By plane from Lisbon or by train from Munich: five of the leading European digital health startups made their way to Vienna to meet investors from all over Europe. What they all had in common was that they were all winners of the European Super Angels Club (ESAC) national pitching events, held in September and October.
Last week they met at the Park Hyatt in Vienna to compete for the title of European Digital Health Champion 2018 in front of 200 early-stage investors. In addition to the pitches, renowned family offices, corporate venture capital units and business angels from all over Europe were able to meet each other and swap insights on early-stage tech investing in Europe.
After five fantastic pitches and testing questions from the jury and the audience, British startup Repositive was named ESAC Digital Health Champion 2018. Founder Fiona Nielsen and her phenomenally bright team are creating a two-sided marketplace in which genomic data is indexed in a fully searchable way for the first time. This means that pharmaceutical companies can better target their pre-clinical research, leading to sharply increased success rates for drug discovery.
Amadeus Capital, a high-tech fund founded by star investor Hermann Hauser, has already invested in this promising company and numerous members of the club expressed their interest as well. “Negotiations are already underway as a result of the event, and that’s exactly what our Club is all about,” explains James Penn, EASC Investor Relations Manager.
Image: Fiona receiving the trophy for Digital Health Champion 2018, with sponsors, jury members and startup finalists are congratulating.
The Top 5
All five finalists were very well received by the audience. For example, myBioma from Austria went on stage with the knowledge that they had already secured an investment from serial entrepreneur Daniel Mattes and his company 42.cx due to the ESAC event in Munich in October. This is an index fund listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
myBioma operates in the field of predictive medicine, using AI to scan the gut flora and help the early detection of diseases. “The microbiome (the intestinal flora) is currently one of the most researched fields in genetics. Every person should have an analysis of the intestinal flora analysed twice a year as a precaution,” explains Dr Barbara Sladek, founder of myBioma.
Germany-based Mommymove has developed a fitness app that is specifically tailored to the needs of new mothers and has already gained huge exposure through the Apple App Store, being featured regularly as one of their best newcomers.
The Swiss national winner was Sleepiz. They have developed a revolutionary medical device that can be used at home to analyse sleep apnoea with an accuracy which was previously only possible in a sleep laboratory. The judges and audience were particularly impressed by founder Max Sieghold’s very polished pitch and saw the potential for a lucrative exit which may be just down the road.
Wildsmile from Portugal had the longest journey to Vienna. The company has also created a marketplace for dental treatments, similar to an ‘Airbnb for Dentists’ that has already provided over a million treatments and wants to conquer the DACH region next.