Last month, JVP, ROAD2, Margalit Startup City, NVIDIA Inception, and the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) launched an innovation accelerator in the area of digital health – STARTUP CITY HAIFA – The Digital Health Accelerator.
Erel Margalit, Executive Chairman of JVP and Margalit Startup City: “Israel can become a digital health power, just like it became a global cyber power. In order to achieve this the government needs to provide an investment umbrella like it did for cyber, and the companies themselves also need marketing partners in the world’s biggest markets. Only in this way will they be able to break through and become the next unicorn.”
Professor Ran Balicer: “Corona turned the world of health on its head, health systems have been operating in the same way for 100 years already, it can’t continue like this. Today we have to practice proactive and preventive medical care and not make do with responsive medical care. Thanks to innovation and technology, we have the tools to do this.”
Last night (22.2), JVP, Margalit Startup City, NVIDIA Inception’s startup program, ROAD2 and the IIA held a meeting with more than 150 digital health enterprises, to hear about the new accelerator, which has been launched in partnership with NVIDIA Inception’s startup program, and seeks Israeli startups in the areas of: cyber security and medical information, diagnosis, distance monitoring and medical treatment, medical equipment, early identification and prevention of dangerous diseases, and more. The meeting was held together with strategic partners: Super-Pharm, PHILIPS, U-Bank from the international group, Asensus Surgical, Clalit Medical Services and more. Yoav Tzurya, General Partner at JVT, hosted the President of Philips Israel, Professor Efrat Shefer, and asked her what PHILIPS is really looking for in Israeli startups.
STARTUP CITY HAIFA – The Digital Health Accelerator is a unique platform for startups in the field of digital health, which will enjoy the power of partnerships with international companies, investment bodies, health organizations, academic and medical institutions, and leading consultancy bodies, together with developed companies in the field. The goal of the program is to identify eight technological companies at different stages that are developing innovative technology for the changing world of health, and to accelerate their transition to the next stage of becoming the next big thing in the world of digital health.
The new initiative will operate in the unique Haifa ecosystem, which connects technology to the world of digital health. The ecosystem includes the city’s health institutions and hospitals: Rambam and the Bnai Tzion Medical Center; academic institutions: the Technion and Haifa University; international companies, governmental bodies, private and public companies; and the high-tech center that is developing in Haifa’s lower city. In addition, the program will work with the venture capital firm Tekwin, which is located in Haifa’s lower city and startups from the Arab sector. For startups, the leading players who have joined the program create added value and opportunities for partnerships with leading Israeli and international corporations in the field.
During the event Erel Margalit and Professor Ran Balicer held an open conversation about the field of digital health, investments, and the ability to reach population groups who aren’t at the highest socioeconomic level in society. Erel Margalit asked Balicer what Clalit Health Services is doing in order to reach marginalized populations on the social and geographic periphery. Professor Balicer said in response: “Our organization has made it a target to narrow the gaps between clinics in areas with a higher socioeconomic status and those in areas with a lower one. During the last decade we have succeeded in narrowing the gap by around 60 percent, and this was done by placing an emphasis on the social periphery, where the difficulties are greater.” Margalit responded: “I call here for all the companies who want to join the accelerator, whoever can offer a solution for underprivileged populations, those who aren’t at the front of the line, come to me, I want to invest in you.”