On 28 and 29 November 2018, the European Innovation Council (EIC) and Medtronic, a leader in the world of medical technology, gathered 20 companies to discuss the transformation of healthcare and promote business partnerships. SocialDiabetes shared its solution for diabetes management and the future of digital diabetes.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been playing an increasingly crucial role in the development of new products in the medical device industry. Quick adaptability, the capacity to identify market niches and intrinsic innovative potential, have turned these companies into relevant players in the healthcare industry worldwide.
However, at the stage when SMEs are growing, they need considerable financial resources to continue investments in product development and clinical trials, to bring their products to market faster. To tackle these challenges the EIC pilot and Medtronic promoted a matchmaking and business acceleration event in Tolochenaz, Switzerland, home of Medtronic’s EMEA headquarters.
SocialDiabetes was one of the 20 companies backed by the EIC pilot that took the stage and shared their innovative health care solutions for medical devices and therapies, mobile and remote health, patient engagement, diagnostics, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, data analytics and robotics.
At the event, Ger Hill, Senior Director Global Innovation at Medtronic, talked about Medtronic’s innovation strategy: “For a company like Medtronic who has currently reached around 30B$ in revenue, maintaining revenue growth requires us to draw on innovation not only from our substantial organic internal innovation, but also from external partners. There are a lot of smart people who don’t work at Medtronic, and we want to collaborate with them to turn their ideas and concepts into products and solutions for patients and Medtronic.”
“We are extremely proud to have been selected among more than a hundred applicants. It has been an enormous opportunity to showcase our solution and also learn from fellow european entrepreneurs that are leading amazing initiatives” (Ikuska Sanz, Head of Business Development at SocialDiabetes). “For a startup like SocialDiabetes, building a strong network of collaborators is essential to bring innovative solutions to our clients and remain competitive in the age of the customer. We are looking forward to exploring new partnership and business opportunities with Medtronic”.
This Corporate Day was promoted by the EIC pilot Business Acceleration Services.
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