An interactive device for pelvic floor rehabilitation; artificial intelligence software that calculates the probability of a person having a respiratory disease; a negotiation platform between the healthcare system and pharmaceutical companies to speed up access to innovative treatments; and a custom video game that provides therapeutic content to improve mental health.
There is also a wearable pulse oximeter for the continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation; a wearable technology to assess the motor skills of Parkinson’s disease sufferers; a monitoring system for chest drainage for the prevention of post-operative complications; and a smartwatch to remotely monitor people suffering from neurodegenerative diseases.
These are the eight innovative ideas in the field of Digital Health that Zcube, Zambon Group’s Research Venture company, has chosen for its start-up acceleration programme.
The launch of Open Accelerator is a look to the future, which we always need, today as never before. We are increasingly convinced that our responsibility is also to promote high-value entrepreneurship, in an attempt to stay ahead of the future. Commented Elena Zambon, President of the pharmaceutical company of the same name and creator of the accelerator programme.
The OA has selected eight most innovative teams, both emerging and established, coming from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Canada, following a complex selection processto participate in the programme.. A four-week acceleration track, held exclusively online, will start on the 29th of October.
It will be a particularly intense period, where the more “traditional” training course will be complemented with individual mentoring and coaching sessions byhigh-levelexperts, adapted to the specific phase of the start-up’s life cycle. The programme also provides support to the start-ups on more complex issues such as the protection of intellectual property, go-to-market strategies, regulatory insights and CE certification – how to fundraise and report financial data – and other essential areas for newly established companies.
The impact of the pandemic has highlighted how we can only manage the unexpected through preparation. That is why working on innovation processes, ‘institutionalising’ them, and making them a permanent feature of our company is fundamental. With Open Accelerator, we are trying to balance the need to ethically and sustainably satisfy a basic need, i.e. the protection of human health, with the need to create sustainable and effective business growth paths. We are proud of the proposals we’ve received this year, and we can’t wait to reward the technologically innovative ideas, which will also have a significant impact in terms of progress and improving the quality of life of individuals stated Fabrizio Conicella, General Manager and Board Member of OpenZone and Zcube.
The 2020 edition of Open Accelerator, the fourth since the launch of the programme, will also include special sessions with two in-depth interactive sessions with industry experts: the first dedicated to fundraising thanks to the presence of Venture Capitals and Business Angels, and the second on collaboration opportunities for digital health start-ups with insurance companies. The estimated value of this acceleration programme that guarantees participants high-level training is around € 25,000 per participant.
Open Accelerator programme is going to be delivered in collaboration with Deloitte Officine Innovazione and is supported by high-value partners, which participated in the selection stage and contribute to the programme as mentors, coaches or trainers, including: Portolano Cavallo, Unicredit Start Lab, TIM, NINA Capital, LifeSeeder, Bird & Bird, HUMA, Evoleen, IQVIA, Italian Angels for Biotech, and Innogest.
At the end of the program, in December the startups will get an opportunity to meet investors, and will undergo the selection for the Distinction award, inviting them for the due-diligence process where Zcube will assess the actual investment opportunity of a seed award of up to € 100 000 per project (up to a maximum of three).
