Information and communications technology and healthcare go hand in hand at the Slush Digital Health VIP Dinner. The event, co‐hosted by Helsinki Business Hub along with GE Healthcare, GE Ventures, Reaktor, Eficode and Nestlé Health Science, saw the launch of StartUp Health Finland.
StartUp Health aims to connect Finnish entrepreneurs with a global platform of investors and startups.
Steven Krein, the co‐founder and CEO, says Helsinki will be a focal point of transforming healthcare and life sciences industry in the future.
“What we’ve really seen is the amazing talent and mindset here in Finland. The number of Finnish startups that have applied to StartUp Health made it clear to us that there was something special about what is going on here.”
The New York based health tech accelerator currently hosts around 170 entrepreneurs from 84 companies in 7 countries and 45 cities. Finland is its first hub outside the United States.
Tuula Palmén, Head of the project office at Health Capital Helsinki, says Helsinki region has for some time been trying to capitalize on the strong research performance of its universities. Along with Team Finland Health, Finpro and GE Healthcare Finland it is possible to converge the strong knowhow in both information technology and healthcare.
“StartUp Health coming to Helsinki is a step in the right direction. We want to reach larger life sciences and health tech venture capital funds,” Palmén says.
At first, StartUp Health Finland, located at GE’s Helsinki offices, will take five Finnish digital health startups through a multi‐year program, tailored to grow early stage health tech companies. The hub will also host programming and community events for entrepreneurs, innovators and healthcare transformers.
Learn more about the program and StartUp Health at: http://www.startuphealth.com/Finland
