HVL's Reactor Accelerator, powered by GE Healthcare has recently graduated its fifth cohort of start-ups, with the 2022 class presenting about their growth and promising partnerships at the programme’s annual Demo Day at GE Healthcare's HQ in Budapest.
Peter Sorok
“Innovation is key for the dynamic growth of healthcare companies that flourish best with cooperation and partnerships in academia, industry, and entrepreneurial sectors. GE Healthcare is proudly supporting initiatives like Health Venture Lab, that bring together brilliant ideas, the right partners and disruptive innovators accelerating the advancement of the European healthcare,” welcomed all of the Reactor Demo Day participants by Kostas Deligiannis, GM Eastern Europe at GE Healthcare.
Health Venture Lab (HVL) attracted disruptors in the industry to provide them with an inspiring environment, and development opportunities to boost the growth of their business. Among dozens of applicants across Europe, HVL has selected the most promising projects and presented their progress in the programme during the in-person Demo Day event.
The Reactor'22 cohort of 17 teams gained stirring value in four intensive remote sprints, making it flexible enough for MVP-stage start-ups from across Europe to participate. Start-ups got access and hands-on support from healthcare experts in emerging technologies from the programme's main partners: the University of Debrecen (UD), Medical University of Lodz (MUL), GE Healthcare, EIT Health and IESE Business School.
Jan Beger, sr. director, digital ecosystem at GE Healthcare while talking about digital health innovation, said: “The medtech transformation is a process that involves all industry participants to engage: from governments, patients and medical community to major corporations of leading medical technologies like GE Healthcare and inevitably the innovators of novel digital solutions in healthcare. That is why I strongly believe in the collaboration and supportive ecosystem that GE Healthcare established with the HVL's Reactor, the Edison Accelerator and Developer programme becoming the engine driving digital innovation and enabling great solutions for precision health.”
The headline keyote for the Reactor'22 Demo Day was delivered by Nina Sesto, healthtech entrepreneur and TEDx speaker from Zagreb, Croatia, describing the future of healthcare innovation, where it is headed and why most of the medtech start-ups fail to scale up.
The Demo Day event focused how the Reactor'22 cohort teams have increased their performance and have products with high potential to attract business. As a result of the event, the HVL team and GE Healthcare Executives highlighted three teams of which one was awarded as the "Most Promising Team":
- AI Minded (Romania) - accelerates cancer treatment by using artificial intelligence in radiotherapy hospitals by reducing analysis time by more than 95%.
- Acorai (Sweden) - produces medical device for non-invasive monitoring of intracardiac pressure aiming to reduce re-hospitalisations and mortality rates due to heart failure.
- AIGEA Medical *winner* (Italy) - focuses on AI application in Radiology workflows and digital imaging with DeepMammo for early detection of breast cancer.
After graduating from the Reactor, founders got to know their business on a much deeper level as they consulted with various experts, advisors and investors who can look at the project from their own point of view bringing years of experience to the table. Start-ups had the chance to introduce guests to their products and participate at the one-to-one meetings with potential partners and investors.
The event was an indication that the medical industry continues to be one of the most diverse and innovative sectors. This can be seen in the large number of patents filed by medical companies and trade flow data as well as employment statistics.
