O P E N A C C E L E R A T O R

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OA 2020 edition initiated with a goal to “intercept disruptive digital innovations able to leverage on market and/or technological trends and capable to position themselves as «first in class» solution for health care issues”. The second goal of OA 2020 was to “be a tool to give support to Zambon Pharma, CareApt and Italia Assistenza activities and positioning, through the identification of disruptive digital innovations”. Indeed, OA 2020 edition was entirely focused on digital health solutions, and for the first time, due to the Covid public health emergency situation, the scouting, selection, acceleration and mentoring of the projects and startups were carried out solely online as well. We looked for solutions in the following focus categories: Digital Diagnostics, Virtual Health, Digital prevention, monitoring & therapeutics, and Clinical trials digitalization. Special challenge, called New ways to interact, was introduced by Zambon top management as the fifth focus category, to intercept solutions enabling alternative ways of interaction among HealthCare professionals, HealthCare Industries and the community at large in light of Covid 19 pandemics.

After an extensive multi-stepped evaluation process we selected 8 participants to be invited to the OA 2020 acceleration program.

The participants of OA 2020

Hyivy Health (Canada)

INTERACTIVE DEVICE FOR PELVIC FLOOR REHABILITATION
Originating from Canada, the Hyivy Health start-up focuses on women’s health through a device for pelvic floor rehabilitation. It is a clinically approved smart device that can be conveniently used in the patient’s home. Their product, designed for post-operative and post-partum rehabilitation, includes electrical and mechanical functions, as well as an app to display data, educational videos, and to monitor progress. The aim is to create a device that monitors, tracks and prevents various problems experienced by women to understand if and how to respond. https://hyivy.com/

VoiceMed (Luxembourg)

SOFTWARE THAT CALCULATES THE PROBABILITY OF HAVING RESPIRATORY DISEASES
The Luxembourg start-up VoiceMed used artificial intelligence to develop a software that calculates the probability that a person is suffering from a respiratory disease through the analysis of voice biomarkers collected through coughing, breathing and language. An innovative idea, useful in dealing with the health emergency related to COVID-19, which is intended to simplify access to healthcare through rapid, accurate and remote screening. https://www.voicemed.io/

Axess4You (Italy)

NEGOTIATION PLATFORM TO SPEED UP ACCESS TO INNOVATIVE TREATMENTS
Axess4You is the Milan-based start-up working on a transparent price negotiation platform between the healthcare system and pharmaceutical companies, with the aim of speeding up access to innovative treatments. Axess4You aims to create the first integrated and certified data archive for a number of therapeutic areas in order to improve market access negotiations and speed up approval procedures. https://www.axess4you.com/

WEARnCARE (Italy)

WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY TO ASSESS MOTOR SKILLS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE SUFFERERS
Pisa-based start-up WEARnCARE draws on a combination of wearable technology, artificial intelligence and standardised protocols to provide neurologists with an accurate and reliable system to assess the motor skills of Parkinson’s disease sufferers, to provide an objective clinical diagnosis, and monitor the progression of the disease. The product supports decision-making in the assessment of the early symptoms and monitors variations due to changes in drug therapy.

Nevaro (Portugal)

CUSTOM VIDEO GAME TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH
The Portuguese company Nevaro uses serious games, or rather video games that go beyond entertainment and become a real educational tool, to improve mental health, in particular helping those suffering from nervous exhaustion. Through a series of physiological and behavioural biomarkers and a headset, the video game analyses the mood of players, adapts to the mood, and provides therapeutic content in real time able to alleviate stress and ease anxiety. https://nevaro.tech/

BreatheCore (USA/Italy)

SYSTEM FOR MONITORING AND PREVENTING POST-OPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS
The BreatheCore Adaptive Autopilot is an Italian-American start-up that is involved with Open Accelerator through a project on diseases of the respiratory system. In particular, the international team has devised a chest drainage monitoring system that offers real-time data analysis so that clinical results can be improved, foreseeable and potentially fatal complications can be avoided, and the intrapleural functional status can be regulated. https://www.breathecore.tech/

Oxifing Health Sport (Spain)

WEARABLE PULSE OXIMETER FOR CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF SATURATION LEVEL
The Spanish company Oxifing has also taken to the field, providing its contribution to supporting COVID-19 patients. In particular, the Spanish team has developed a pulse oximeter, which can be used to continuously monitor peripheral oxygen saturation and heart rate. The patented solution is particularly accurate, customised according to the physiological parameters of the patient, and can also be used during sporting activities and for home physiotherapy. http://www.oxifing.com/

NIA by NemoLab (Italy)

SMARTWATCH FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES
NeMO LAB, an Italian hub for the development of technological innovations in neuromuscular diseases, supported by Centro Clinico NeMO, is proposing an effective solution to remotely monitor patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases or that have genetic markers indicating a predisposition to them. The service is the result of a combination of three elements: a smartwatch which collects patient data, an app which validates the data collected by the device and proposes cognitive tests, and a website where all the data collected from patients is integrated.

The Winners & Awards

The winners and the awards of OA 2020 were:

  • Hyivy Health has received the Distinction Award and will be evaluated now for seed investment!
  • Breathecore has received the Special Support Program Award and will enjoy the support of OA team and its network for the upcoming year to further develop their solution.
  • WEARnCARE has also received the Special Support Program Award and will enjoy the support of OA team and its network for the upcoming year to further develop their solution.

We also are very grateful to our Partners for assigning the special awards:

  • Bird & Bird Awards go to WEARnCARE, Nevaro and Breathecore. The startups will receive legal consulting from our partner on the matters most relevant to them.
  • Deloitte Award goes to Hyivy Health. The startup will be supported with consultign regarding European market entry.
  • Portolano Cavallo Awards go to Hyivy Health, Oxifing Health Sport and Voicemed. The startups will also receive legal consulting support from OA partner.