HIHI 2020 National Call selects 15 Early stage start-up & SME winners 

21 Jul 2020

The 2020 winners of Health Innovation Hub Ireland’s call for innovative ideas from companies, start-ups and SMEs has been announced.

The national call which involved a nationwide health innovation competition is directed at companies who have an innovative product, solution or service that are at pre-commercial or late development phase with the potential to significantly impact Irish healthcare.The call is particularly relevant this year as the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for innovation in healthcare. In addition, based on HSE input, HIHI also launched a focussed call for the prevention, early diagnosis and self-management of chronic illness including cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and diabetes. This year there has been a marked surge in companies developing health solutions that reflect global health trends and a particular focus on digital and tele health solutions is emerging. 

Forty-eight cutting edge innovators competed for the opportunity to avail of the unique HIHI innovation pathway for companies seeking pilot or validation studies. Acting as a broker  HIHI matches companies with relevant clinical teams, oversees a study of each product in an Irish clinical setting, and delivers an outcome report which going forward, supports the adoption of products in national and international markets, enhances distribution opportunities and assists in the continued development for those companies. 

This year’s final of the HIHI 2020 Health Innovation Competition represented the culmination of a nationwide search to identify up and coming healthcare companies with the potential to scale their business. 23 made it through to a dragon’s den style pitch panels which included experts from HSE, Enterprise Ireland, HRB, SFI, CRCI, Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Department of Health, clinicians, and industry.  

There were 15 ultimate winners with strong competition amongst this year’s entries, 5 of these winners address the theme of the focussed call- ‘supporting self-management of chronic illness’. Many of these solutions leverage technology to enable care in the community, which  (in the current pandemic) is now a necessity.  HIHI will now match the winning companies with relevant clinical teams, overseeing a study of each product in an Irish clinical setting. These pilot and clinical validation studies provide critical test beds to support Irish companies going to market and can identify any further refinements in the development cycle. The aim is to ensure that the best Irish healthcare solutions are delivered to patients. 

HIHI 2020 Health Innovators are: 

Stratos Medical – In dwelling cannula for Haemodialysis 

Lynch’s Pharmacy - DI@DEM –Diabetes Management Service 

TIC Ltd – MedChat – “Digital first” communication in healthcare 

YellowSchedule – Online scheduling for patient and visitor convenience. Reduces inefficiencies and improves management.  

Hygiene Audits- Nursing Home software solution for infection prevention and control management 

NUA Surgical - SteriCISION™ - novel intra-operative device to make caesarean sections (C-Sections) a safer, simpler and superior surgery 

My Gut Solution Ltd – Digital Therapeutic pathway for irritable bowel syndrome  

Feeltect Ltd - TrackSave a connected-health device for measuring and monitoring sub-bandage pressure. 

Bond Platform Ramblegard – Monitors patient activity and falls through use of technology 

PacSana- Using comprehensive movement and sensor data to gather and respond to critical care insight.  

Diona – Diona provides innovative systems of engagement solutions to government Health and Human Services, Social Care, and Social Security agencies 

Wellola – Secure patient-portal solutions sharing of clinical data seamlessly between clinicians and their patients, to increase self-management and support remote care delivery 

Bluedrop Medical- Thermovisual monitoring and management of diabetic foot disease. 

CardiaCAIR Plexa Medical – PLEXA – Personalising Out Patient Department (OPD) virtual medicine for chronic disease networks 

DiOpsy – Mass Spectroscopy Ambient Ionization to differentiate benign and malignant breast tissues core biopsy samples 

For further information on the winning companies please visit here.