Health Valley Event: live again after 3 years

After 3 years, the international Health Valley Event on 15, 16 and 17 March in Nijmegen can finally be visited live again at Pathé and Van der Valk. Every year, the healthcare innovation network of the East Netherlands organises the largest healthcare innovation conference in the Netherlands, connecting the more than 1,200 participants from home and abroad. In 2019, Health Valley Netherlands last organised an edition on location where visitors could meet each other. In March 2020, the event was cancelled last-minute and in 2021 participants could only attend online.

Chris Doomernik, Director of Health Valley: “We are extremely happy to finally be able to organise the event on location again. Now our visitors can connect face-to-face with entrepreneurs and people active in healthcare organisations, knowledge institutions and governments. An important step towards accelerating innovation through the use of technology and thus making tomorrow’s health and care possible, today.”

Plenty of tickets
Given the current flexibilities (the event is a so-called flow location), there are no restrictions on the number of visitors. There are also no restrictions such as testing for entry. Of course, the health of the visitors is paramount and Health Valley advises to follow the advice: wear a mouth mask if required, wash your hands regularly, test before visiting the event and stay at home in case of complaints. Interested parties who cannot or do not wish to attend a live on-site event can use an online ticket.

The Health Valley Event
The Health Valley Event is the largest healthcare innovation conference in the Netherlands. Every year, visitors from the Netherlands and abroad from the health care sector, the business world, research, education and government come together to work on tomorrow’s health and care. At the event, the exchange of knowledge, but also the gaining of inspiration and especially matchmaking are central themes. For this edition, there is a special cooperation with the European (Active & Assisted Living) AAL programme and there will also be extra attention for healthy ageing. More information: www.healthvalleyevent.com .

Governments, education and entrepreneurs join forces in the Arnhem Nijmegen region

Enliven winner of the East Netherlands National Care Innovation Award 2022

The winner of the preliminary round of the Nationaal Health Innovation Prize is….Read more in Dutch:

Winnaar van de voorronde in Oost-Nederland voor de Nationale Zorginnovatieprijs 2022 is geworden: Enliven, Virtual Reality voor empathie. Deze innovatie gaat door naar de finale op 17 maart tijdens het hybride Health Valley Event.

Winnaar Enliven
Chablis Platenburg van Enliven legde in haar pitch hun Virtual Reality innovatie uit, die ze inzetten bij trainingen ter bevordering van begrip en empathie. Mensen kunnen hierdoor een ander beter gaan begrijpen, door in de schoenen te staan van een ander en te voelen wat de ander voelt.

Marc Kalf, national ecosystem director bij Health Valley, mocht de winnaar namens de jury bestaande uit de innovatiemanagers van Health Valley, bekend maken: “Het was een zeer lastige keuze voor de jury om uit de fantastische inzendingen de winnaar voor Oost-Nederland te bepalen. Enliven heeft ons verrast en overtuigd door de brede inzetbaarheid van VR en simulatie. Deze combinatie maakt het mogelijk om patiënten, medewerkers in de zorg en studenten in de zorg zo optimaal mogelijk voor te bereiden op de dagelijkse situaties en uitdagingen.”

Finale Health Valley Event
Op 17 maart tijdens het hybride Health Valley Event gaat Enliven door naar de finale van de Nationale Zorginnovatieprijs. Ze maken hierbij kans op de vakjuryprijs van tienduizend euro en/of de publieksprijs van vijfduizend euro.

Overige pitches
De overige drie pitches die de eerste plek niet wisten te behalen, waren: De helpende gedachten app, Florapanels en Anne4care.

Zorginnovatieprijs
De Nationale Zorginnovatieprijs is dé prijs voor ondernemers die hun innovatie al hebben uitgewerkt, getest en gelanceerd. Zij kunnen vaak een duwtje in de rug gebruiken om hun bedrijf echt tot een succes te maken. Kijk voor meer informatie op www.zorginnovatie.nl.

How to determine the value of a company?

Blog Aeternus

As an entrepreneur you are – as a matter of course – occupied with the future of your company. What are the opportunities in the market for your branch? Where do you want to grow with your company? And when you eventually want to sell your company, how much is your company worth? Smart entrepreneurs have been developing their most important value drivers for years before selling their company. The value drivers are in fact the most decisive factors for the value and price of your company, not just profit or EBITDA.

In this blog you will read which factors determine the price of your company, how this value is determined and how you can anticipate this in time for the best deal price as an end result.

Determining the value of your company: cash flows, business model and risks
First of all, let’s say that determining the asking price of your company is not an exact science. Nor is it an accounting sum of numbers on the balance sheet and in the profit and loss account. So what is it based on?

The basis for the value of a company is its cash generating capacity. And not profits. A company that, in addition to depreciation, also has to invest the profit each year in new machinery and stock has no value in the perspective of constant exploitation.

To calculate the value, we use the so-called Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Method, by which future cash flows, taking into account the risk profile of the company, lead to the value outcome. In the assessment of future cash flows and risk profile, the quality of the business model plays an important role. The following aspects spring to mind:

Is your business model based on hours or products?
Does your company have long-term contracts?
What is the Customer Lifetime Value of your customers?
What are the market developments in your sector?
To what extent is your business scalable with a view to the future?
What are specific risks and dependencies?
What development opportunities has the company developed for the future?

These are partly subjective assessments that may be judged differently by a buyer. This difference in assessment can cause a discrepancy between your personal perception of a price and the perception of the potential buyers. Our experience shows that more than half of the entrepreneurs overestimate the value of their business. With the help of an acquisition specialist, you can formulate a realistic and market-based price range in proper consultation.

That many times EBITDA?
In offers and negotiations the price is often expressed in ‘so many times the EBITDA’, also called a multiple in the takeover world. The Multiple is therefore the denominator by which EBITDA is multiplied to arrive at the rough company valuation. For a Multiple of 6 with an EBITDA of €1.5 million the enterprise value is thus around €9 million. Multiples are derived from databases of comparable transactions, but in practice not enough is known about the transactions to make a proper comparison: were the circumstances similar? Was the buyer comparable? Is the company really comparable to the company in this transaction? Multiples are company and transaction specific and companies are difficult to compare. The EBITDA method takes too little account of company-specific factors. For example, a relatively small software company in a fast-growing market can easily be worth 10 to 15 times the EBITDA. And for a larger company with fewer growth opportunities, a lower Multiple of 4 to 5 might just apply.
In addition, the EBITDA is not useful in many industries, for example companies with high investment needs, where EBITDA is reduced by investments.
EBITDA is therefore too imprecise for a good value indication, but in some cases it can be used as a rule of thumb.

Dealbreakers and price reducers with negative effect on the sales price
Dealbreakers are issues that can frustrate negotiations. Examples are the right of a major customer to terminate the contract in the event of a change of ownership, a patent infringement or the absence of a non-competition clause in the case of some key employees. Our experience shows that this does happen often.

Price reducers are elements that weigh heavily on the side of potential buyers when considering the price. They include, for example, the high degree of dependence on a few important customers. Or the inability of the buyer to deliver critical business data due to poorly designed systems. But of course, the unexpected deterioration of business results during the sales process can also be a deal-breaker.

Influencing the value of your company yourself?
As an entrepreneur, you would do well to start thinking in good time about value drivers, dealbreakers and price reducers. A complete insight into these factors is the first step towards preparing your company for sale.

Discover how you can influence the valuation of your company here the E-book (in Dutch).

Look back at Briskr workshop Venture Capital

From PhD-student to experienced entrepreneurs, the group of participants in the workshop ‘How to attract capital Investment for your innovation in Health/HighTech’ on February 3 was very diverse. Speaker Thijs Cohen Tervaert, investor and director at INKEF Capital informed us he was trained a medical doctor, but never practiced as one. He now helps organisations in healthcare and pharma to co-fund.

He explained the role of venture capital, the criteria used in selecting the right investments and how even early on in your startup you can prepare for these.

In healthcare you need a longer investment horizon to actually start up a company and make it successful. To make the product market-ready you need the help from hospitals, do clinical studies and find partners in innovation.

Nowadays, Digital Health is high on the agenda. Healthcare and technology have a lot of potential as a combined sector with many beautiful and innovative applications that can improve cure and care.

On the basis of several practical cases, it became clear how INKEF can help to finance and develop the company. We learned that venture capital can take place in different stages of a company, or even in certain focus areas.

At the end of the workshop there was an interesting discussion among the participants how to attract venture capital for their organisation or idea.

We look back on yet another successful workshop from INKEF and Briskr.

Health Valley: Lessons learned on digital care in times of corona

Commissioned by the province of Overijssel and together with the lectureship ICT innovations in Care of Hogeschool Windesheim, Health Valley conducted a study into the applications of digitisation in care and its acceleration by corona. What have we learned from corona and what can we retain from it after corona? These questions were put to innovation managers in hospitals, care for the elderly, care for the disabled and home care. The lessons learned are compiled on the website: www.innovatiemanagerindezorg.nl.

Not only did healthcare organisations accelerate the introduction of eHealth during the pandemic; the acceptance and adaptation by users also increased because digital solutions proved to be very useful. The project ‘Learning from Corona’ mapped out the lessons learned and how they can be used to make sustainable use of eHealth applications after the pandemic. After all, at some point citizens – patients and clients – will start asking ‘can it be done digitally’?

Lessons learned bundled together
Jolanda van Til, lecturer-researcher at Windesheim: “When the province also seemed interested in the question, we turned it into a project and quickly got to work. We interviewed fourteen innovation managers, did a lot of desk research and finally held two group sessions; meetings with the interviewees to explore the themes and findings in greater depth.” Meanwhile, the most important results of the research, clustered around eight themes, are on the website www.innovatiemanagerindezorg.nl.

Corine Böhmers, innovation manager at Health Valley and also involved in the study: “On this website, innovation managers find all kinds of starting points for implementing and speeding up digital solutions. A wealth of information and an incentive to share knowledge.

There is already a lot; make use of it
And that is perhaps the most important result of the study: sharing knowledge, Corine says: “You don’t have to invent the wheel yourself. There are already many step-by-step plans and programmes. You can find them on the website. Look carefully at what is already there and use it to your advantage. Corona has given video-calling an enormous boost. We will probably see some reversal of this later, but hybrid working is here to stay. Look at your neighbours and see how they organise things, and take over what you can use.

Jolanda adds: “During the research and in the group discussions, we already saw a kind of fellow sufferer contact develop. That is very important. The role of innovation manager can be very lonely. Know that exactly the same developments are being worked on elsewhere and learn from each other. The website now offers a wonderful platform for that.”

4 Reasons to sit down early with a patent attorney

BLOG by EP&C Patent Attorneys

Patent protection is already crucial in this early phase, so we help the young entrepreneurs with that. I’ve been guiding them with patent applications, Freedom To Operate studies and more in recent years. And so we will continue to do that in the coming years. Many entrepreneurs, both starting out and experienced, only realize too late how important it is to sit down with a patent attorney at an early stage. And there are several good reasons for doing so.

REASON 1: WE CAN IDENTIFY THE PATENT RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES AT AN EARLY STAGE
Many entrepreneurs are so busy developing their product, starting a business and finding investors that their competitors’ patent rights are a blind spot. You may know who your competitors are, but do you know if they have relevant patent rights? This is a question that investors frequently ask. So you need to investigate that. Whether you do this yourself, or have it done; it must be done. Otherwise you run the risk of developing a product that infringes on someone else’s intellectual property. Which brings me to the next point.

REASON 2: WE CAN STILL EASILY ADJUST THE DESIGN
The earlier you know about third-party patent rights, the easier it often is to make minor adjustments to a design. These adjustments may make it possible to design around the existing patents and still be able to enter the market without infringing them. This can of course also be done at a later stage, but is then often much more expensive. The conversion of an entire production line costs more than adapting a concept.

REASON 3: WE CAN DISCUSS R&D RESULTS AT AN EARLY STAGE
Innovative entrepreneurs often overlook two things in the development process. First, they often do not realize that they are making simple but valuable inventions. In addition, they sometimes disclose new products before they are patented. In that case, that invention no longer meets the novelty requirement and they can no longer patent it. By discussing the R&D results with a patent attorney at an early stage, you can avoid these pitfalls.

By looking at this together, we will discover the inventions that seem obvious to you, and you will not disclose anything that should not already be disclosed. At the bottom line, this makes your patent portfolio a lot stronger. This increases the value of your company and your position in the market.

REASON 4: WE INCREASE THE CHANCE OF INVESTMENT
At Startlife, where finding investors is an important goal, we often hear that entrepreneurs come across better to investors after we have talked about intellectual property. Because of their improved understanding of the opportunities and threats related to their intellectual property, they exude professionalism and a grasp of the situation. Someone is more likely to invest in an organization that knows what it has already done, or wants to do, in the area of patents.

SMALL INVESTMENT
The earlier you start talking to a patent attorney, the more grip you have on the initial steps of your venture. Many people only take this step once their techniques have been further developed. This seems logical, but can end up costing much more time and certainly money. Even a brief conversation with a patent attorney can provide you with so much relevant information for your company that it is well worth the small investment.

Transforming ideas into successful businesses

Britta Driessen went from an intern at Novio Tech Campus (NTC) to the position of business coach at the Radboud University (RU) in Nijmegen. As a business coach and programme manager at RU’s entrepreneurship programme Mercator Launch, Britta focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship. For example, she helps innovative start-ups to turn ideas into viable products, expand their network, finance their business, and acquire all skills needed to create a successful business. She does so in collaboration with regional partners of Briskr.

During her masters in Medical Biology, Britta discovered her passion for innovation. “I was doing research in a lab at UMC Utrecht. I ended up in an interdisciplinary department, with biologists, chemists and mathematicians working together daily to develop new applications to improve quality of life. That is when I discovered what innovation really looks like at a knowledge institution, and what it truly means: creating practical solutions to societal challenges, such as a 3D printing tissue to repair cartilage defects. This piqued my interest.”

In 2016, Britta, who specialised in Management & Innovation, performed an internship at NTC. She talked to many companies about their intended success and the contribution of a campus like NTC to this success. “These organisations contribute to entrepreneurs’ chances of success because they help with practical matters such as facilitating space and connecting you with like-minded people. Ultimately, I ended up doing just that at Radboud University: helping entrepreneurs find their way and create impact. By supporting and stimulating entrepreneurship, we aim to create societal impact with the knowledge generated at our university.”

Building a business concept

There is an incredible amount of talent to be found at the Radboud campus, says Britta: “Many researchers, students and alumni have great, innovative ideas that they would like to act on. We support them in building on their business concept, both substantively and practically. We train and coach entrepreneurs and organise workshops and masterclasses to improve their entrepreneurial skills. Furthermore, we offer workspaces, grant access to a large network and help start-ups towards funding.”

“Simply put, we provide all the tools and methods to benefit entrepreneurs for a lifetime. Even if they eventually choose not to pursue this path, entrepreneurial competencies such as flexibility, market knowledge and presentation skills are always of added value. In that sense, we offer a skills training programme to create impact.”

Cooperation within the region: Briskr and the Radboud University

Supporting entrepreneurs in the early phases of their innovative business is not a solo project. “Of course, we don’t have all the expertise in-house. That is why we collaborate with other organisations in the area and make use of all the knowledge they have to offer”, Britta explains. “Within Briskr, we share and discuss the Health and High Tech start-ups we support. Partners can improve and accelerate the support, by sharing the start-ups and challenges they face, and by providing their knowledge, expertise and network”.

As an example, Britta paints a picture of an entrepreneur who had largely established his business concept. “To be honest, we couldn’t provide him with the support that he needed. So, we reached out to Briskr, and the participant found his place in another programme of one of Briskr partner meetings, more specifically, the Market Readiness Program of OostNL. Now, he receives the most optimal support for his start-up phase.” But that is not the only way Briskr and the Radboud University complement each other. “For example, we offer masterclasses together on topics that are important and relevant to our start-ups. We are stronger when we join forces. And this way, we get to learn from each other, too.”

Helping starting entrepreneurs get the best out of themselves and their idea is what makes Britta happy. “If we support entrepreneurial spirits to reach their full potential, great things will happen.”

Predica Diagnostics enables early cancer detection with mRNA molecules

Starting in 2019, CEO Marco de Boer has been busy establishing Predica Diagnostics. The company is convinced that it’s possible to detect cancer in an early stage, by using a new kind of technology: ciRNAseq, targeted sequencing of mRNA molecules that denote the presence of cancer in tissues. “It’s time to take the next step and validate our technology.”

Marco has a background in the field of molecular biology and expanded his business acumen with an MBA from the Nyenrode University. “Since my graduation, I’ve worked for all kinds of companies. But I’ve always wanted to start my own company, in my ambition to contribute to improving health. Fortunately, I met William Leenders, the intellectual father of our technology. He was looking for someone who could expand on his technology, and had sufficient experience in business.”

More than basic research

William developed his technique of detecting mRNA molecules at Radboud University. “But if you want to start using a technique to actually help patients, it has to go through a whole process. A university is mainly concerned with basic research, and we’re now in the process of converting that research into something tangible, to help people. Obviously this process comes at a considerable price.”

With the help of financial support from the province of Gelderland (RedMedTech Discovery Fund), Leenders and De Boer were able to start Predica Diagnostics. Marco explains that the next step requires additional investors. “Our 2022 goal is to validate our technology on the basis of an investment in our company.” However, looking for investors is an art in and of itself — but fortunately, Marco doesn’t have to go through the process alone. “I’m from Noord-Holland and didn’t have a network in Gelderland. So that’s where Briskr came in.”

“Briskr introduced us to the Business Angel Network meeting, for example. Here, we were able to pitch our proposition to Angels from the Nijmegen area. This was a valuable experience, as we have increased our network and we are in discussion with potential investors.”

2022 is the year of growth

Through Briskr, Marco also came into contact with OostNL. “OostNL supported us through a “Groeiversneller – Economic Board Voucher”, which allowed us to explore our technology during the Health Innovation Round Table. We’re still in a developmental phase, but we need to know how potential users perceive our product. The Round Table allowed us to present our ideas to gynaecologists and other experts in the field.”

Marco’s plans for Predica Diagnostics are clear: “With the help of an investor, we can speed up and complete technical validation. Then, when that’s successful, it’s time for clinical validation.” Clinical validation is a long process because it involves working with patients who followed over extended periods. “If all goes well, we’ll have a certified test on the market in three years. But to get to that point, we still have a long way to go. That’s why we’re always looking for new investors or partners.”

From research to product launch: Ardim creates accessible ultrasound

As a postdoc at Radboudumc, Thomas van den Heuvel performs research within the field of medical image analysis. He specialised in the use of hand-held ultrasound scans with the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Recently, he has made the leap from science to actually bringing his solution to the market. And that comes with quite a few challenges.

Thomas has a vision to lighten the load on healthcare. By making medical imaging accessible, he wants to help GPs and paediatricians, primary care givers, to enable imaging-based diagnosis at the point-of-care. “The workload in hospitals is simply too great. We can’t continue as we are currently doing. To avoid unnecessary hospital visits, we have to be able to provide the right care at the right place. Thanks to software that automatically detects risks, a primary care giver needs little extra training to be able to use the ultrasound.”

From developing countries to primary care in the Netherlands: many applications

Ultrasound devices that can be connected to a smartphone have become available in the past six years. Thomas has been researching the use of AI to interpret ultrasound images for years. The software application that he is developing, will help doctors to perform an ultrasound examination with a minimal amount of training.

For example, during his PhD research, he helped midwives in developing countries with no experience in ultrasounds, to perform prenatal ultrasound screening. With just two hours of training and the help of AI, a midwife is able to acquire ultrasound images, which are interpreted by the algorithm to detect pregnancy risk factors.

A year ago, Thomas also started looking into other applications for his technique. Currently, he is working on bringing his first solution to market. “An integrated AI solution on your smartphone for medical image analysis offers a lot of opportunities. We have chosen two propositions to focus on, for now. Putting the research into practice, is what I like best,” says Thomas. On 1 October, 2021 he founded his company Ardim.

From investments to intellectual property

Entrepreneurship entails much more than just a good idea, so Thomas went to Briskr for workshops and networking. “Bringing this product to market goes far beyond research and making it technically sound. You have to deal with investments, certification, drawing up a clear business plan, gathering a team, you name it. Then it’s nice to have something like Briskr to guide you.” Among other things, Thomas attended workshops on intellectual property and valuation. “Patenting software, like AI algorithms, is not that straight forward, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a patent strategy. And determining how to really know what your start-up is worth and how to create value to bring in investments, is essential.”.

Briskr is the community to be for MedTech start-ups

Thomas started his research at the Department of Medical Imaging of the Radboudumc in Nijmegen, from which a couple of spinoffs with AI proposition emerged before. “Having predecessors helps a lot.” He also benefits greatly from Briskr’s community. “Briskr is broader oriented, it’s all about MedTech across the region. Running into likeminded people is so important, you get to pick their brains. I also benefit from the courses and workshops that cover a great variety of topics that you need to know about when you are starting up your business. It is a very nice community that is very valuable for a start-up company. If you are a MedTech start-up in Nijmegen and you have not heard of Briskr, you are doing something wrong”, he laughs.