The Start-up Contest, a central component of the DIGIVITALITY project, is being prepared by innovation hubs across participating Central European (CE) countries and will be launched in January 2024. This contest serves as a platform designed to scout for innovative start-ups that target specific challenges identified by university hospitals and Med-tech companies within the CE region. The aim is to discover novel solutions leveraging DiGA-compatible (Digital Health Applications) digital technologies that directly respond to the identified real-life challenges.
The contest will be organized under a structured framework, through collaborative efforts within the DIGIVITALITY initiative. These criteria ensure a fair and comprehensive evaluation process, emphasizing factors such as feasibility, innovation, and potential impact on the healthcare landscape in CE countries.
Start-ups entering the contest will undergo rigorous scrutiny, with a focus on their ability to address the identified healthcare challenges effectively. The emphasis on DiGA-compatible solutions aligns with the contemporary trend towards digital transformation in healthcare and emphasizes the importance of solutions that are interoperable and in compliance with evolving industry standards.
Upon completion of the evaluation process, the best-performing start-ups will be selected based on their alignment with the predefined joint criteria. These selected start-ups are then prepared for the crucial next step – pitching their innovative solutions to the med-tech Associated Partners. This stage serves as a bridge between the innovative ideas developed by start-ups and the expertise and resources offered by established med-tech companies. The best start-ups will then enter the multidimensional feasibility validation process, with med-tech companies and hospitals, facilitated by innovation HUBs. DIGIVITALITY puts a high emphasis on raising digital health innovators’ awareness towards the benefits and added value they provide as compared to existing solutions. Therefore part of the process is also an early phase health technology assessment of their digital solutions, which will help them in developing their feasibility validation plan in a way that allows them to collect data and evidence on foreseeable health economy benefits.
By facilitating this connection, the DIGIVITALITY project not only fosters collaboration between emerging digital health innovators and established med-tech players but also accelerates the transformation of groundbreaking ideas into tangible, market-ready solutions. The Healthcare innovation contest, thus, becomes a catalyst for driving advancements in digital healthcare solutions across Central Europe, showcasing the commitment of the DIGIVITALITY initiative to propelling meaningful change in the healthcare landscape.