On 20 and 21 September 2022, the European Innovation Council (EIC) and 24 EIC innovators joined the Health Proc Summit 2022, organised by EHPPA and Health Proc Europe Association, in Brussels, Belgium. The present companies were able to pitch, exhibit their innovations and meet with Europe’s top health procurers (e.g., public and private hospitals, health organisations, etc.) in the hopes of expanding their clientele.
The journey with EHPPA and Health Proc Europe commenced early this year with two dedicated ePitchings to Procurers. During these ePitchings several EIC-funded companies were invited to join the Summit with a total of 24 EIC beneficiaries present at the event:
Allpriv; Aspivix; AT-Biotech; Aurimod; Bacteromic; Beats Therapeutics; Brainsigns; Cognuse; Contextflow; Gasgon Medical; Glycanostics; greenTEG; Hystrix Medical; Making Genetics; Mysphera; Nuada; Ortho Baltic; Positigro; Selfdiagnostics; SettleMint; STAB VIDA; Swiss Vault; Tada Group; and WaveTronica.
During the event, we sat down with Elisa Frenz, CEO of the Health Proc Europe Association, a non-profit that represents the healthcare and hospital buyer ecosystem from the private and public sectors, to talk about innovation procurement and joining forces with the EIC:
Can you tell us about the journey with the EIC?
“Our journey started a few years ago already. We were planning this event for a while, but due to the pandemic, we had to postpone it a few times. This allowed us to further elaborate our collaboration with the EIC and engage with different people from our organisation to optimise our selection of EIC beneficiaries. That’s why we ended up organising the ePitchings earlier. During these sessions, we invited our ecosystem to listen to pitches from the EIC innovators and rate their solutions.
The two ePitchings gave the EIC companies a feel for what we are all about, while for the buying side it helped to identify what solutions are out there and who would make interesting candidates to pitch here at the Summit. In the end, that helped us to have a nice mix of companies that are present here today.”
What are the advantages of working with the EIC and its beneficiaries?
“What I can see is that they are taking the buyers into account, I can see the linkage between our work and the EIC. On the other hand, it allows us to get innovative solutions in, so that’s an interesting bridge. From a European perspective, it’s also important to be in touch with the European institutions, the EIC in this case, to bridge the gap between what procurement means in practical terms and what’s needed from a legislative perspective.”
What would make the event and this collaboration a success for you and the ecosystem you represent?
“I believe our power lies in making direct connections. I hope that we can create these direct connections in our buyers’ ecosystems with the EIC beneficiaries. For us, a procurer is not the only decision maker but plays an important role in the innovation process. In the future, procurement needs to take a more crucial role in buyer decisions since it must bring innovation. They are the spider in the web, the connecting point. From the EIC beneficiaries’ side, I hope they can show us what’s out there and understand from the buying perspective what is needed to enter the hospital or healthcare departments around Europe.”
We also took this opportunity to speak with Eva Kováčová, CEO and General Manager at Glycanostics, an innovative Slovak startup that develops early-stage, non-invasive and highly accurate tests for the diagnostics of 11 types of cancer by using magnetic beads-based ELISA to detect glycans in blood serum. When asked about the reasons for joining this matchmaking event and the importance of the EIC’s role in the process she stated:
“The EIC represented a boost in our R&D activities and brought us the opportunity to be part of an event such as the Health Proc Summit where we can meet key companies and players that are involved in the sector, plus important procurement players to whom we can present our solution and showcase the benefits it can bring to the healthcare system. Initiatives like these can mean significant improvements to patients’ lives and be able to be in touch with procurers in such an event is truly meaningful. That’s why we cannot thank the EIC enough for all its support and the ‘platform’ it provides us to become more visible, not to mention the reputational benefits we can also achieve from this.”
Stay tuned for a full video breakdown of the Summit with interviews from EIC beneficiaries and procurers alike!
EIC Business Acceleration Services
This opportunity is brought to you by the EIC Business Acceleration Services. If you’re looking for opportunities to connect with some of the largest public and private procurers of innovation in Europe, make sure to check our events calendar often to grab the best opportunity to take your business to the next level.
