieter says. 

The process may take some time, but the team has already proven that there is great potential for their technology, across the country and beyond. 

Having been able to disrupt (in a good way) such a traditional industry has certainly brought Pieter, Robin and their team the feeling that they can change people’s lives with their work. What makes it all even more worthwhile, though, is actually seeing the impact of their technology. 

“Not too long ago, one of our patients brought her saxophone to our office, sat down and started playing,” Pieter says. “It was the hand brace that we made for her that enabled her to play her instrument again. You can imagine the surprise on all of our faces.

It is those moments that count the most. It is those moments that remind us of the impact we can make.” 

Milestones of 2020

 

  • A doubling of the team (now 11) with highly talented and experienced people
  • More than tripled the revenue of 2019
  • Accredited as official Orthopedic Company
  • CE Certification for the ManoX 3D Scanner
  • Contracts with all Dutch health insurers

 

Don’t forget to apply for our next Accelerator Program, the application deadline is on the 31st of January.

Get to know more

Startups present their solutions at the Pitch Day of EIT Health Validation Lab

Written by Andreea on . Posted in MedTech, News.

The EIT Health Pitch Day marked the end of this year’s EIT Health Validation Lab, and sent 17 early-stage MedTech startups into the market. The event was held entirely online on October 27 and gave teams a chance to pitch their innovation to our network. Lifelet Medical took the coveted first prize. 

“The Validation Lab was a great experience for Lifelet Medical, where we received excellent domain-specific mentorship and coaching. It was an honor to work with all of the startups, and we are delighted for the opportunity to advance to the central pitch competition and to accelerate our technology further”, says Elle Sander, co-founder of Lifelet Medical.

A partnership between EIT Health & YES!Delft

EIT Health Validation Lab is a partnership between YES!Delft and EIT Health. The two organizations join forces to offer early-stage companies an opportunity to validate their technology as best as possible, and combine YES!Delft’s startup expertise with the extensive knowledge and network of EIT Health. 

Over the course of eight weeks, the two parties provided the right tooling and coaching to startups to develop their skills to validate their riskiest business assumptions, to sharpen their problem-solution-fit, and find their product-market-fit. The Validation Lab is designed to help promising MedTech teams get in touch with mentors and industry specialists already early on. 

Solving a severe and relevant problem

Lifelet Medical, the winner of this edition, is on an ambitious yet very important mission. The team aims to improve the lives of patients with heart valve disease by developing fully synthetic durable and sustainable heart valve leaflets for life. 

“Lifelet is solving a severe problem that is very relevant worldwide, they have a unique innovation and an excellent team,” said Evert Jaap Lugt, Managing Director of YES!Delft, when he announced the startup as the winner. 

“We would like to thank all the startups and ecosystem partners for their ongoing enthusiasm throughout the program. I’m very curious to see what the future holds for these game-changers, I have very high expectations after everything we’ve seen so far”, says MedTech Program Manager, Claire Visser.

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