EIT Health's Go Global DigiHealth 2016: a start-up’s first step to succeed in Silicon Valley
EIT Health and imec recently joined forces to take 12 European eHealth start-ups on an internationalization mission to San Francisco. The strict selection of participants, the support of experienced local coaches and the unique networking opportunities made Go Global DigiHealth a highly successful program.
Tackling the challenges of entering the US market
Silicon Valley is the indisputable innovation hub worldwide. From September 19th to 23rd, an exclusive group of 12 European eHealth start-ups was selected to go on a five-day deep dive in the Bay Area’s tech scene. The program focused on tackling the specific challenges European health start-ups are facing when entering the US market, focusing on five major topics:
• Building a successful health company
• US market entry and sales strategy for healthcare companies
• Regulatory environment and clinical trials
• Healthcare Business models and financials
• Silicon Valley fundraising
A five-day immersion in the US HealthTech scene
Hosted by the local incubator GSV Labs, during five days the start-ups were able to participate in lectures, workshops and panel discussions featuring international experts in the field; take part in unique networking opportunities; and visit leading health facilities – such as Johnson & Johnson Innovation labs and Stanford Healthcare. They could also participate in the Health 2.0 conference, which took place in Silicon Valley from September 25th to the 28th. Moreover, the participants were given the chance to pitch in front of a VC panel from top health companies, followed by a Q&A where the start-ups could get insights on their strategies, views on current digital health trends and learn from their success stories and failures. The panel consisted of members from GE Ventures, Summation Health Ventures, Claremont Creek Ventures, Mavericks Capital and Sand Hill Angels.
The seal of quality of imec.istart
Minze, UgenTec, LindaCare, Lynxcare, Nephroflow, Qompium and Ontoforce were the imec.istart companies selected to join Go Global DigiHealth, out of the nearly 100 start-ups that make up our portfolio.
“One of the reasons for the success of this mission was undoubtedly the rigorous selection process of the participating companies. EIT Health and imec – in strict collaboration with our highly experienced local coaches, Double Nova – wanted to make sure we picked start-ups in the right maturity stage and with a clear internationalization plan”, states Roger Lemmens, imec VP for Incubation & Industry. And he adds: “The fact that the majority of the selected companies came from our portfolio reflects once again the high quality of the imec.istart program, on a both national and international scale.”
Fruitful outcomes
The pitching tips and sessions offered to the start-ups during the program were especially important for Ontoforce and Qompium. The first start-up won the EIT Business Plan Aggregator award during the 5-day mission, allowing it to pitch their business in the EIT Health Summit in Barcelona on 23 and 24 November this year; they have also been contacted by several investors participating in the mission.
Qompium received a proof-of-concept prize of 25.000 Euro, also awarded by EIT Health during the program. The valuable lessons learned in the mission allowed the start-up to win the Aging 2.0 congress award on October 13 in San Francisco.
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