Op woensdag 9 oktober organiseren we voor de vierde keer Radboudumc Investmentday in het Radboud Experience Center.
Radboud Investmentday wordt georganiseerd door Radboudumc, Briskr, Oost NL en Radboud Universiteit: hét matchmaking event voor toponderzoekers, ondernemers en investeerders in de life sciences & health sector. Kennis uitwisselen, netwerken en vroegtijdig praten met investeerders over (toekomstige) samenwerking met als doel: de impact op de gezondheidszorg te verbeteren. Wil je hierbij zijn? Kijk voor meer informatie en aanmelden op de site.
StartUp Nijmegen is de zoektocht naar innovatieve, toonaangevende en unieke startende ondernemingen uit Nijmegen weer gestart. Jouw hulp kunnen ze hierbij hard gebruiken! Nomineer daarom jezelf of een ander voor de StartUpper van het Jaar 2024. De winnaar gaat ervandoor met deze trotse titel en €2500,- om vrij te besteden binnen de onderneming.
We willen startend ondernemerschap in de regio stimuleren en vieren. Met de StartUpper van het Jaar verkiezingen zetten we samen hardwerkende startende ondernemers in een welverdiende spotlight.
Dus: doe mee en nomineer jezelf of een ander die:
Maximaal 5 jaar bij de KvK staat ingeschreven;
Toonaangevende activiteiten onderneemt;
Gedreven en gemotiveerd is;
Omzet maakt.
Inschrijven kan hier! (https://forms.gle/PnYjer7Dbxqxv4e49 )Dit zal niet langer dan 5 minuten duren. Uiteindelijk worden alle inschrijvingen beoordeeld door onze jury. Zij zullen een top 3 maken waaruit op de finale avond de winnaar bekend zal worden gemaakt!
De finale avond vindt plaats op 7 november in brouwerij Florijn. De uitnodiging hiervoor ontvang je nog van ons.
Laten we samen inspireren, activeren en nomineren!
Met trots kondigen wij vandaag aan dat we het Digital Health Challenge Lab (DHCL) op 7 november 2024 officieel zullen lanceren. Dit baanbrekende open innovatieprogramma richt zich op het ontwikkelen van betekenisvolle en betaalbare oplossingen om mensen langer, gezonder en zelfstandiger thuis te laten wonen. DHCL is opgericht als antwoord op de urgente zorgbehoeften in onze gemeenschap.
Voor veel mensen die ondersteuning nodig hebben, is het fijn om zo lang mogelijk zelfstandig thuis te blijven wonen. Deze wens willen we als zorgsector, nu en in de toekomst, kunnen vervullen, maar kwalitatieve thuis- en mantelzorg vergt veel menskracht. Nu al werkt 1 op de 6 werknemers in de zorg, en als we niet innoveren zullen we zelfs 1 op de 4 werkenden nodig hebben. Dat is als maatschappij simpelweg niet haalbaar en betaalbaar. Daarom bundelen maar liefst 20 organisaties in de regio Arnhem-Nijmegen, van zorg en huisvesting tot overheid en onderwijs, hun krachten om te innoveren. Ze doen dit ‘challenge based’, om vernieuwende oplossingen sneller in de praktijk te brengen.
Floor van de Watering, programmamanager van DHCL, licht toe:
“Met dit open innovatieprogramma gaan we concrete knelpunten uit de wijk en zorgpraktijk vertalen naar ‘challenges’. Hiermee kunnen we slimme oplossingen en technologieën ophalen bij startups, scale-ups en het mkb. We hebben vervolgens drie testlocaties beschikbaar, zodat kansrijke innovaties direct met betrokken doelgroepen getest kunnen worden. Door deze aansluiting op de praktijk zullen we echt het verschil gaan maken!”
Matchmaking event & Open Call: 100@home
De lancering van DHCL wordt groots ingeluid met een matchmaking event waar vertegenwoordigers van onze partners om tafel gaan met geselecteerde startups en scale-ups. Om de meest innovatieve en inspirerende (health) bedrijven uit te nodigen voor donderdag 7 november, is de Open Call ‘100@home’ vanaf vandaag geopend. We zoeken ondernemers met vernieuwende (digitale) technologieën, producten en diensten die ervoor zorgen dat ouderen langer, gelukkig en zelfstandig thuis kunnen blijven wonen. Van preventieve oplossingen tot en met intensievere zorgtoepassingen.
Dus, heeft jouw bedrijf een (deel)oplossing die thuis- en mantelzorg beter en betaalbaarder kan maken? En wil jij jouw toepassing in één keer aan 20 stakeholders kunnen pitchen voor kans op een pilotproject? Schrijf je dan in via de Open Call!
De weg naar toekomstbestendige (thuis)zorg
Innovatie in het zorg- en welzijnsdomein is al langer aan de orde, denk maar eens aan de zorgrobot, virtuele thuishulp of alarmerende wearables. DCHL zal voortbouwen op eerdere successen én geleerde lessen, om zorginnovatie in een stroomversnelling te brengen! Technologieën die in theorie werken, maar niet gebruikt (kunnen) worden door de cliënt of zorgverlener, hebben immers geen impact. Daarom hebben we samen met open innovatie expert Starthubs gekozen voor een vraaggestuurd open innovatieprogramma.
Roadmap Digital Health Challenge Lab
In de voorbereidende fase van het programma, brengen we via de Open Call in kaart welke innovaties er nu al in de markt of in ontwikkeling zijn. Tegelijkertijd identificeren we de zorg-, welzijns- en woonuitdagingen van inwoners en instellingen in een praktijkonderzoek. Tijdens het matchmaking event, het officiële lanceermoment, zetten we de bevindingen uit deze voorfase direct in! We koppelen de geselecteerde ondernemers met oplossingen aan de juiste partners met behoeften. Met de meest kansrijke ‘matches’ zullen we begin 2025 praktijktesten starten. Het event is tevens het startpunt van nieuwe challenges, die focussen op de gevonden knelpunten in het wijkonderzoek. Zo kunnen we gerichter de innovaties vinden die aansluiten bij de regionale behoeften en wordt de kans op succesvolle implementatie groter.
“The Economic Board werkt samen onderwijs, ondernemers en overheden om maatschappelijke uitdagingen in de regio Arnhem-Nijmegen op te lossen. Wij geloven sterk in het ondersteunen van koplopers en hun innovaties, en het Digital Health Challenge Lab is nou precies zo’n programma dat een substantiële impact kan maken op zorg en gezondheid in onze regio.”
Aldus Jan van Dellen, Algemeen Directeur, The Economic Board regio Arnhem-Nijmegen.
Ook deelnemen als ondernemer of (publieke) organisatie?Ben je enthousiast geworden over de challenge based innovatie aanpak van DHCL en wil je hier aan bijdragen? Dat kan! Als indiener van een oplossing (startups, scale-ups, mkb’s) óf als partner van het programma (gemeenten, publieke instellingen of corporates). Kijk voor meer informatie en contactpersonen op www.digitalhealthchallengelab.nl.
Radboudumc’s Orthopaedic Research Lab is starting a new project with ATRO Medical: 3D-Printed PCU Meniscus Prosthesis (3PPP). 3PPP combines the latest developments in sports medicine with the power of AI. ATRO Medical’s durable meniscus prosthesis will be modeled in 3D based on artificial intelligence developed by the Orthopaedic Research Lab. Thanks to this technology, a scan of the healthy meniscus in one leg can be used to create a meniscus solution for the affected leg. In this way, the meniscus causing severe knee pain can be replaced with a new shock absorber, molded to the individual patient.
Each year, more than 1.2 million American and European patients lose their meniscus due to injury. Many incidents occur because of sports activities, such as soccer and other contact sports. More than 200,000 patients sustain such a painful knee that they are unable to play sports and sometimes even have to stop working. Only 5 percent of these patients benefit from surgery. The pain of the remaining patients can sometimes be relieved temporarily, but no permanent solution is available for them.
Anatomy of individual patient normative
A meniscal prosthesis can restore shock absorption in the knee to relieve pain and increase the patient’s quality of life. ATRO Medical is currently clinically evaluating a standard implant, which is available in five sizes. The next step is a more personalized solution, based on the patient’s own anatomy. With the latest developments in imaging techniques, artificial intelligence and 3D printing, this option is actually becoming possible.
Proof of principle
The 3PPP project should provide evidence that AI-based meniscus modeling of MRI images, including the development of the surgical procedure and necessary instruments, does indeed work (proof of principle). All aspects will be verified in the testing facilities of the Orthopaedic Research Lab of the Department of Orthopedics at the Radboudumc, bringing this technology close to clinical introduction. Maarten van der Zanden, CIO of ATRO Medical: “We are very pleased with the extension of our collaboration and with the opportunity to discover how AI can be used for knee patients with meniscus problems.”
A study of ATRO Medical’s first artificial meniscus is currently underway in the Netherlands with 14 patients in three clinics. 3PPP is a two-year SME project, co-funded by Health~Holland, Top Sector Life Sciences & Health, to stimulate public-private partnerships.
The healthcare sector is undergoing many changes. One such trend in elderly care is older people living at home longer. How do you properly support elderly people remotely?
Inn4cure has the answer: the company wants to make the development of the health of the elderly transparent remotely through digitisation by measuring vital signs with a smartwatch.
The Dutch population is ageing. As a result, healthcare is becoming more intensive and expensive. This has to change, says inn4cure. Why not implement a preventive health policy to prevent illnesses among the elderly?
Full Package Home (Volledig Pakket Thuis)
This type of health policy is currently facilitated by ‘Full Package Home’. All the health care needed by the elderly is provided at home by a single care institution, enabling people to continue living at home with the right mix of nursing care, assistance and treatment. To be eligible, people need an indication in the light of the Long-Term Care Act (Wlz).
Inn4cure and its partner Eurocom support Wlz institutions that provide nursing care, treatment, advice or general assistance to people living at home as part of the ‘Full Package Home’. They offer a helping hand so people can live at home longer.
Making it digital
How is inn4cure tackling the transformation of elderly care? Director and founder Pieter van Weijen explains: “We measure vital signs at home using a smartwatch. A smartphone sends the data to our inn4cure platform. Here, we compare the values with personal thresholds. Is there a deviation? That would trigger an alert to the caregivers. Someone will then contact the client.”
Inn4cure uses trend alerts. Vital signs are compared to threshold values over a defined period of time. It provides a remote but objective and transparent view of the development of a person’s health. Older people, their families and caregivers get peace of mind. Because no alarm means no worries.
Innovation in healthcare
Inn4cure believes in the power of digitalisation. Healthcare is undergoing major cuts, while the number of older adults is set to double in the next few years. This requires innovative ways of providing care, such as inn4cure’s solution. They offer their solutions to private and public customers, such as elderly care facilities. Digitalisation is still a big step for healthcare.
“That’s why we are in the process of helping healthcare providers discover how to deal with digitalisation”, says Pieter. “Together with HAN, we have developed an e-learning telemonitoring so that caregivers can get to grips with it. With these insights, they can then make a positive impact.”
Together for health
Inn4cure has a clear vision for the future. They want to roll out their services nationwide as a shared service centre for elderly care. With such a centre, a residential care facility can also provide digital services to older people still living at home in their neighbourhood: the nurse at the residential care facility receives an alerts if the health condition deteriorates. The video call facilities of inn4cure allow the nurse to check in to know if everything is OK. Participation of a GP or medical specialist can be done likewise.
“We are working with large, national partners on this future idea”, says Pieter. “This is how we continue to provide transparency in the development of healthcare. It’s like we always say: no alarm means no worries.”
Please note: This article about Inn4Cure was written for Briskr following their pitch at Business Angels Netwerk Nijmegen (BANN)
Medical self-tests have become indispensable in recent years. How are these products manufactured? The process is not without challenges. Companies are often very good at detecting diseases but tend to struggle with the production process of these tests. “This is where we come in”, says Bondus founder Bas-Jan Hoogenberg.
Both Bas-Jan and his co-founder Sven Eijpe had experience in manufacturing medical products before starting Bondus. “The process is very demanding. You can only work with safe materials that don’t interfere with the test. In addition, a medical self-test must be leak-proof: the test fluid must not escape from the product, to ensure proper functioning, which makes it difficult to mass-produce medical self-tests.”
Bonding
The Bondus solution? As the name suggests, it’s a new way of bonding materials. “We have developed a process to connect materials on a very small scale. You essentially glue plastics together. Between these plastic layers there is a network of channels through which fluids, such as blood, can flow.”
According to Bas-Jan, the Bondus technology is best compared to a circuit board. “On a circuit board there are copper tracks that conduct electricity through the chip. We don’t work with copper tracks, but with fluid channels. Our technology makes everything possible: mixing fluids or having them flow past a sensor to extract data.”
Faster to market
Bondus’ technology has a significant advantage: it enables customers to get to market faster. “Medical companies are mainly focused on their core technology: detecting disease. This is, of course, a crucial part of a test! But if you don’t consider production, you won’t be scalable. And no company is happy with insufficient production capacity.”
Bondus steps in with the processes that follow the disease detection part. “With technology and advice. How do you make the right choices in your design process to ensure that you can produce millions of tests later?”
Niche market
The world of medical self-testing is a niche market, and a difficult one to win over. “You would expect our customers to want to make as few changes as possible, because they are already using reliable methods. In general, it is difficult to get the medical industry to innovate. That’s why I’m so surprised at how open our customers are to new technologies. At the end of the day, it makes sense: people in this part of the market are working on a new generation of products. They are used to trying new things, and Bondus’ technology is part of that.”
Start-up phase
Bondus was founded in 2020. “Back then, it was all about tinkering and experimenting with materials. Later, we moved to ZWINC, the start-up incubator in Zwolle. You can tell when your company is getting to a more serious point, and that’s when we decided to work on Bonus full-time. It was an exciting step, but ultimately the right one: suddenly your mind is free to concentrate on your business.”
Now it’s time for Bondus to grow. “The first thing on the agenda is to expand our team. You simply achieve more with a larger group of people. And that’s what we need. Of course, that requires money, so we went looking for investors. This search led us to the Business Angels Network Nijmegen (BANN) and Briskr.”
In the run-up to BANN, Bas-Jan attended a pitch training. “It helped a lot, because it makes you focus on what you do as a company. It also helped us with the valuation of our company. That’s how we made our plans for next year.” This ties in with a big dream for Bondus. “When you buy a laptop, it almost always has an Intel Inside sticker. That’s what we want. When you buy a medical self-test, we want it to say ‘Bondus Inside’. That’s our goal!”
The Master Buddy Program links starting entrepreneurs to a team of master students. They are the buddy whose principal mission is to make an entrepreneur happy. The program starts in September and is open for registration.
Collaboration for six months
The design of the Master Buddy Program is straight forward: an entrepreneur has a question and the Buddies act as a support to get to a solution. This can be about deceptively simple questions such as: ‘What is an appropriate strategy for my company?’, ‘What opportunities are there within my market?’ or ‘What do I really have to offer to my customers?’. But simple questions are not always the easiest to solve. The Master Buddies spar, provide support, ask critical questions, have an analytical view and help retrieve relevant information. They spend half a day a week on this. The students come from the master’s program Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) at Radboud University. The program is organized in collaboration with local partners such as Startup Nijmegen and Mercator Launch.
Growth opportunities
From November onwards, students will be asked by the curriculum to investigate the opportunities for scaling and how this can be achieved profitably. The program concludes with a pitch event in February where students defend their ideas before an expert jury. The coordination of the Master Buddy Program is in the hands of dr. ir. Nanne Migchels. Registrations, questions and queries can be directed at nanne.migchels@ru.nl. Deadline is September 1st, 2024.
Wil jij je bedrijf laten groeien? Meer zichtbaarheid en omzet voor jouw innovatieve product of dienst? Schrijf je dan nu in voor de 19e editie van de KVK Innovatie Top 100.
Wat is de KVK Innovatie Top 100?
Jaarlijks kiezen we de 100 meest innovatieve Nederlandse mkb’ers. KVK zet hen in de etalage om andere ondernemers te inspireren. Nieuw dit jaar is dat bedrijven in vijf categorieën worden ingedeeld, die elk door een onafhankelijke vakjury worden beoordeeld. Ook brengt het publiek dit jaar haar stem uit.
Wanneer wordt de winnaar bekend?
De uitreiking van de KVK Innovatie Top 100 is in november. Dit gratis evenement draait om wat nodig is voor de verdere groei van je bedrijf. Zoals het uitbreiden van je netwerk en het vinden van nieuwe partners of investeerders. Heb jij met succes een innovatief product of dienst op de markt gebracht? Schrijf je dan nu in voor de KVK Innovatie Top 100.
Within Radboud University/FNWI, a group of students have registered for the international student competition (https://igem.org) with a project in which they want to design/synthesise FVIII mRNA and ‘package’ it in a nanovesicle.
To participate, they have to raise funding themselves. Frits Matthijsen, Knowledge Transfer Officer of Radboud University is supporting them. Would you like to help? Click here for the pdf for the funding options.
The idea for Let’s Zoip was born during the COVID pandemic. It was an opportunity to go back online, according to co-founder Desiree van Maasakker. “Video calls became highly relevant again, and we saw that the market hadn’t evolved since Skype. It was time for a change!”
Let’s Zoip’s platform is more than a video conferencing program. It’s a tool for businesses and organisations to host virtual guided tours during video conferences without having people visit their location. Let’s Zoip wants to help people connect with others in as many ways as possible. It was a necessity during the lockdowns, but many companies still value the possibilities.
Desiree focused on retaining human interaction in a digital world. “You want to ensure that something like a video call doesn’t get impersonal because you’d miss your point. Compare it to a conversation in the real world: it’s nicer to sit beside someone than across from them. That’s why ‘Create Human Connections’ is our slogan.”
Through the world of education
Desiree isn’t a stranger to the world of online conference calls. She started her first business in 1999, an internet platform to connect people. It was kind of a precursor to social media. Desiree founded a couple more internet businesses: in web hosting, RSS feeds, and, more creatively, 3D animations. “I had a lot of knowledge and experience with online businesses. For me, the global pandemic felt like a chance to renew a market.”
Let’s Zoip’s starting point was a high school asking Desiree and her business partner Tom Peters, whether they offered their VR services online. The school was looking for ways to stay visible during the lockdowns and had upcoming open days. “We were working on a comparable plan for fairs. That high school’s idea made us immediately change course. That is how the online guided tours came to be. Education is a great market to work in. Imagine you’re in primary school and having to choose a high school without ever setting foot in the building. Then such an online tour can really help you get started! Solving that issue makes for rewarding work.”
Working hard during start-up
Desiree explains that they had to work hard during the start-up phase. Because besides the platform for digital guided tours for schools and businesses, Let’s Zoip didn’t want to drop their idea for fairs. They were building a tool enabling users to share and look at 3D models. They decided to work on both projects simultaneously.
When the platform was finished, the labour didn’t end. “We were helping dozens of schools host guided tours. It all went great until they all had open days through our platform simultaneously. Hundreds of people per school walked around the buildings digitally. Our servers were working overtime and were eventually overloaded. You cannot prepare for everything; sometimes, you just have to experience it. Now we can say that our platform can handle a lot, and we know its limits exactly.”
Never done
Since that enormous open day, Let’s Zoip has learned a lot. “We now have a market-ready product. But to be honest, in my eyes, the platform will never be finished. We provide software as a service (SaaS), and these products need constant updating. However, we have moved on from the growing pains. The next step might be even more important: making choices.”
Entrepreneurship is all about making choices, like excluding target groups. Let’s Zoip is now in the middle of this process. It was one of the biggest learning points from Briskr’s Business Angels Network Nijmegen (BANN). “We have a solid story but we lack a clear target audience. Which sector, which country? What kind of solution are we truly delivering?”
Two conclusions came from the preparations for BANN, says Desiree. “We already have a lot of traction in the education sector. Schools are happy with our solution and also see the opportunities. It is also a great market: you get to help children. The second focus is towards recruitment. It is a nationwide challenge for employers to find staff, and our software can be excellently combined with a vacancy. We see the opportunities here!”
“Before you are allowed to pitch at BANN, there is an introductory period. I think that’s an excellent idea: you get help from coaches via Briskr to prepare as well as you can. This way, you get everything into focus, which doesn’t hurt. It was also a nice confirmation for me as a spokesperson that I enjoyed being in front of a group and convince people!”
