The most promising health tech startups in Israel were pitching to HUS Helsinki University Hospital healthcare professionals this tuesday. This was the first international pitching event at HUS and a new point of contact between two pioneering health ecosystems, Helsinki and Israel. The event was virtual – not only because of COVID-19 but for efficient access in a busy hospital environment.
HUS Helsinki University is the largest healthcare provider in Finland and an internationally highly ranked hospital organisation focused on creating new knowledge. As part of this, HUS aims to build solutions for the future in partnerships with companies.
HUS Findery® is a pitching event offering startups easy access for presenting their ideas and solutions to top-level tertiary care professionals. The goal is to create new co-creation projects and research pilots between startups and HUS healthcare professionals. This is the first international pitching event; previous Findery events have been for Finnish startups.
“HUS wants to be a forerunner and closely involved in developing and supporting health technology companies so that we also learn how to take advantage of emerging health technology in a whole new way,” says Miikka Korja, Chief Innovation Officer, HUS.
Virtual pitches on AI, mental health and cancer care solutions
This pitching event is the result of a partnership initiative, launched in 2019, between Helsinki Business Hub, Embassy of Finland in Tel Aviv and the Israel Innovation Authority, to connect Finnish companies with Israeli firms and vice versa and to find joint piloting projects.
The startups pitching to HUS were selected in the Digital Health pilot program, one of the partnership’s three key themes. The solutions presented to HUS are in the fields of artificial intelligence, mental health and cancer care.
The event takes place virtually via video connection. Remote pitching was chosen not only because of COVID-19 but to enable an efficient access for startups in a busy hospital environment.
Speeding up digital development towards better care
Israel and Finland are recognised as world-leaders in the field of health technology. There are over 500 digital health startups in Israel, with reputations in fields such as artificial intelligence, computer vision, big data analytics and predictive analytics.
“Both countries are pioneers in developing digital health solutions and applying these into healthcare systems. Finland offers excellent piloting platforms and Israel has very innovative companies that can help the Finnish healthcare system. The pilot program between Israel and Finland helps innovative companies pilot their solutions in the other country,” says Miska Hakala, Director of Business Platform Development, Helsinki Business Hub.
“Creating a bridge between the two leading ecosystems will speed up the development of artificial intelligence, algorithms and big data, resulting in cost efficiency and more effective patient care. The digital health data and piloting opportunities in Finland will also create great opportunities for Israeli companies to set up in Helsinki.”
Background
Pilot program between Israel and Finland
The pitching companies
Keepers Child Safety, DeePathology.ai, Wizsoft, Selfit Medical, Vocalis Health, PerSimiO, Pine Biotech, Zebra Medical Vision
Would you like to know what kind of opportunities Greater Helsinki has to offer for your company?
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Miska Hakala
Director, Business Platform Development
miska.hakala@hbh.fi
+358 40 737 4697
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