The creative and primarily digitally driven start-up scene will again be an important feature at MEDICA 2020, the world’s leading medical trade fair, to be held in Düsseldorf, Germany from November 16–19, 2020.
In the wake of the Corona pandemic, the importance of mobile, easy-to-use solutions for networking the players in healthcare has increased even further and the creative founder scene is more in demand than ever. Many years ago, MEDICA was one of the first cross-industry events to offer special program formats for young companies to present their ideas during the founding phase. It has subsequently developed into the international No. 1 for health start-ups as well.
“Start-ups pitch” is the motto for the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM. In daily sessions, several young companies will briefly explain their latest developments. On the first two days of the event two highlights are on the agenda: the finals of the 9th MEDICA Start-up COMPETITION and the 12th Healthcare Innovation World Cup. The competition started life as an app competition and currently offers top innovators the perfect platform for showcasing their solutions in diagnostics, artificial intelligence and robotics, in addition to the health app segment. Last year’s winner was the Synphne Pte Ltd. team from Singapore with a system for mobile stroke rehabilitation.
The objective of the competition is to drive the start-ups’ development of innovative products forward by bringing them into contact with potential cooperation partners and users at MEDICA. Submissions for the 9th MEDICA will be accepted until September 23. All English-language applications will be evaluated by the competition jury based on the following criteria and a selected number of companies will be invited to participate in the finale on November 17 free of charge: Degree of innovation, commercial potential, technological feasibility, marketing approach, time required until launch, required investments.
The final of the 12th Healthcare Innovation World Cup is part of the MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM program on the first day of MEDICA 2020. Start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs will present their solutions for the “Internet of Medical Things” live in pitch format - from wearable technology and digital biomarkers to intelligent patches and smart implants. Entries can be submitted online free of charge until September 23 at https://www.innovationworldcup.com/categories/healthcare.
Another highlight for start-ups will be the REVERSE PITCH, the accelerator program for big companies. Even before the start-ups compete at the MEDICA Start-up COMPETITION on November 17 in the afternoon, accelerator programs compete for the favor of the start-ups.
In addition, there will be other contact points for those interested in start-ups at MEDICA 2020. The MEDICA START-UP PARK has now firmly established itself as a central presentation area and is closely thematically linked with the start-up pitches (e.g. it is also included in the daily format of MEDICA DISRUPT) in the neighboring MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM. This also applies for the WT Wearable Technology Show. This specifically focuses on wearable technology, for which the healthcare sector is one of the most important key markets.
