Although only about 10% of national start-ups focus their projects on the health sector, various studies have detected annual growth of around 50% in the number of entrepreneurs who choose health, so the percentages are good they could change significantly in the next few years.
The motives? On the one hand, the existence of a field that, although not virgin , still has many edges to explore. And on the other, the increasing commitment of the Administrations to collaboration between the public and private sectors to promote innovation in health –diagnosis techniques, technological equipment …–, and that benefits both equally. While the first responds to the increasing budget constraints, the second can access resources that would hardly be available on their own.
And it is that obtaining financing continues being a luck of El Dorado for the entrepreneurship in health . According to the report Radiography of start-ups with a social impact on health in Spain , carried out within the framework of the Emprende inHealth program – one of the national benchmarks in the field of health – obtaining financial resources to develop their ideas is the “main challenge” they must face: 15% of the study participants considered it that way. A financial plan B , such as the search for partners, is ranked third on the priority podium, indicated by 9% of the founders of these emerging companies. In between the challenge of internationalizing the project (10%) sneaks in.
Reality does not respond to those wishes. The same report shows that only half of start-ups focused on the health sector (51%) obtain external financing to develop their project. And there are even more negative data: only 11% bill on a recurring basis, and only 24% continue to receive occasional income afterwards.
Despite this scenario, there are many Made in Spain entrepreneurs with cutting-edge projects that, making use of artificial intelligence, virtual reality or 3D printing, are called to revolutionize the field of health … Or they already do. Next, we analyze some of the most relevant start-ups for the present and, above all, the future of healthcare. They are not all that are, but they are –innovative– all that are.
Enrique Medina and Héctor Puago, founders of Cedrion -in the photo-, have created an innovative system to disinfect medical equipment with ionizing air, which kills viruses and bacteria.
Sanitizing plasma
Especially relevant in these times, the Madrid company Cedrion develops disinfection and sterilization systems for medical equipment, such as respirators, and ambient air . Its system reduces contamination of healthcare personnel and avoids the shortage of disinfected and sterilized medical equipment. This technology is based on a physicochemical phenomenon known as the corona effect, which takes place when there is a large potential difference between two electrodes and the so-called atmospheric plasma, that is, ionized gas, is created around it. This process generates ozone particles, nitrogen oxides and hydrogen peroxide, among others.
Early diagnostic
Developed by Amadix –a biotechnology start-up located in Valladolid–, Colofast is a molecular diagnostic test for colorectal cancer through routine blood extraction , replacing other more expensive and invasive exploratory techniques. This innovative test, based on micro-RNA – small ribonucleic acid molecules that modify gene expression – allows the early detection of the colon tumor, even several years before it ever forms. Recently, Colofast received the highest rating from 64 Spanish opinion leaders in oncology, in a survey conducted by Asebio, the national employer’s association for biotechnology companies.
Seniors served
The Madrid-based company Tucuvi has created a virtual caregiver, based on artificial intelligence and voice technology , capable of offering continuous monitoring at home of the elderly or chronic patients through automated and personalized phone calls. This type of technology eliminates care deficiencies in the elderly and chronic patients, making continuous and proactive care possible in their own homes.
An arm like new
Founded in 2017 and made up of fifty volunteers, the Ayúdame 3D platform specializes in making and delivering Trésdesis – 3D prostheses – free to people without resources . Those responsible are the architects of the first arm for people without an elbow that, lacking electronic elements, allows the hand to open and close to grasp objects.
By Alberto Cornejo.
