A biomarker is a measurable indicator of a specific biological state or condition, such as elevated body temperature signaling an infection. Biomarkers can also possess predictive capabilities, like high cholesterol levels indicating an elevated risk of heart disease. R2therapies has recently identified a potential biomarker in the blood of Alzheimer’s disease patients, offering insight into the likelihood of developing severe symptoms. The R2therapies team has been accepted into the 2023 Health Incubator Helsinki incubation program.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by cognitive decline, memory loss, and behavioral changes. It is the most common cause of dementia, with no existing cure. Moreover, Alzheimer’s is a heterogeneous disease, with varying underlying causes and disease progression. This makes it difficult to predict which pre-Alzheimer’s patients end up with the most severe form of the disease. It is also a challenge for pharmaceutical companies who may miss detecting meaningful treatment responses during clinical trials possibly due to participant heterogeneity. R2therapies tackles these challenges with a biomarker that not only predicts the likelihood of Alzheimer’s, but identifies the risk of severe dementia. This capability stems from R2therapies’ team’s biological discoveries.

A technical problem was actually an unexpected scientific discovery

In Kuopio, Finland, a team of scientists studying brain cells encountered unexpected results during a routine experiment. Although initially perceived as a technical problem hindering their research, further investigation revealed the occurrence to be a genuine biological phenomenon and a prospective novel therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s that their team recently published. This phenomenon, identified through extensive review of scientific literature, appears to be a physiological property of red blood cells which has not been linked to Alzheimer’s disease before. “We connected these findings and analyzed patient samples from Kuopio university hospital, and showed that the same mechanism is also affected in the red blood cells of Alzheimer’s patients that revealed a previously unidentified feature related to Alzheimer’s disease – one that we are looking to translate into a biomarker to predict the onset of Alzheimer’s, and possibly to stratify the patients into distinct subsets that may in the future benefit from different treatments. It is fair to say that R2therapies is a the results of a chain of coincidences. It all started as a drug development project,” R2therapies co-founder, Ilkka Fagerlund, shares.

Tarja Malm, Rashid Giniatullin and Ilkka Fagerlund.

From research-use to clinical reality

Existing biomarkers for Alzheimer’s are related to the symptoms of the disease, and can often be detected once it’s too late. A kit that could diagnose patients before the onset of symptoms means that the patient can start receiving treatment sooner. The R2therapies team is still uncovering the biological reasons behind the presence of their new biomarker. In addition to continuing the validation in early Alzheimer’s patients, they are also exploring the behavior of the biomarker in other neurodegenerative diseases, such as frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body disease and Parkinson’s disease to understand the biomarker’s differential diagnosis potential. The first step towards clinical use-case will be to develop the biomarker analysis kit for research-use for clinical doctors who also conduct academic research, and with rigorous validation it could potentially be available as an approved diagnostic tool.

Health Incubator Helsinki supports scientists in business

Incubator programs like Health Incubator Helsinki are a game-changer for researchers who do not typically receive business training. “Health Incubator Helsinki stands out as a comprehensive program from which I have learned a lot,” Fagerlund says, “I remember a particularly good seminar about contracts. I was surprised that there are so many different types such as shareholder agreements, client agreements, and so on.” As the team is still starting out and the development is in its initial phase, the company is  looking for investments. To support their goals, Health Incubator Helsinki connected the R2therapies team with investors. The team expects to gain a lot from the various opportunities, webinars, and events organized by Health Incubator Helsinki. Moreover, the incubator program advisors have the expertise and experience to transition R2therapies’ innovation into a market-ready kit. This involves leveraging the program’s expertise and network for clinical validation, and navigating regulatory considerations. For further information on getting involved with R2therapies, please refer to the contact information below.

Contact information for R2therapies
ilkka.fagerlund@uef.fi

Check out all the companies in the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Text: Rita Turpin, Giuliano Didio
Pictures: Ilkka Fagerlund; Pixabay

Remote health monitoring has the potential to reduce the burden on the healthcare system. Cardiolyse technology incorporates a patient’s personal medical and lifestyle history, with 70 years of existing heart data across different ages, sexes, and ethnicities to create a personalized heart health report. Cardiolyse has been selected for the 2023 Health Incubator Helsinki (HIH) program.

The cornerstone of Cardiolyse’s innovative approach is its smart remote heart health monitoring platform. This platform not only provides a detailed report to healthcare providers, but also offers patients an easy-to-understand heart-health risk assessment. Patients can now take an active role in their heart health by conducting an initial evaluation themselves. This is a game-changer for the industry, where a scarcity of heart professionals and the rising number of patients have become major concerns. Cardiolyse technology stands out due to the extent of the evaluation which includes input from all known cardiac parameters and nervous system responses like the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) response, and the “rest and digest” (parasympathetic) response. 

Cardiolyse re-located to Finland from Ukraine

Cardiolyse was originally founded in 2015 in Ukraine by cardiologist, Illya Chaikovsky, and computer and data scientist, Anna Starynska. At this point they were already familiar with the issues of difficult-to-interpret heart data, and the burden heart monitoring places on cardiologists. They applied for the Vertical Health Accelerator in Helsinki, and were invited to relocate to Finland in 2017. For the past seven years, they have been on a mission to provide the best remote detection of cardiac abnormalities. They do this by incorporating heart monitoring data from the clinics or at-home devices, which comes in the form of an electrocardiogram (ECG), into a cloud-based AI algorithm.

Currently, Cardiolyse is onboarding a new CEO, Niina Vilkas, a clinician with a background in open heart surgeries, anesthesiology, and medical device businesses. “Cardiolyse combines everything I have dreamed about”. It is a cardiac-based medical software. It has AI-based technology. It’s a startup with a small team. I am looking forward to working with the team and building the company into something extraordinary,” Vilkas says. “Every member in this team is extremely professional in their own areas of expertise. They are passionate, and very committed to the company and its vision,” Vilkas continues.

Anna Starynska, Niina Vilkas and Illya Chaikovsky.

Cardiolyse enables heart health monitoring between doctors visits

The Cardiolyse universal electrocardiogram (ECG) scoring system can help follow up heart failure patients after myocardial infarction, as well as, patients of ischemic stroke and atrial fibrillation. In addition to the technology, the team focuses on providing services to physicians to follow up on patients with chronic conditions. In practical terms, this means that patients who leave the doctors are no longer left wondering how their heart is performing until their next visit. 

“When a patient takes a measurement at home with Cardiolyse, the patient can also report the symptoms. The measurement coupled with the symptoms is sent to the nurse or physician with a notification that says ‘there are no reported symptoms or abnormalities’. Or ‘reported symptoms: dizziness, and abnormalities detected,” Starynska explains. 

Physicians can receive updates of a patient’s heart status in an easy-to-read format, potentially reducing the number of physical visits overall. Vilkas adds, “All the data has already been gathered and automatically analyzed, so the doctor doesn’t need to use their time to do that, and they can focus on the patients instead.”

Cardiolyse measurements are device agnostic, meaning the readings can be taken with any existing ECG hardware. Additional health parameters from smartwatches, like blood pressure and pulse oxidation, and existing medications can also be incorporated into the algorithm for a more personalized and accurate risk assessment. 

The Health Incubator Helsinki program is tailored to fit the needs of each team

The Cardiolyse team applied to HIH for access to a broad pool of potential customers, health care providers, investors, and other stakeholders that the business needs to interact with. However, what they are receiving is so much more. Cardiolyse now has access to experts in software development, validation, certification, IPR, sales, and marketing among others. Additionally, the team can attend weekly webinars, review meetings, and receive information about potential funding. The Cardiolyse team sees their previous business experience as an advantage during the first months within the HIH program, “When expertise is provided to you, experience helps to digest it all and to convert it into advantages for your company,” Starynska says. 

The HIH program is customized based on the individual needs of each selected team to maximize the odds of success. HIH is supporting Cardiolyse in their goal of accessing the global market due to the nature of their services, which is not connected to any local language, but data from healthcare. Their business-2-business model provides analytics to telemedicine companies, hospitals, device manufacturers, and electrocardiogram device manufacturers.

The Cardiolyse team is currently looking for funding. They have an open round to bridge investments to reach series A within one year. Series A funding is the next stage following seed funding. To help the team reach their €0.5M goal, reach out to Cardiolyse with the contact information below:

Contact information for Cardiolyse team:
Niina Vilkas
niina.vilkas@cardiolyse.com

Check out all the companies in the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Text: Rita Turpin, Giuliano Didio
Header: Pixabay
Team picture: Niina Vilkas, Cardiolyse.com

No one has successfully developed a way to assess whether a weakened area of the aorta will rupture. CorFlux may change this global healthcare challenge with software under development. The CorFlux team has been selected as part of the Health Incubator Helsinki 2023 incubator program.

A thoracic aortic aneurysm is a weakened area in the large artery that carries blood from the heart through the chest and torso. This area may bulge and rupture resulting in internal bleeding, which is almost always fatal. Fortunately, for the majority of patients the aneurysm remains stable. Unfortunately, there is no risk assessment tool to separate patients with low rupture risk from patients with moderate to high rupture risk. CorFlux business developer, Tero Puustinen, shares the current situation, “Every aortic aneurysm patient is followed up with expensive and time-consuming medical imaging, placing a burden on global healthcare, with an annual expenditure exceeding 3 billion euros worldwide”. Even with this follow-up, many patients die before reaching the medical benchmark at which point preventive (and therefore life-saving) surgery is even considered. The CorFlux aortic aneurysm rupture risk analysis software will utilize numerical algorithms aimed to create an accurate risk assessment, decreasing the amount of follow-ups for low-risk patients, and shifting resources to save moderate-to-high risk patients.

Diverse in-depth expertise to maximize success

The CorFlux team came to be when adjunct professor in mathematics, Matti Kurki, discussed  calculations related to the aorta with his friend. He was advised to get in touch with cardiologist and professor, Marja Hedman, who was – and is-  leading a research group specializing on aortic aneurysms. Several fruitful discussions eventually led to the innovation, which eventually led to the formation of a multi-professional team with expertise in cardiology, heart surgery, physics, mathematics as well as commercialization, regulation and software development. The CorFlux team is currently working together with universities and physicians to completely change the aneurysms field. In addition to organic networks, through the Health Incubator Helsinki program, CorFlux team also utilizes expertise of other esteemed professionals from the healthcare industry who offer valuable advice on strengthening their business proposition, ensuring financial stability, and establishing a network of advisors.

CorFlux technology will be made scalable, with new directions in mind from the beginning

The implications of CorFlux’s aortic rupture risk assessment software could be revolutionary, and totally unique. No one in the world has come up with a solution to this unmet medical need, and this is just the beginning for the team. Health Incubator Helsinki is there to support the team in this critical period, providing guidance for making their business case solid and sustainable. With personalized strategies to go-to-market and stay-on-market, the CorFlux team may expand their product to additionally evaluate the rupture risk of abdominal aortic aneurysms in the future, potentially tripling the markets with over 15 million abdominal aortic aneurysm patients globally.

Health Incubator Helsinki’s knowledge and ambition prevent typical business pitfalls

The CorFlux team applied to the Health Incubator Helsinki program to gain insight on the commercialization of health and medical startups. Although the team is currently in the commercialization phase, they are considering establishing CorFlux as a company. In the meantime, the team is fully taking advantage of the Health Incubator Helsinki program’s expert advisors, business services, founder talks, demo days and regular workshops and webinars which cover a wide range of topics chosen to prepare teams and startups in key business areas like brand building and investment strategies. The teams get peer to peer support from the other incubator teams with similar interest, as well. With all the support from the program and fellow health innovators, Puustinen expects the transition from research to business to be smooth, “When the road twists and turns, great coaching and sparring will help you drive much faster.” To get in touch with the next potential Finnish unicorn, use the contact information below!

CorFlux contact information: tero.puustinen@uef.fi

Photos: Tero Puustinen / CorFlux, Pixabay

Access to healthcare goes beyond building hospitals and hiring doctors. MediVerse aims to bring convenient and affordable healthcare at all hours. Their team is a part of the 2023 Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Health technology is increasingly empowering patients to take charge of their own health. For example, wearable devices not only collect information on activity and sleep, but can also be used to continuously measure blood sugar levels or heart health among other health factors. MediVerse is creating a platform where patients can integrate health data from wearable devices with the patient’s own medical history. Artificial intelligence will then analyze the information and provide the patient with real-time suggestions to improve their health. Additionally, through the platform patients who wish to consult with a healthcare professional directly can do so 24/7, instantly providing necessary medical information to the doctor through a user-friendly interface.

Getting doctors onboard with telemedicine

The healthcare platform from MediVerse has been designed predominantly with healthcare professionals in mind, allowing them to provide optimal care with ease. As an example, the platform includes an automated alert system that warns physicians against prescribing medications containing allergen-containing ingredients. Significantly, the platform is being developed in a way that ensures healthcare providers in different time zones can easily access the system, allowing meaningful patient care even in the odd hours. MediVerse is focusing on markets where smartphone penetration is high and the healthcare system is not strong enough. This enables patients to reach healthcare providers easily and reduces the load on the national health system.

Ahmed Anwar Hasan and Mahmood Ulhaq, founders of MediVerse.

An emergency solution with room for innovation

Co-founders, Mahmood Ulhaq and Ahmed Anwar Hasan, are already testing their telehealth platform in Bangladesh, where a simple trip to the doctor 20km away can take 3-5 hours due to heavy traffic. This can discourage patients from visiting a doctor with severe negative consequences on their health. Ulhaq adds that the patient’s benefits are also financial depending on where their doctor is located, “Seeing a doctor in Bangladesh costs $10-$12 , while a doctor in Tanzania charges $25 to $35”. Decreased stress on the local healthcare system and healthier citizens create space for economic growth.

The sky’s the limit in health tech

MediVerse is setting up their head office in Finland, and was advised by Business Finland to apply for the Health Incubator Helsinki program for guidance and support on monitoring and adhering to the strict regulations in Europe. “When we got in, we knew it was the right decision,” Ulhaq laughs. The team was provided with a place to start working, but also much more beyond their original expectations. Even with the team’s extensive experience in corporate culture, for example, Health Incubator Helsinki still provided opportunities to pick the minds of investors and other stakeholders. MediVerse’s small and passionate team is now working towards a clear vision, and hopes to incorporate other health tech solutions into their platform inspired by their experience within the program. “There are multiple opportunities through Health Incubator Helsinki. They communicate and network with others, and bring other companies and organizations together in many events,” Ulhaq says. “In fact, until I became part of Health Incubator Helsinki I never knew that there are other companies around me which we can bring in.” Currently, MediVerse is looking for investors and collaborators to revolutionize healthcare while making a social impact. To get involved with this meaningful venture, use the contact information below.

MediVerse contact person: mahmood@mediversefi.com

Check out all the companies in the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Text: Rita Turpin, Giuliano Didio

Photos: Mahmood Ulhaq / MediVerse, Pixabay

A surprising proportion of professionals within the healthcare industry find heart monitoring readouts difficult to interpret without help from extensively trained cardiologists. Instead of creating a solution for cardiologists, HATO aims to make everyone a cardiologist. HATO has been selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki 2023 program.

Smart watches and other health monitoring devices are often equipped with sensors to understand fitness levels, sleep patterns, and other aspects of health. A much more powerful, diagnostic version of these electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors is used to detect heart problems. However, the information generated by these advanced sensors is highly complex, requiring interpretation of 12 layers of information from a single series of lines going up and down. As a result, a study shows that 68.5% of heart failure patients are misdiagnosed by their general practitioner. 

HATO’s functional AI overcomes existing error-prone automatic diagnostic suggestions

HATO CEO, Steffen Yndal, further highlights the extent of the ECG-interpretation landscape, “our data show that only 2% of users trust the automated suggestions and only ⅓ trust their own interpretations. The remaining ⅔ usually try to get a second opinion from a cardiologist. Then you can imagine how busy cardiologists can be” says Yndal. HATO’s solution is to collect data directly from existing hospital hardware and analyze it  within seconds with HATO’s advanced AI, utilizing pre-existing capabilities of many modern software programs to retrieve information from servers. The results are then displayed within the company’s user-friendly software, displaying a 3D image of where a potential heart problem may be.

From left to right: Jia Wei Koh, Mostafa Mansour, Malthe Reipurth, Steffen Yndal, Sara Hansen, Louise Huynh and Daniel Hviid.

An interdisciplinary team with research, tech, and business expertise

Equipped with many years of experience in the field as a paramedic, Yndal co-founded HATO along with management consultant and IT strategist Stefan Johansen (COO), and the highly skilled stack developer, Malthe Reiputh (CTO). To complete the concept of a mixed commercial and research-based startup, the trio also invited along a postdoctoral researcher in human physiology, Anne Sofie Malling. These days the team also includes people working with regulatory affairs, researchers, and cardiologists, as well as more tech people. Yndel affirms, “This means that we have many perspectives on our case and is actually the most important part of our team.”

Call for investors and collaborators

Finland has an increasing focus on health tech, along with accessible health data and know-how to test the validity of HATO’s innovations. By utilizing the vast networks and expertise of the advisors within the Health Incubator Helsinki program, the company hopes to attract investors for an initial pre-seed fund of 400.000€. Moreover, as AI in healthcare is still developing,  the company is looking to collect more evidence in collaboration with ambulance services, key opinion leaders, and hospitals to assist in clinical validation. Importantly, there will also be a need for strategic cooperation with ECG providers, hardware providers who could implement the HATO software. If you’re interested in being part of the future of cardiology, get in contact! 

Contact information: sy@hatomedicaltechnologies.com

Check out all the companies in the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Text: Rita Turpin, Giuliano Didio

Photos: HATO Medical Technologies, Pixabay

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global threat. AarogyaAI’s intelligent genomics software aims to identify antibiotic resistance in patients and assist policymakers by predicting future antimicrobial resistance with their AI-powered genomics platform. AarogyaAI has been selected as one of the companies in the 2023 Health Incubator Helsinki program.

In 2018, roughly 23% of the world’s population was infected by the bacteria causing tuberculosis. To treat tuberculosis infection, patients need to undergo up to six months of antibiotic treatments with huge side effects — and because of antimicrobial resistance, it might not even work. But what if a doctor could choose the right combination of the 19 available antibiotics the first time, and save patients months of unnecessary, often debilitating treatment?

Predicting resistance to get the right drugs to the right patients

This is the problem that AarogyaAI set out to solve. Aarogya, meaning “good health” in Sanskrit, was founded in 2019 by Avlokita Tiwari and Praapti Jayaswal. With a PhD focused on tuberculosis studies (Jayaswal) and masters in bioinformatics with research in antimicrobial resistance (Tiwari), they realized they could predict drug resistance using artificial intelligence and DNA sequence information from the bacteria infecting patients. “We list out the drug resistance of a particular pathogen so we can give a complete report to the clinician about which drug not to give the patient” says founder and CTO Tiwari. “Where our solution can make the most difference is in economically weak areas, so patients can get treated quickly and efficiently and their families don’t have to give up all of their savings for long treatments” adds Nidhi Misra, head of PR and communications.

Avlokita Tiwari and Praapti Jayaswal, founders of AarogyaAI.

COVID-19 as a model of infectious disease surveillance

When the company was founded in 2019, founders Tiwari and Jayaswal found that people didn’t immediately understand the usefulness of sequencing the DNA of infectious diseases. But following the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive effort in genomic surveillance of variant strains, “People started to understand what we were talking about” says Tiwari. Besides getting the right drugs to the right patients, information on genetic variants associated with drug resistance are key for policies of the United Nations and World Health Organization, “So they can have an idea of where diseases are spreading. That gives a lot of information about drug distribution, what to target next, and areas of development” says Tiwari. This information is also important for pharmaceutical companies, to know how to better design new drugs that get around antibiotic resistance.

Health Incubator Helsinki opens doors to the Finnish ecosystem

With the pathogen identification process from DNA samples validated and a clinical trial wrapping up at one of the biggest hospitals in India, what is in the future for AarogyaAI? “At the moment we are in the middle of our next fundraising round” says Tiwari. “We are looking at a couple of commercial contracts and global expansion.” When thinking about EU expansion, Finnish resident Tiwari immediately thought of the Finnish investment ecosystem’s open and receptive atmosphere. “If we think of EU, Helsinki needs to be our base!” says Tiwari. “That’s why Health Incubator Helsinki made sense. The team at the incubator is super supportive and helpful in understanding market needs, how to pitch, and particularly the regulatory pathways. When entering a new market as a foreign company, it is important to understand the local ecosystem and its requirements before going to market. Health Incubator Helsinki is actively helping us do that.” If you’re interested in supporting AarogyaAI, joining one of their open positions or collaborating on a clinical study, get in contact with the information below!

AarogyaAI contact: Praapti Jayaswal, praapti@aarogya.ai

Check out all the companies in the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Text: Lea Urpa, Giuliano Didio

Photos: AarogyaAI, Pixabay 

Despite the advantages of technology, there is a significant mental and physical cost to increased screen time. AI2AI aims to revolutionize digital interaction to create active, screenless, and intuitive interactions with digital tech. AI2AI has been selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki  2023 program.

Digitalization has revolutionized society in the last decades, but this comes at the cost of a sedentary lifestyle. In Europe alone, this costs an estimated 80+ billion euros per year— a mental and physical cost many discovered during the coronavirus lockdowns. Helsinki- and Turku-based AI2AI is an ambitious company that aims to change this with the development of the PALL0 smart ball and its novel and active screenless interface.

“We want to get people to interact and move for a minimum of 20 minutes per day, by rewarding movements and person-to-person interactions. To achieve this we offer gamification technology to our B2B client network, giving analog health service companies the ability to digitalize their services for their customers.”

PALL0 isn’t just a smart device, but a novel platform

AI2AI’s PALL0 is an advanced smart ball packed with motion and environmental sensing, audio, and haptic sensors that allows for intuitive, screenless digital interaction. As founder Henrik Terävä says, “We wanted to develop technology which has an inherent positive expected value for your wellbeing – the more you use it, the better it is for you.” But AI2AI hasn’t just developed the PALL0 smart ball itself, they are also creating a platform where any developer can create apps for the PALL0. And thanks to generative AI models, you won’t even need to know how to code. As founder Harry Choreus elaborates, “With PALL0 any business can come up with an idea to digitalize their service in minutes instead of long and expensive development times. Our programming environment enables businesses to develop and test new service ideas immediately.”

“In the same way you have Google Play and AppStore for phones, in the future you would have an app store for PALL0 where you will find different apps for action and interaction.”

AI2AI core team. From left to right: Riku Klén, Henrik Terävä, Harry Choreus, Timo Soukka.

A chance meeting between an engineer and a movie director

Company founders Henrik Terävä, with a background in technical hardware and software, and Harry Choreus, a movie director and visual storyteller, met in Asia ten years ago. At the time they noticed how everyone seemed attached to their screens, and speculated on the negative impact on themselves and their families, starting the seed of the idea for AI2AI. With the addition of Riku Klén as an AI expert and Timo Soukka as a hardware specialist rounding out the technical expertise, the versatility of the team has enabled their successes with the PALL0 pilot so far.

“Now we want to go even further with a more mature version of PALL0. We joined HIH because we believe it will take us to the core of the health and wellness community, helping us to quickly find the best partners, customers, and investors.”

Reducing rehabilitation time for stroke patients

Following the pilot test of PALL0 beta and an early bird presale that completely sold out, Terävä and the rest of the team are further developing the app platform and use cases with partners. One exciting use case is a clinical trial on reducing rehabilitation time for stroke patients, in cooperation with the largest rehabilitation hospital in Norway. PALL0 allows patients to do exercises anywhere, at any time by speaking instructions to the patient and measuring compressive force, lift height of the hand, and walking distance. It also provides positive feedback by showing happy emotions when exercises are done on time and correctly.

Call for innovators and investors

Engaging training programs like the stroke rehabilitation project can be easily customized based on individual user or customer needs, and AI2AI is looking for more health and wellness service company innovators to develop extraordinary apps for PALL0. They have also raised 800 000 EUR in funding and are looking for new investors in the second testing phase and market launch. Get in contact if you want to be a part of the future of digital interaction!

Text: Lea Urpa
Photos: AI2AI

Finnish healthtech startup NADMED brings to market a new type of NAD metabolite measurement. After years of rigorous studies at University of Helsinki, NADMED presents a first-of-a-kind solution which allows more profound and faster study of NADs. In the future, NADMED’s solution could also enable better targeted drug administration. Now, the company has completed its first financing round of €0.5M, led by Finnish deep tech fund Voima Ventures.

NAD metabolites found in our cells are vital regulators in our metabolism and energy balance. A growing number of studies have revealed a clear connection between reduced NAD levels and many diseases and disorders of the body, e.g. Parkinson’s disease, mitochondrial diseases, metabolic disorders and immune reactions against viruses, such as COVID-19.

While decreased NAD levels can be increased by administering vitamin B3, with current diagnostics it’s challenging to know when therapy is needed. With the help of NADMED’s solution, the amount of different NAD metabolites in the body can be regularly and precisely monitored and treated.

Potential to revolutionise diagnostics

Besides targeted medication, accurate NAD measuring can both accelerate NAD studies and provide new information and a deeper understanding of the mysterious NAD molecules. With NADMED’s revolutionary solution we’re one step closer to precise NAD measurements that could enable doctors and practitioners to detect different diseases early on, and help the body fight these diseases. This has the potential to revolutionise the everyday diagnostics, improve patients’ deteriorating state of health or even cure certain diseases.

While utilising NAD measurement to track our health isn’t a new notion, it has never before been done in a manner that’s both truly accurate and scalable, even for blood samples.

This is where NADMED’s technology is a true game changer. In September 2022, NADMED released their first measuring kit – the first NAD measurement kit in the world to receive the European CE marking that indicates high safety and reliability. In addition to being reliable, precise and cost efficient, the solution is also very user friendly and can be used with standard laboratory equipment.

Convincing the financiers

The easy and reliable method that measures all NAD metabolites has also convinced financiers. NADMED recently completed its first financing round of half a million euros, led by deep tech fund Voima Ventures. Other investors include individuals and members of the company’s executive management and board of directors.

“NADMED’s test has been developed by one of the globally leading researchers in the field of NAD-metabolism in humans. As the research relating to NADs is continuously growing, we are committed to supporting NADMED in growing and scaling beyond the research market to global diagnostics and wider clinical use”, says Inka Mero, founder and Managing Partner at Voima Ventures.

“Making NAD measurement easy and economically reasonable creates promising prospects for research, treatment and drug development work. With the funding and current revenue stream, NADMED will expand the sales and marketing of our measurement solution. At the same time, the development of the CE-marked measurement package and laboratory service will be strengthened”, says Jari Närhi, CEO of NADMED.

Read the full press release here.

Read more about NADMED here.

Knowledge work of today is all about creative problem-solving – but we are having difficulty finding the mental space for focus and flow. Studies show that creativity narrows down under pressure, while stress prevents presence and proper rest. Startup Olo joined Health Incubator Helsinki in 2022 and is on a mission to re-energize office workers.

Finnish startup Olo is developing an app to better manage the turmoil in the heads of the creative class. CEO Markus Pesonen explains that the Olo app is meant to build resilience by training a person’s attention and recovery.

Olo delivers personalized wellbeing experiences, complete with immersive sound journeys, engaging somatic education and responsive biofeedback training.

“We have the audio content, software and wellbeing expertise all available inhouse,” explains Pesonen, an award-winning composer, sound designer and producer with a 20-year experience leading creative projects and teams.

When audio is king

The signature content of Olo is formed by soothing soundscapes which have been recorded in nature, in special places of “high biodiversity”.

“Most of our recordings are from Finland, but we’ve got audio content from elsewhere in Europe and Africa, too,” says Pesonen.

During the pandemic, the audio content was tested – remotely – in various companies to find out, if the healing and elevating sounds would help take some Covid-stress off the worker bees at the home office. Turns out, they did.

“We got great feedback for our content. For example, somebody said that five minutes of our sound journey felt like 60 minutes of rejuvenating break. We then started to figure out a way to integrate our content to an app,” Pesonen says.

CEO Markus Pesonen

Wellbeing apps on the rise

According to estimates, the mental health apps market is around $890 million and growing rapidly. With perhaps a billion knowledge workers out there, it’s certainly true that there is great potential for stress-free sounds.

“So far, we’ve analyzed the feedback of over 5,000 paid users,” says Pesonen.

The positive results from being immersed in the “total audio experience” show physical relaxation, mental clarity, relieving stress and pain, understanding aspects of oneself, deepened sense of presence and awareness, better emotional expression and social inclusion…

“The key thing is re-energizing the neurological network and measuring the impact. Once we start getting data, this allows for more personalized and meaningful content,” he explains.

Go-to-market in 2023

Pesonen’s initial company Nature Solutions for B2B wellbeing solutions was started in December 2017, and he already had an idea for the app at the time.

“However, I didn’t want to proceed right then, even if the first wave of mental health apps was occurring then. We wanted to wait until we could use AI to make it more customized.”

With the prototype already making the rounds with select partners, the actual go-to-market is in the cards for 2023.

“We want to contribute to establishing a premium category of wellbeing apps, with full onboarding and community services, along with interaction with peers and professionals.”

Coffee break or audio break?

Pesonen wants to help nurture a working culture where it’s OK for knowledge workers to take a break from the laptop and recharge their brain.

“For all creative work, really deep, intense thinking delivers the best value. Our app helps to harness that innovative potential.”

Being part of Health Incubator Helsinki batch of 2022, Olo is pleased to engage within the health startup ecosystem.

“I feel that we’re still in the beginning of our journey, but we’re picking up speed nicely.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Nature Solutions

New Finnish digital health company Hoivita aims to ease nurse shortage in elderly care

Two Finnish, Lappeenranta-based startups Henkaus and Vesratio, have announced their merger, creating a new digital health company Hoivita that aims to improve the quality of elderly care.

The new company Hoivita strives for improving care and easing the nursing shortage in elderly care, home care and hospitals. The company provides a solution that monitors patients’ vitals and environment (room temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide level, light and motion) discreetly – totally contactless and wireless.

The accurate, objective measurement data can be viewed via the Hoivita One View platform, or sent directly to nurses’ phones as alerts.

“By joining forces, we can improve the service for our customers and the quality of care they give to their patients. We believe that this technology can help with the nursing shortage that is a challenge not only in Finland but all over the world,” says Abhishek Jayaprakash, CEO at Hoivita.

“Our customers appreciate that our solution is stress-free: the wireless devices are very discreet and minimally invasive, installation is quick – in many cases, it takes just an hour –, technology is proven and it’s very simple to use. In addition, the solution is cost-effective.”

Stronger together in the elderly care sector

Henkaus, developing radar-based vital signs tracking, was founded in 2019 by a group of innovation technology management students at Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT). In 2021, the startup obtained CE marking for its solution and joined the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Vesratio, a Lappeenranta-startup providing easy-to-understand real-time information about living environments, was established in 2018. Both companies have focused on the elderly sector, offering their solutions to elderly care homes, home care service providers and hospitals.

“Since early 2022, we have been providing joint solutions to our customers. Then, it was a natural next step to improve our product offering by merging the operations into one joint solution,” says Jayaprakash, previously CEO at Henkaus.

Hoivita’s sensor installed in the demohouse.

Launch event with real-life pilot of Hoivita’s service

The new company, Hoivita, is based in Lappeenranta, Finland, with currently nine employees. The new company was presented at a launch event in the port of Lappeenranta on Tuesday, 6 September. Hoivita’s CEO Abhishek Jayaprakash, Lappeenranta city councilor Hilla Kauhanen, Hyvinvointi Saraste Oy’s CEO Virve Kivistö and Digita Oy’s IoT services Vice President Ari Kuukka spoke at the event.

In connection with the opening event, Finnish Olokoto house had been brought to the port and comprehensively furnished with remote monitoring sensors by Hoivita. The theme of the event was to present remote monitoring solutions for health and elderly care in a real living environment. On the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, the well-known TV director, producer and former entertainment and program manager of MTV3 and TV face Päiviö Pyysalo stayed in the demo house, and his living in the house was monitored with the help of Hoivita’s remote monitoring service.

The opening event can be viewed as a recording here.

Incubator brings connections and support

Hoivita continues in the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

“For us, coming from a smaller city, the main benefit of the incubator program has been the networking opportunities – it helps to have more connections. Also, the incubator advisors have been very supportive and helped us get in touch with the right people,” says Abhishek Jayaprakash.

“With our new offering, we now have a stronger case to revisit certain customers via Health Incubator Helsinki advisers.”

Read an earlier article on Henkaus.

Cover photo: From left to right: TV director and former program manager Päiviö Pyysalo, CEO of Hoivita Oy Abhishek Jayaprakash, Lappeenranta city councilor Hilla Kauhanen and Partner of Hoivita Oy Timo Tuononen.
Photos: Hoivita Oy

Finnish health tech startup Sonai Health Oy is looking to bring special care diagnostics into primary care in a big way. Sonai is working on a device that provides a more versatile alternative for your basic stethoscope used by general practitioners around the world. The company joined the Health Incubator Helsinki program in spring 2022.

The solution is based on patented sensor innovation, machine learning and user-friendly interface, explains CEO Jyri Seppä.

“Our prototype is now ready and we’re aiming for a 2024 commercial launch,” he says in August 2022.  

Espoo-based Sonai Health was founded in July 2021, but the roots of the original idea reach farther: the father of the idea, physician Arto Kotimaa, had been wondering for years, why there aren’t better tools for listening to a patient’s heart. On his wish-list: a device that would save all the collected data and make AI comparisons from that info, allowing the treating physician to see a considerably bigger picture.

An advanced stethoscope takes shape

Arto Kotimaa linked up with professor Heikki Seppä, a sensor expert from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, who came up with the core technical innovation for the device. Arto Kotimaa’s brother Antti Kotimaa, a researcher, also joined the team. Jyri Seppä, having launched a startup earlier and possessing most business acumen of the group, became the CEO.

“We have four founders with expertise from many areas. My role as CEO is really to focus on administration, funding and moving the project onwards,” Seppä explains.          

With the team working hard, the prototype has been taking shape quite nicely. “The device is placed on the patient’s chest and it is packed with sensors that will give a wealth of data within a minute or so.”

Using that data

The device deploys algorithms that make good use of that data very effectively, allowing the doctors to make the right calls regarding treatment.

“Our device uses a cloud solution that enables remote diagnosis, follow-up analyses and integrations to various healthcare systems,” adds Seppä.

Seppä notes that as heart-related disease is still the number one killer globally, one should really prioritize this field and make sure that doctors have the best possible tools at hand.

“There are digital stethoscopes on the market already, but we couldn’t find a product out there that is able to do what our device does.”

Finished commercial product coming in 2023

In September 2022, the prototype of the device will start pre-clinical tests, with clinical patient trials to follow at the end of the year.

“In 2023, we want to take all the feedback from these tests and create the finished commercial product,” says Seppä, adding that the company is presently looking for a data analyst to help fine-tune the product.

Seppä feels that Sonai is doing important work that has the potential to save lives and reduce healthcare costs a great deal.

“This is a meaningful pursuit, and you really feel you’re doing something of value. Equally important is trying to accomplish something that nobody has done before.”

Participating in the Health Incubator Helsinki this year has been a worthwhile learning experience for the company.

“Especially things like business planning and funding are well covered in the program and we’ve received some great advice.”

“All the while, we’ve been able to network and establish contacts all over.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photo: Sonai Health Oy
Cover photo: Unsplash

NADMED Oy is a Finnish health tech startup with an eye for NAD molecules. Outside of medicine, not many people know NAD, even though it is a molecule enabling or regulating hundreds of redox and metabolic reactions in the body. In addition, it is also involved in cell repair and slowing down the speed of ageing. NADMED is one of startups in the Health Incubator Helsinki 2022 program.

The biology and key role of NAD molecules in human metabolism has been well known for decades, but measuring them has been devilishly difficult, says CEO Jari Närhi from Helsinki-based NADMED. But why do we need to measure them?

“It seems that many medicines can be more effective when the patient has sufficiently high NAD level. If we can measure the NAD level, we know whether a NAD boost is needed via nutrition supplements – which are easy and inexpensive to administer,” explains Närhi.

In a Norwegian study, for example, patients with Parkinson’s disease responded well to treatment that corrected their NAD levels.

“Parkinson’s, ALS and Alzheimer’s are obvious targets for our solution.”

Lock on NAD

NADMED has now brought to market an accurate, fast and scalable method to measure those elusive molecules. All that is needed is a blood sample from the patient and a clinical lab to run the test.

“There are other tests for NAD out there, but they are not as accurate and can’t be taken from a blood sample,” Närhi says, adding that once the word about the innovation spread, things started to move pretty fast.    

“We delivered the first measurement kits in 2021 and received our CE approval in May 2022.”

NADMED team members from left: Jana Buzkova, Jari Närhi, Sonja Jansson, Kai Herdin and Liliya Euro.

Customers around the world

NADMED was registered as a company only in January 2022, but it already services clinical practitioners, researchers, and drug development companies around the world.

“We have customers in Australia, Norway, USA, Canada, France, Italy…,” lists Närhi.

NAD molecule measurement is based on the work of Liliya Euro, a researcher from the University of Helsinki, who has been studying the field for years. Närhi himself came onboard in March 2021, while NADMED was still a research venture.

“Already there was great potential to be seen, and I joined the team in order to help prepare for commercialization.”

World-class team

Närhi had some background from small startups in medical devices and healthcare – and was very eager to join the NADMED crew.

“The team is simply world-class, so it was an easy decision to join up.”     

Participating in Health Incubator Helsinki, the NADMED team has received a great “crash course” in business.

“We’ve gotten good contacts and sparring and really engaged in networking,” Närhi says, commenting that the incubator mentors are top-notch.

“I feel that we’re in very good hands there.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: NADMED Oy

EpiHeart is a Finnish medtech startup focused on enabling new cardiac therapies. The first patient was treated with EpiHeart’s medical device to provide cardiac cellular therapy leveraging autologous left atrial appendage derived microtissues.

The treatment was given as a part of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) surgery by Professor Dr. Jan Schmitto and his interdisciplinary Heart-Team at MHH (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover) in Hannover, Germany.

Patients receiving LVAD are commonly very sick as their heart failure has progressed so far that a lifesaving pump is needed to support the blood flow. Often LVAD implantation is used to provide functional support for the failing heart before heart transplantation as patients wait for suitable donor hearts.

This patient group is relevant for microtissue-based cellular therapies for two reasons. Firstly, there is a vast clinical need to support both sides of the failing heart. Secondly, as some of the patients will later receive heart transplants, the biological effects of the epicardial cellular therapy can be evaluated utilizing the latest state-of-the-art molecular and cellular analyses.

“Based on this successful case experience, a larger clinical study is being prepared. We are looking forward to a promising and continued collaboration between our team at MHH and EpiHeart,” says Prof. Dr. Jan Schmitto.

Read more about EpiHeart

Photos: EpiHeart

The BioInnovation Institute has selected three international startup companies for its programme, one being Health Incubator Helsinki startup VEIL.AI. The €1.3M funding will support further development of VEIL.AI’s cutting-edge health data anonymisation technology. VEIL.AI is the first Finnish company selected for the programme.

The BioInnovation Institute (BII), an international commercial non-profit foundation incubating and accelerating world-class life science research, has announced its investment into three international startup companies, one being VEIL.AI from Finland, and the other two coming from the UK and Germany.

The three startups are strategically aligned with the BII’s focus, developing ground-breaking scientific initiatives across the therapeutics and health tech space. Each of these companies will be funded with a risk-free convertible loan of €1.3M and will be part of the BII’s community of life science startups.

BII brings high-level international networks

“We are very excited of the new collaboration and opportunities provided by BII not only because of the high signal value of being a part of the BII community but because we see BII as a well networked player in European health data space and as an attractive launchpad for our commercial activities,” says Tuomo Pentikäinen, CEO of VEIL.AI.

VEIL.AI is a spinout company from University of Helsinki, bringing the quality of anonymised health data to a new level with its next-generation anonymisation technology that creates extremely high-quality subject-level anonymised and synthetic data. VEIL.AI Anonymization Engine enables better use of GDPR-free data for life science and diagnostics companies, hospitals and health data hubs.

Finland holds great research and health tech potential

The BII, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, and supported by Novo Nordisk Foundation, operates an incubator to accelerate world-class life science innovation that drives the development of new solutions. The BII offers startups selected for its programme access to high-level mentoring and international networks, as well as state-of-the-art labs and business infrastructure.

“Our goal is to harness the untapped potential of European research, and at the BII we are passionate about helping each venture overcome potential hurdles and position them to attract top-quality international investment. Spun out from excellent translational research environments across Europe, VEIL.AI, Sevenless Therapeutics and Myopax each hold great potential in the therapeutic and health tech space. We are pleased to support them in their growth – supporting business acceleration, scientific and team development,” says Bobby Soni, Chief Business Officer at the BioInnovation Institute.

Bobbi Soni continued: “Finland holds large potential when it comes to translational life science research and especially Helsinki is known as a Northern European hub for health tech innovations. Thus, BII is thrilled to welcome a promising health tech company like VEIL.AI into our community as the first Finnish company and we are looking forward to assist them on their future entrepreneurial journey.”

Since 2018, the BII has supported 62 startups with €50M in funding. Over a timespan of 10 years, Novo Nordisk Foundation is planning to provide up to €470M funding to projects in the BII programme.

Photos: BioInnovation Institute and VEIL.AI

Karsa Oy is a spin-off company hailing from the University of Helsinki. Primarily, Karsa develops state-of-the-art instrumentation for molecular detection of explosives. However, the startup’s solutions can be used wherever ultra-sensitive and versatile molecular detection is needed – for example, in fighting climate change. Helsinki-based Karsa joined the Health Incubator Helsinki program in spring 2022.

It all started back in 2016 at the University of Helsinki, as a team of researchers developed a prototype for one of the most sensitive detectors in the world. Initially, the innovation was developed for detection of rare, essentially non-volatile and sticky atmospheric molecules.

As the novel detection system was very versatile with regards to application use, the researchers became convinced of its commercial potential almost immediately.

“The team started asking, where should we use it first – and the obvious answer was finding explosives,” explains CEO H.J. Jost.

“There were clearly some very exciting opportunities for commercialization and good stakeholder connections.”

Stopping terrorists, curbing climate change

Bringing public safety to a new level seemed like a no-brainer. Karsa’s powerful molecular detection technology boosts homeland security by providing solutions that are capable of high-resolution screening for security operators and their customers. This includes screening parcels and cargo in a new way, delivering high level of security without slowing down the flow of goods.

Improvements in the technology also fed back into climate change research, says Jost.

“We can gain a better understanding of particle formation that create clouds and predict precipitation,” Jost says, adding that a true “molecular revolution” is in the making.

There are other applications for detection tech, too. For example, the startup’s chemical analysis platform can eliminate laborious workflows for the analysis of small molecules.

“We want to bring this approach to the IVD market with analysis of bodily fluids,” says Jost. The tech is useful in determining, for example, drug levels in a person’s blood stream.

Karsa team went wind surfing: from left Aleksei Shcherbinin, Alexei Upornikov, Fariba Partovi, Oskari Kausiala, Claudia Poikela, Paxton Juuti, Nasib Naseri, Verner Hemmilä, HJ Jost, Evgenia Iakovleva, Juha Kangasluoma, Jussi Kontro and Jyri Mikkilä.

Finland means business

Jost has previous experience from e.g. NASA and a Silicon Valley startup focusing on laser-based CO2 detection. He came to Finland in 2016 in order to help co-found Karsa – and was impressed by what he found here.    

“Everybody in the University research team was very entrepreneurial-minded and wanted in on the company. We ended up having ten co-founders as a consequence,” he looks back. Five of the founders are currently working with the company.

Initial private investment was leveraged with funding from Business Finland to commercialize the technology for explosives detection. More recently, the research effort keeps branching out to remarkable new directions. One of them is early detection of gastrointestinal cancer, for which the company seeks to attract EU funding as lead of a consortium with top-ranked partner institutions.

“We may really be onto something there, as there are thousands of patients we could help worldwide.”  

The incubator helps getting connected in the health sector

Being selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki program enables Karsa to shape its product offering, engage potential customers and stakeholders, and generate a solid plan on how to best navigate the entry barriers of the health sector.

“We are not experts in the health market, so we’re hoping to get useful connections via the incubator,” says Jost.

“With Covid, there hasn’t been as much contact as one would hope, but now being part of the incubator, we’re eager to get the networking going.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Karsa

Moncyte R&D team has developed a unique solution that sheds light on why some people respond differently to cholesterol-lowering drugs. This novel, personalized test for optimal cholesterol-lowering therapy promises to open new ways for personalized medicine and improving patients’ lives. Moncyte team joined the Health Incubator Helsinki program in spring 2022.

A high blood cholesterol concentration is the most important risk factor for cardiovascular disease which is the most common cause of death worldwide. Currently, doctors take a trial-and-error approach in determining the optimal cholesterol-lowering therapy.

“However, this can take years and it leaves many patients at high residual risk for cardiovascular disease,” says Tamara Alagirova from the Moncyte team out of the University of Helsinki. The Moncyte team includes also Simon Pfisterer, Iryna Hlushchenko and Valeria Ullrich.

Moncyte has come up with a solution that provides insight into the cellular mechanisms underlying cholesterol-lowering drug activity in individual patients.

“This tool opens up new ways for personalized medicine approaches in cholesterol treatment, helping more patients achieve their cholesterol target levels at an earlier time. This will save time and prevent life-threatening complications such as heart attacks and strokes,” Simon Pfisterer says.

When everyday research takes a surprising turn

The original research-to-business project started in July, 2021, at the University of Helsinki. The idea for the solution came up as the researcher team was establishing automated analysis strategies for its in-vitro assays and realized that this could be of value for patients, healthcare providers and pharma companies.

“We then evaluated the feasibility of our approach with biobank and familial hypercholesterolemia patient samples and received promising results,” Iryna Hlushchenko traces back the origin of the innovation.

Finding quality support

Nevertheless, having started as a basic research project at the University, it was difficult to figure out how to bring this technology to the patients. Luckily, the researchers had some quality help:

“Through active engagement in Spark Finland and now Health Incubator Helsinki, we established a roadmap which will lead us to this goal,” says Tamara Alagirova. In addition, the team received Business Finland research-to-business funding to develop its technology further.

“We plan to spin out from the university and establish a company in summer 2023,” explains Alagirova.

Driving force

For the research team, the ultimate goal is for their invention to find widespread application, helping patients and doctors to select an optimal treatment strategy – quickly providing positive impact for patients, the healthcare system and society.

“As scientists, we want our research to lead to improvements for patients and society. The technology that we are developing has the potential to achieve this. Our goal is to make this happen and this is our biggest motivation,” Simon Pfisterer says.  

Connecting with fellow founders

The Moncyte team is happy to be selected into the Health Incubator Helsinki’s incubator program as the only research-to-business project among startups.

“We have only had positive experiences so far. We look forward to connecting and sharing experiences with fellow founders, get the most out of the exciting ecosystem and proceed with investor relations,” Alagirova says.

The team is looking to secure seed funding mid 2023 in order to get the project to the next level.

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Moncyte

Helsinki startup Fepod wants to help healthcare professionals measure the real blood concentration of paracetamol, opioids, and other pain medicine directly from a drop of blood. Learn more about the company that joined the Health Incubator Helsinki program in spring 2022.

“We’re developing and commercialising a next generation point-of-care blood analytics method. Our technology is based on years of research at Aalto University, cutting-edge technology and nano materials,” says Jussi Pyysalo, Founder & CEO, at Fepod Oy Ltd.

The company’s testing process is both fast and simple and the result is available in seconds. The testing equipment consists of a standard mobile phone, a small potentiostat and disposable sampling sensors. Pyysalo is convinced that this novel and portable analytics method will open a lot of new, exciting possibilities for healthcare.​

How did it all get started, then? – Pyysalo explains that Aalto University had set up a couple of projects around the core innovation. In fact, the core technology had been under research and constant development at Aalto University for years and it has been shown to be able identify the targeted opioids and paracetamol from human blood.

Team takes shape

Eventually, Aalto University was able to find expertise from both healthcare sector (HUS Helsinki University Hospital) and commercial side (TUTL project commercial expert) who then formed the core team together with the original researchers.

“Later, this core team was supplemented by experienced software and healthcare professionals who became co-founders of the company,” Pyysalo says.

The business model and plan to proceed was drafted during the 2,5 years of TUTL B2C-project which, unfortunately, took place during the COVID period.

Fepod team members from left: Elsi Verrinder, Jussi Pyysalo and Niklas Wester.

Freshly incorporated

For the last couple of years, the team was running its project at the Aalto University with R2B funding from Business Finland. Finally, the team incorporated the company in February 2022 and got a small investment in immediately.

“We then negotiated with Aalto about the technology transfer for months and finally closed it in early May 2022,” says Pyysalo.

“Right now, we’ve just closed our seed financing round with Almaral Oy, and we already got a Business Finland Tempo grant accepted. We’ve planned our path to MVP (minimum viable product) and are now taking first steps on that path,” says Pyysalo who was interviewed in early June 2022.

Big potential worldwide

The immediate future involves clinical tests, closing the first licensing deals and finalizing the commercial test kits and the software platform (mobile app & cloud-based machine learning system). The five founders and the new chairman of the board certainly have their hands full, but also the upside is considerable:

“We have proven, protected technology, multi-billion market, huge customer value and clear market traction,” Pyysalo says.

In addition, the startup has advisors from Aalto University and Helsinki University hospital as well as a committed manufacturer (Canatu Ltd) for its sensors.​

Reinventing patient diagnostics

The company’s technology can change the entire process on how certain patient groups are diagnosed – and how some treatments could be personalised to better serve their purpose with an affordable, easy-to-use diagnostics method – and that’s a major game-changer, indeed.

“Our main goal is to help improve the lives and health of millions of patients globally and support the healthcare professionals in doing their work as accurately and efficiently as possible,” says Pyysalo.

Be your own boss

In addition to doing good, the life of a startup entrepreneur has other perks, too – such as the chance to call your own shots, in good days and bad. 

“There’s the freedom – and the responsibility that comes with it – of building something of your own from zero. You also get to fully enjoy the path with all the uphill struggles and moments of success,” Pyysalo says.

Talking about company’s entry into the Health Incubator Helsinki program, Pyysalo says that the company is excited about the future.

“We’re looking forward to networking with other incubator companies and learning new and beneficial things from common training sessions.”

Check out all the companies in the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Fepod

Nordic Fit Mama, which provides digital health and wellbeing services for mothers, is one of the Finnish market leaders in the field. Now the company is heading to the world market. In Italy, digital maternity services are still scarce, but there is a lot of interest in them. Nordic Fit Mama has recently started cooperating with an Italian web portal that provides research backed information on health and wellbeing, as well as medical services.

Nordic Fit Mama’s Post Natal Program is featured on the Italian health and wellbeing portal myspecialdoctor.it, in its new Mamma-In-Forma section for pregnant and new mothers.

The portal provides a platform for researched and expert backed information on health and wellbeing. Nordic Fit Mama is featured on the portal because its programs are researched-based and designed by experts. Nordic Fit Mama works closely with e.g. one of the leading Finnish private health care providers Mehiläinen.

My special doctor -portal gathers 500,000 visitors a month. The number is expected to double in the near future.

Italian mothers very interested

About 500,000 children are born in Italy every year, almost ten times more than in Finland. Free healthcare and pregnancy monitoring are available for pregnant women but as in Finland, rehabilitation after pregnancy is primarily the mother’s own responsibility.

The My Special Doctor -portal offers Nordic Fit Mama a tremendous opportunity to reach mothers in a new market. The Nordic Fit Mama Post Natal Program, focused specifically on strengthening the core muscles and pelvic floor, is the only one of its kind featured there. The collaboration between Nordic Fit Mama and My special doctor -portal shows that Italian mothers are very interested in safe postpartum rehabilitation.

Unique digital concept

As a pioneer of digital maternity health services, Nordic Fit Mama has long been one of the few its kind on the market in Finland but the competition is tightening. In Italy, the market potential is huge, with only one online coaching service available so far for mothers for postpartum rehabilitation.

“Nordic Fit Mama’s digital approach is very unique and offers help and information for new moms in an easy and efficient way. We definitely see an interest among Italian moms and are very excited about the cooperation”, says Luigi Martinucci, founder of the My special doctor portal.

Nordic Fit Mama is participating in the Health Incubator Helsinki program since 2021. In this case, special thanks to Health Incubator Helsinki’s Gian-Luca Cioletti for helping Nordic Fit Mama’s team with native Italian language skills.

Read more about Nordic Fit Mama.

Photos: Nordic Fit Mama

Startup Lapsi Health wants to transform the way auscultatory sound is used in medicine and pharma-biotech development. The idea behind the company is to provide better holistic digital medicine by using sound to create new digital biomarkers – enabled by the usage of a digital stethoscope. Read to learn more about Lapsi Health that recently joined the Health Incubator Helsinki program.

Behind the innovation lies the ambition of one of the co-founders Diana van Stijn to improve Pediatric care. As an MD PhD in Pediatrics, she understood the needs for innovation in the Pediatric Asthma population. At the same time, fellow doctor Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades had been working with medical devices focused on advanced measurement in different fields of medicine.

“When they got together, the original idea was created: how to use sound to help kids with asthma. Using auscultation, you could get alerts about asthma attacks before they occur,” Seamus Holohan explains.

Four seasoned Co-Founders and a successful Pre-Seed round

Holohan, a seasoned entrepreneur of 20 years with experience from four startups prior to Lapsi Health, jumped onboard as COO and Rodrigo Alvez, with extensive knowledge on software and apps, became the Chief Technology Officer.

“The four of us started talking about the company in July 2021, with the pandemic still raging on,” Holohan says.

“We were pretty spread out geographically, but learned to work together remotely and made good progress. We incorporated the company in early 2022.”

In Q1 2022, the company – now headquartered in Amsterdam – completed a successful Pre-Seed round and started to develop its first B2C device, a revolutionary Medical Stethoscope with the working name of Keikku.

Coming to Finland has accelerated getting contacts

But how did the international startup end up participating in a Finnish health incubator, then? – Holohan explains that a colleague had heard great things about the Helsinki-based incubator and suggested they check it out.

“I had some previous experience from operating in Finland and we were definitely curious about the incubator. Turns out, it was a great fit for us.”

Lapsi Health was accepted in Health Incubator Helsinki and established its second office in Helsinki in April 2022. The experience so far has been “fantastic”:

“The facilities are great, there are seminars and events as well as support from other startups,” he says. “Coming to Finland has really helped us to get more contacts.”

In the pipeline: Making a big impact

Looking ahead, Lapsi Health expects to raise a Seed Round in the summer 2022. The purpose of the round is to allow for the continuation of product development and commencement of clinical trials.

“We are examining the possibility of patents on the technology and we are convinced that there are many, many implementations for what we do, ranging from digital therapeutics to telemedicine to clinical trials.”

Holohan, who cites “genetic failure” as a probable reason behind his serial entrepreneur career, says that Lapsi Health is looking to make a big impact in the industry.

“We want to change the way auscultatory medicine works and really scale the business. What we’re doing now really comes from the heart and the desire to make a positive impact,” he sums up.

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photo: Lapsi Health Co-Founders from left: Seamus Holohan, Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades, Diana van Stijn and Rodrigo Alvez. (Lapsi Health)

Dutch medtech firm Lapsi Health recently announced that it has raised $0.6M in a pre-seed funding round to advance its work to develop new digital biomarkers based on auscultatory sound. The funding round was led by several tech investors spanning Europe and the Middle East, including those from the Netherlands, Finland, the US, Uruguay and the UAE.

Lapsi Health is working to develop new digital biomarkers based on sounds acquired by the first continuous wearable stethoscope, developed by its team in Finland. The acquired sounds have the potential to be analysed by several algorithmic methods and to be converted into biomarkers.

The new funds will be used to develop the first technological principles of its solution and to enter clinical validation trials. Specifically, the company will focus on auscultatory sound acquisition, analytics and remote patient monitoring.

Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades, CEO at Lapsi Health and an expert in digital health and biomarkers, said: “We have been able to secure a fast investment to be able to develop solutions that are very necessary for chronic patients in several medical specialties, worldwide. This technology will represent a usage of auscultatory sound in a way that is not currently being used, creating a new generation of Digital Biomarkers.”

Lapsi Health started in the 2022 batch of Health Incubator Helsinki in April. Welcome to Health Incubator Helsinki team!

Read more in Health Tech World’s article.

Contact information:
Séamus Holohan, Chief Operating Officer, Lapsi Health
tel. +358 40 648 4534, seamus@lapsihealth.com
lapsihealth.com

Photo: Lapsi Health

MedicubeX is developing a self-measurement station that measures vital signs automatically and hygienically for preventive healthcare. In only a few minutes, the station collects and analyzes data on cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors using AI and sensor-guided technologies.

In April 2022, the company closed its crowdfunding investment round on Funderbeam platform totaling 250.000€. In addition, two knowledgeable business angels with competent industry expertise made an investment of 60.000€, with the same valuation and terms as Funderbeam’s closed funding round. Besides the investment, Marja Aarnio-Isohanni and Joe Hamari will  bring their experience with scalable SAAS business models and European healthcare systems to the table.

Moreover, MedicubeX announced a strategic investment from StartMore, a startup funding company committed to assisting early-stage enterprises in their growth and transforming ideas into viable businesses.

The autonomous self-measurement market in the EU is expected to reach 400 million euros by 2027.

With the current funds raised, the company can move forward with its plans to set up customer pilots in Finland and the Netherlands, develop intellectual property, begin commercial operations in the Nordics and Baltics, as well as prepare to enter the Central European market.

Congratulations from Health Incubator Helsinki team!

Read more in MedicubeX press release.

Further information:

Vili Kostamo M.D., CEO MedicubeX Oy
vili.kostamo@medicube.fi
+358 44 300 1617
www.medicubex.com

Photo: MedicubeX

Finnish Organ-On-Chip startup Finnadvance has secured a €1.2 million seed financing round led by Finnish investor Athensmed. Several existing investors, such as deep tech VC Voima Ventures and early-stage VC Icebreaker, are participating in the funding round. In addition, the funding also includes a new investor, Takoa Invest.

Finnadvance is a biotechnology startup from Oulu, Finland. The 3-year-old company develops platforms which recreate tissue models with microfluidic flow patterning and hydrogel coatings. These models simulate tissue and organ function, mechanics and physiological response, simulating human organs in miniature.

“Our technology allows for more human-like preclinical drug testing, fast repurposing of old drugs and, in the long term, development of personalized therapies and medicines,” states Finnadvance’s CEO Prateek Singh.

Finnadvance is participating in the Health Incubator Helsinki program since 2021.

Expanding to foreign markets

The €1.2 million funding round will greatly help the company in expanding their operations to foreign markets. With commercial activities in South Korea and Europe, Finnadvance is now heading to the US market. The company has received numerous EU and National funded grants to accelerate product research and development, and are now rapidly scaling their team.

“Finnadvance’s industry ready tissue modeling platform accelerates scientific and commercial drug research and brings remarkable savings in both cost and time. Prateek and his team have done an amazing job to bring this technology from an idea to a product. The IPR is also truly impressive”, explains Kustaa Piha, the CEO of Athensmed.

Warm congratulations to the Finnadvance team!

Photo: Finnadvance 

The Finnish healthtech company MedicubeX has developed a self-measurement station automatically and hygienically measuring vital signs for preventive healthcare. Based on AI and sensor guided technology the station collects and analyzes data on the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in just a few minutes. MedicubeX, a Health Incubator Helsinki company, is currently fundraising to start and expand commercial operations in Europe.

The self-measurement station marketed under the name Medicube X™ eHealth Station is built on the platform of Framery known for their soundproof space solutions. Hygienic conditions are ensured with an automated UV-light based disinfection solution from Signify. The station is the only self-disinfecting and thus the safest solution on the market for the user. The station can be used fully autonomously without any assistance or guidance from healthcare personnel. 

For the autonomous measurement of vital signs, the newest medical devices integrated into a single modular platform are used. Everything is operated through a single user interface with a data connection to patient information systems and an option for remote appointments with a doctor.

“The station can autonomously measure blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate variability, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, body temperature, body composition and arterial stiffness. Heart arrythmias can be detected with an automated analysis. In the future we can add on predictions for other diseases as well, such as skin or lung cancer and Alzheimer’s disease,” says the CEO and co-founder of MedicubeX, Vili Kostamo M.D.

The Medicube X™ station can help in preventive healthcare because it enables the screening and follow-ups of elevated cardiovascular disease and diabetes risks. The health data collected is automatically entered into patient information systems and can be used to make medical treatment decisions and to support self-care.

”Our goal is to take care of the health of people and prevent expensive non-communicable diseases. According to some studies up to 80–90 per cent of serious cardiovascular diseases could be prevented if the risks were detected early,” Kostamo says.

MedicubeX is seeking investors with a valuation of 1.6 million euros

MedicubeX is owned nearly entirely by its founders Vili Kostamo and Heikki Rautajoki. Investors are offered shares with a pre-money valuation of 1.6 million euros. The funding round is organized by Funderbeam.

The goal is to raise up to €540,000 of capital to start customer pilots in Finland and the Netherlands and to start up commercial operations in the Nordic countries and the Baltics. Before the round, continuing until 6 April, went public on 3 March, €200,000 were already raised from private investors.

The company aims to patent a cardiovascular disease risk index. The index is based on multiple measurements predicting disease risks including a novel AGE-measurement from skin.

Preventing diseases in a scalable, cost-effective way

High growth is expected for the highly automated, self-disinfecting self-measurement station as there are no equivalent solutions available in Europe. Ease of use and cost-effectiveness are core competitive advantages.

“From the perspective of disease prevention repeated blood tests and physical examinations are too expensive and complicated. Some people are afraid of needles which raises the barrier of risk analysis even further. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the deficit of healthcare resources worse and the overstrained healthcare systems cannot meet demand. In this new situation the importance of autonomous, preventive healthcare is highlighted,” Kostamo believes.

“Healthcare service systems in Europe are facing a turning point. The autonomous self-measurement concept and business model developed by MedicubeX are a brave approach to preventing diseases in a cost-effective way. A European network of eHealth stations and automated data-analytics enable scalable health benefits and great commercial potential,” describes the market development Thomas Lundström, Director of consulting company Knowit Insight who invested in the company.

“The state of health and its real time tracking are constantly becoming more important. A person can use the MedicubeX solution to safely make measurements which have so far needed an appointment with a doctor. For example, in the prevention of type 2 diabetes measurements are crucial. The period following COVID-19 will further globally reinforce the growth of the self-measurement market. MedicubeX has the strong makings of a breakthrough,” believes Stefan Haglund, a partner of the investment company StartMore.  

MedicubeX estimates the market of autonomous self-measurement to reach approximately €400 million in the EU by 2027.

Medicubex Ltd is a Finnish innovation-driven startup company founded in 2020 for the development and sales of smart self-service solutions for healthcare and communities. They aim to provide fast, clinical grade health measurements and cost-effective tools for early detection of diseases with a quick, accessible approach through the MedicubeX eHealth stations.

Funderbeam is a global equity funding and trading platform. They connect a diverse investor network with highly vetted growth companies across international markets and, through The Marketplace, allow private investments to be traded.

Photos: MedicubeX

Swedish Mindler, one of Europe’s leading mental health treatment platforms, has announced the acquisition of Finnish health tech startup Medified Solutions Oy. Medified was founded by medical students in 2019 and has developed and clinically implemented a digital mental health treatment monitoring software.

Mindler acquires the CE-certified medical product Medified as well as its team of software and business developers. Medified will be an integral component to Mindler’s platform and psychologists work enabling a more data-driven approach for treatment planning, mental health assessment, monitoring, and operative support as well as treatment outcome evaluation. Mindler currently operates in Sweden, France, the Netherlands and the UK.

Medified’s unique data sources provide mental health care with the objective data needed for the measurement of clinically validated treatment outcomes and the creation of valuable patient-centric tools for professionals to utilize in the treatment decision processes and assessment of patients’ recovery.

“The entire Medified team is super excited to join the Mindler family. The announcement means we have the opportunity to take what we’ve built and learned at Medified to ramp up our impact to a whole new level with Mindler”, says Valtteri Korkiakoski, CEO of Medified.

“Solving global mental health challenges requires ambition and innovation. Now together with Mindler I believe that transforming mental healthcare is one step closer.”

From founding the startup to acquisition in 1,000 days

Medified joined Health Incubator Helsinki in the first batch of startups in 2020. The company advanced from founding to acquisition phase in 1,000 days, which is an amazing achievement.

“The Medified team has done an outstanding job in building their company with a dedication and clear focus in mind from the start. I am glad to see that – through the acquisition by Mindler – they will get new resources that enables the scaling of their concept internationally,” says Christian Lardot, Health Incubator Helsinki Leader.

Warm congratulations to the whole Medified team and all the best on your journey ahead!

Read the acquisition news in Medtech News and Talouselämä (in Finnish).

Read our previous article on Medified.

For more information contact:
Krista Ehrnrooth
Krista.ehrnrooth@mindler.se
+358 40 562 7364

Photo: Medified

A study conducted by Health Incubator Helsinki company Nordic Fit Mama, Oulu University of Applied Sciences and the Ouluhealth Lab finds online coaching an excellent tool in post-partum rehabilitation. Digital coaching was praised by both participating mothers and nurses.

The study, testing the Nordic Fit Mama online postnatal programme, was carried out at the Kaakkuri Wellness Center in Oulu, Finland, in the autumn of 2021.  Both mothers and nurses saw digital coaching as a well-functioning solution for mothers recovering from pregnancy and childbirth. The Nordic Fit Mama online program focuses on rehabilitation of the core and pelvic floor muscles. It also includes guidance on mental health maintenance and tools to cope in the new life situation.

Easily accessible and cost effective digital coaching can effectively improve the health of new mothers – and reduce healthcare workload

According to the nurses involved in the study, an easily accessible online coaching is a good addition to maternity clinic’s offering. They believe it can effectively improve the health and well-being of mothers and families and reduce the workload on nurses at the clinic. The nurses reported that mothers were excited about the new service.

The participating mothers praised the coaching for clear and professional instructions and the ease-of-use of the platform. Nurses said they had also benefited from the training themselves, by getting more information about postnatal rehabilitation. They hoped to receive more coaching in the future.

“It would be great to get more advice, tips and tools like this, to be offered at the clinic to new mothers,” says one nurse.

In general, the experiment was considered as a success and a promising opportunity for healthcare.

Experience from helping 20,000 new mothers

Founded in 2017, Nordic Fit Mama has already helped 20,000 mothers to recover safely from childbirth. The feedback from mothers has been almost invariably excellent. Many mothers return to the program after a new pregnancy.

Over the past five years, Nordic Fit Mama has gathered a lot of valuable information about new mothers and their needs and desires. The information is used to develop the service that helps in the delicate and unique phase of new motherhood in the best possible way.

“Studies have shown that digital services have great potential in public healthcare. We would like to see this development to be a little faster so that no mother is left alone with problems for which there is a solution,” says Riina Laaksonen, the founder of Nordic Fit Mama.

Read an article about Nordic Fit Mama. 

More information:
Riina Laaksonen, CEO, Nordic Fit Mama, tel. +358 40 180 1535, riina@nordicfitmama.fi
www.nordicfitmama.fi

Photo: Nordic Fit Mama

Health Incubator Helsinki startup from batch of 2020, Uute Scientific Oy, has completed a financing round of 1.2 million euros. The main investor in the additional financing round was Butterfly Ventures, which had previously invested in the company. Also, Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) and earlier shareholders participated in it. With the new capital, the company aims for even faster growth and development.

“Uute Scientific has a strong technology- and research background from the Universities of Helsinki and Tampere, as well as a good IP base. The team is really good. In addition, the speed with which Uute Scientific has been able to acquire paying customers has surprised us positively several times. Uute Scientific Oy is clearly one of our portfolio companies of which we expect a really big success story. Additional investments in Uute Scientific have been in our investment plans for some time. For these reasons, the additional investment was an easy solution,” says Juho Risku, Butterfly Ventures Oy’s Co-Founder and Partner.

“Currently, about 500 million people suffer from immune-mediated diseases such as allergies, celiac disease and type 1 diabetes. This is due to urbanization and the fact that there is no longer exposure to nature’s diverse microbes. We believe that it is better to prevent these diseases than to treat the symptoms,” says Kari Sinivuori, CEO of Uute Scientific Oy.

“We currently have 10 customers who have brought about 30 consumer products to the Finnish and UK markets. In addition, we have delivered test batches to Germany and Spain. We have very strong scientific support for our patented raw material, and this additional round of funding guarantees us the opportunity for various development projects with international consumer goods giants. At the same time, we are looking towards 2023, aiming for an IPO,” Sinivuori continues.

Uute Scientific Oy manufactures a microbial extract that corresponds to the microbial community found in a rich forest and nature. Our raw material is researched and safe to use. When added as a raw material to various consumer products, such as cosmetics or textiles, natural exposure can be introduced into everyday life even when it is not possible in an urban environment. Environmental exposure is essential for the immune system to be able to train itself and maintain its operations. Uute Scientific Oy was established in accordance with the rules and processes of commercialization used at the University of Helsinki. The company’s trademark is Reconnecting Nature™. www.uutescientific.com

Butterfly Ventures is one of the leading seed stage venture capital companies in the Nordic countries focused on deep technology and hardware innovation. Butterfly Ventures was founded in 2012 and has offices in Helsinki, Oulu, Stockholm and Tallinn. The Butterfly Ventures team has solid experience in seed stage investments through more than 80 companies and more than 200 investment rounds. www.butterfly.vc

Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) is a state-owned investment company that wants to raise Finland to the front ranks of transformative economic growth by investing in funds and directly in companies. We invest profitably and responsibly, hand-in-hand with co-investors, to create the world’s new success stories. Our investments under management total 2.1 billion euros. Our investment in Uute Scientific was made from the Venture Bridge special investment programme. www.tesi.fi

A recent survey by Health Capital Helsinki shows that access to funding is by far the biggest challenge for healthcare startups. Most of the responding companies need funding immediately or within a year. Health Incubator Helsinki startup Nordic Fit Mama shares what their angel investors looked for when investing. 

Nordic Fit Mama is a digital company founded by Ms. Riina Laaksonen that focuses on the well-being of mothers. In August 2021, Ms. Saana Ahonen, an angel investor focusing on responsibility and impact investments, joined the financiers of the underlying Nordic Wellness Group. Kustaa Piha, a medical doctor and serial entrepreneur who invests in digital health has been involved since 2019.

According to Ms. Laaksonen, Saana Ahonen joined the Nordic Fit Mama investors because of the company’s solvency, interesting growth prospects both in Finland and internationally, and it’s business idea: making women’s health services available to everyone.

Ahonen, who has worked e.g. in Uganda, is particularly committed to promoting gender equality. According to Ahonen, all mothers in the world should have the right to quality health care. Cost-effective and location-independent digital services are a good solution for this. Nordic Fit Mama has developed into an expert not only in womens’ well-being but also in digital services, whose expertise is internationally commissioned.

The company’s team consists of women and mothers of all ages, so there is a passion for mothers’ well-being, health, and equality. Passion and ambition are things that Kustaa Piha paid attention to when considering the investment decision. According to him, it is also important that there is evidence that results have been achieved.

“When I talk to investors, the first thing I always say is that I’m not primarily interested in money. The money comes and goes, the investor stays, so it is important that they share the same key values and goals,” says Laaksonen. 

“Internationalization requires a solid financial base. We are able to offer the opportunity to take Finnish excellence in maternal health care to the growing digital services market,” Laaksonen adds.

In addition to angel investors, Nordic Fit Mama has received funding from Business Finland, the Finnish government organization for innovation funding and trade, travel and investment promotion, and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY).

Read more about Nordic Fit Mama here.

Photos: Nordic Fit Mama

A growing number of companies have noticed the potential of microbial extract developed by a Health Incubator Helsinki startup Uute Scientific. The world’s largest cosmetic brands also want to get their hands on the innovative extract.

Health Incubator Helsinki startup Uute Scientific is gaining more and more ground with their nature-based microbial extract, Reconnecting Nature™. Recently, 11 companies have expressed their interest in the company’s scientifically proven innovation that is developed to boost the immune system of both people and domestic animals. For Uute Scientific, this news is particularly exciting as these potential customers are among the top 20 largest cosmetic brands in the world.

The Health Incubator Helsinki company has its roots in the universities of Tampere and Helsinki. The immune-boosting extract – mixed by hand in Lohja, Finland – can currently be found in various consumer products ranging from cosmetics to textiles and toys.

Read more about Uute Scientific’s plans for the future and the manufacturing process of Reconnecting Nature™ in an article, published by Tekniikka & Talous (in Finnish) here.

Photo: Uute Scientific

More than 250 startups from all over the world took part in the 10th MEDICA Startup Competition with their solutions in AI in healthcare, health apps and robotics. The main prize in the Medical Startups category went to Health Incubator Helsinki company Phonolyser.

Helsinki-based medical startup Phonolyser has a good reason to celebrate. The company has just won the Medical Startups category of the MEDICA Startup Competition 2021, held in Düsseldorf, Germany, with their smart heart sound analyzer. MEDICA is the world’s leading event in the medical sector.

Bahman Doaeian, Chief Business Officer at Phonolyser sees the achievement as a remarkable step in his company’s mission of safeguarding infants’ health and wellbeing.

“We believe this is just the beginning of our journey. By this achievement, we have shown that there is a huge potential to improve people’s lives and save children in a meaningful way. Our partners also know that by helping us, we can achieve this ambitious target together”, he says.

Phonolyser is one of the promising health startups selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki program that started in the spring of 2021. The company’s solution combines AI, doppler-technology, and sound analysis to identify and diagnose Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) on newborns and children more effectively and faster than ever before.

Huge congratulations to the Phonolyser team!

Read our article on Phonolyser here.

In the photo, the winners of MEDICA Startup Competition 2021. Photo: Przemek Grzywa

To improve their quality of life, lots of people would benefit from access to clinical trials. At the same time, researchers setting up clinical trials are usually hard-pressed to find enough participants. Could the solution lie in building a bridge between the people and the researchers? Let’s meet Trialwell, one of the startups selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki program that started in the spring of 2021.

Trialwell is a new startup that wants to support the citizen’s health and wellbeing, connecting him/her with clinical trials and studies that match the person’s health profile. This service is provided free of charge to the citizen.

Laura Holland, CEO and co-founder of Trialwell, explains that the startup intends to grow a user population of people from a broad demographic who want to be part of research.

“We’re zeroing in on those people who are actively on the look-out for health and wellbeing solutions.”

AI finding candidates for trials

The startup specialises in clinical trials and studies, simplifying the entire process to give people full access to all treatment options, says Holland.

“Our platform will use AI technology to find pre-screened candidates by matching inclusion and exclusion criteria with our user health profiles,” she explains.

Research featured on Trialwell has the power to make significant contributions to people living with obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression, anxiety, stress induced illnesses…

Furthermore, Trialwell’s databases are encrypted and GDPR compliant.

“All data is stored within the EU,” adds Holland.

End to trial recruitment woes?

For the science community, Trialwell should bring welcome relief, providing research recruitment that’s both inexpensive and convenient. With Trialwell, the research teams only pay for every successfully matched candidate, allowing them to focus on the research itself.

“Studies suggest that over 80% of clinical trials fail to recruit in time which poses a big problem. Due to these issues, as much as 40% of the over-all research budget goes to recruiting which is way too much,” Holland says.

Trialwell has already built a collaboration network that features, so far, eight UK universities.

Free access to treatments, therapies and information

Trialwell has taken on the ambitious goal of connecting the science community and the general public, calling it a symbiotic relationship that needs to be supported in order to facilitate future research in a cost-effective way.

Obviously, the more people take part in clinical trials and studies through Trialwell, the better the chances to support the development of new treatments and preventative strategies to tackle health threats. So far, Trialwell has rallied 1,200 participants in the UK and Finland for its cause.

“We also want to do our part in closing the current data gap; to raise awareness and encourage men and women from all ethnic groups to participate in research. At the same time, we need to reduce wellbeing polarity,” she says, adding that free access to treatments, therapies and information lies at the heart of the Trialwell ideology.

Trialwell has been built to be prevention-focused from day one:

“Prevention is kinder, cheaper and more effective than cure,” Holland points out.

Active in UK & Finland

The UK is the main market for the startup, but Trialwell has launched a pilot project together with VTT and is participating in Health Incubator Helsinki as one of Batch II companies.

Holland has enjoyed the incubator experience:

“The incubator functions as a great sounding board for us and other companies. It’s good to have the support of the entire network.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photo: Trialwell
Cover photo: Jussi Hellsten / Helsinki Marketing

Fertility treatments often lack predictability, leading into uncertainty and frustration. Through the power of machine learning, however, it is possible to improve the over-all effectiveness of fertility treatments. New Finnish startup Knewborn wants to accomplish all this – and more. The company is one of the promising startups selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki program that started in the spring of 2021.

Co-founder Sara Veleva is an experienced physician who is skilled in Research, Medical Education, Gynecology, Epidemiology, and Statistical Data Analysis. Hailing from Bulgaria, she came to study in Finland almost 20 years ago.

“When I first got the invitation from the University of Oulu, my friends joked it was located so far up north that there had to be penguins,” she looks back now, laughing. 

Her award-winning, 2008 doctoral thesis focused on infertility, providing a solid future base for a startup focused on infertility issues.

Award-winning thesis led to idea development

At the time, even Time Magazine interviewed her, further convincing Veleva that there’s something worth developing here.

“There’s a huge amount of uncertainty that comes with fertility treatments: they are, by nature, heavy, difficult and expensive treatments with no guarantees.”

Then an idea emerged: what if you could decrease that “fog of uncertainty” between doctors and patients by improving communication – and improving vitro fertilization treatments, as well?

“We experimented with machine learning tools to see if this could be done. Proper predictive models were key in this work,” Veleva says, calling the startup a “rapid vessel” for getting support for those people in need.  

Overlap in competences from three countries

Veleva put together a team with AI expertise and started developing the product.

“We are utilizing a vast collaboration network to make this happen,” Veleva says, adding that she’s not your typical businesswoman, but instead, a researcher with a knack for taking different things and putting them together. 

Founded in 2020, Knewborn is packed with people from quite different professional backgrounds.

“There is also overlap in competences which is good for team cohesion,” she says.

So far, specialists from three different countries have been involved in the development phase, as well as various infertility clinics.

“We are looking to take on our first client in 2022.”

Health Incubator Helsinki as support

Veleva says that reducing stress and anxiety for hopeful parents is a worthy goal – but the road ahead is not easy.

“Even with AI, this is a huge challenge for all of us, but we’re confident we can make good things happen.”

Participating in the Health Incubator Helsinki – as one of Batch II companies – has given Veleva confidence to keep going forward on her chosen path.

“The program has a solid, positive structure that is giving us great support, also peer support through the pandemic,” she says, admitting that she has missed face-to-face encounters.

“Covid has really hit communication between people, but we’ve tried to adjust. It feels like things are improving now.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Knewborn
Cover photo: Unsplash

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally, estimated to cause 17.3 million deaths every year. Furthermore, there is an expected increase of up to 23.6 million deaths by the year 2030, representing 31% of all global deaths. In fighting CV diseases, new innovations are direly needed. Let’s meet Finnish DataSolu team developing one of the promising innovations selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki program that started in the spring of 2021.

DataSolu wants to speed up preclinical drug development and boost preventive care by revealing and predicting potential heart failures, using a unique cocktail of lab-grown cardiomyocytes, biomimicry and AI.

“Regular screening methods like ECG, exercise stress tests and blood tests may not pick up the very small abnormalities and hidden heart diseases. We want to be the trusted partner that finds even the slightest anomalies accurately,” says Dr. Mika Aho from DataSolu.

DataSolu applications are in cardiac toxicity screening and preventive care. Cardiotoxicity is the main reason for drug withdrawal, and most of the new compounds fail during the late-phase development.

“There are opportunities for reducing the costs and time-to-market significantly in pharmaceutics, but also in chemical and cosmetology companies,” Aho continues.

From the outside, DataSolu service is very straightforward. Pharma companies and CROs send or stream their data to the platform, and in return get back the analysis.

“Why would you use a biologist’s or cardiologist’s valuable time to manually analyze hours of data to detect arrhythmias and classify potential heart diseases, if there are better options?” Aho asks.

Enter: iPSCs!

At the heart of DataSolu innovation we find the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), reprogrammed from adult human cells and differentiated into cardiomyocytes. iPSCs are a promising alternative to model human cardiac diseases: they display properties similar to human heart cells, and have the advantage of mass production in the laboratory, having multiple disease-specific and patient-specific lines.

“In addition, they offer the opportunity to study cells that are genetically matched to individual patients with disease, and help overcome the problems associated with animal models. In fact, the European parliament just recently voted in favor of a plan to replace animal experiments with cutting-edge science,” Aho explains.

Team members of Datasolu from left: Mika Aho and Leo Heinsuo.

Meet the MEAs and physiological stimulation

The analysis method deploys microelectrode arrays (MEAs) which are, basically, glass chips printed with multiple microelectrodes, allowing non-invasive long-term measurement of electrically active cells cultured on them. MEAs have been increasingly used iPSC in research for disease modeling, drug testing and screening for early in vitro detection of proarrhythmia risk before clinical use – safe non-arrythmic drugs do not induce arrhythmias.

However, sometimes the anomalies and drug effects are not visible in the data. Research has demonstrated that mimicking human physiology on a dish is an effective stimulus for cardiovascular studies. Which, first of all, mimics the real human physiology, but also stimulates the cells in different conditions, e.g. under physical exertion.

“Physiological stimulation provides us with more valuable data about human response to stress, insight into disease susceptibility, and potentially to understanding individualized treatment response in the future as well,” says Aho.

“Once we have enough data, we can propose which drugs are the best fit for the individual patients,” he adds.

Building the data vault: Data in, analysis out

Using MEA, cardiomyocytes can be monitored during drug testing over longer periods of time.

“MEA devices generate massive amounts of time-series data to feed our deep learning algorithms. We pre-process it, keep the most relevant data and results safe,” says Leo Heinsuo from DataSolu.

DataSolu solution focuses on end-to-end deep learning, omitting traditional feature engineering methods.

“We’ve experimented with countless different types of modern deep learning architectures to tackle the challenge of highly variable iPSC recordings. Unlike ECG waveforms, the field potential (FP) of iPSCs can have very different shapes for each individual recording. The shapes may or may not tell something about an underlying disease or condition,” Heinsuo continues.

DataSolu has been data and AI-driven from the beginning. Company’s ultimate goal is to build a rich iPSC data asset, which in the future will enable, for example, rapid personalized drug development and safety testing of new chemicals.

“Eventually data is the most valuable asset. When you’re utilizing massive amounts of data properly, there is huge business potential involved,” Aho envisions.

Team members of Datasolu from left: Leo Heinsuo and Mika Aho.

Finding that commercial sweet spot

Still, technically speaking, DataSolu is not yet a registered company.

“We haven’t officially established the company yet, but we have been gradually building up the technologies, formed the core team and advisory group,” Aho explains.

DataSolu is one of the participants of Health Incubator Helsinki’s 2021 program.

“Our involvement with the program has been eye-opening. With many paths to choose from, the incubator is helping us find our sweet spot commercially,” Aho says.

“While we are now focusing on the data analysis, in the long run we also might want to generate the data ourselves. So far, we have been self-financed, but doing the cardiotoxicity testing ourselves even on a smaller scale is costly, and thus we are looking for potential partners and investors to take the next big step.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Datasolu

Presently, a “Holy Grail” of sorts for drug developers is creating drugs that home into their target cells – reducing toxicity or adverse effects. Advanced drug delivery systems deploy polymers as facilitators to try and do just that, but the industry has seen little innovation in polymeric drug delivery systems. A multicultural research team Jasmine Pro – based in Turku, Finland – is now hard at work developing a polymer that really delivers. The team is participating in the Health Incubator Helsinki program that started in the spring of 2021.

Sebastian Soidinsalo explains that his team is working on a novel enhanced drug delivery system based on jasmine lactone polymer. This proprietary system – or platform, as Soidinsalo calls it – will enable drug companies to design and develop safer and more effective medicines for various therapeutic areas such as oncology and immunology.

“Using this platform, it is possible to create nanoparticle delivery systems that home precisely into the target tissue, which can make a big difference in the fight against cancer, for example,” he says.

Powerful platform

The jasmine lactone polymer has free functional groups that allow attaching virtually any stimuli sensitive linker, drug molecule or targeting moiety.

“The versatility of the platform lowers the development risk – and speeds up the development of new, advanced formulation projects,” says Soidinsalo.

The big thing here is that you can “load more medicine” into this new polymer compared to other polymers.

“For patients, this could mean that instead of taking your medicine every day, you could take it every week,” Soidinsalo offers an example.

Also, the medicine distributed by jasmine lactone platform is not released as bursts – as they often are with other polymers – but it’s thought to release drugs more evenly, to keep optimal levels of the medicine in blood circulation.   

Focus on developing the platform and new drug formulations

Soidinsalo, however, is not the father of the original idea. That distinction goes to the Chief Scientist of the group, Kuldeep Bansal, who realized the excellent qualities of the jasmine lactone and designed the polymer a couple of years ago. Having conducted polymeric nanomedicine research in Nottingham, England, Bansal moved to Finland for his post-doc studies at Åbo Akademi in Turku.   

Around Bansal’s groundbreaking work, a powerful team has formed at Åbo Akademi, with Soidinsalo serving as “entrepreneur in residence,” bringing a business mindset to a science-driven group. The surprising thing here? – The fact that this startup is not, technically speaking, a startup.

“We haven’t registered the company yet,” confirms Soidinsalo. “Right now, our focus is on studying the polymer and developing the platform and new drug formulations onwards,” Soidinsalo says, adding that setting up a company is something for next year.

Jasmine Pro team members from left: Kuldeep Bansal, Erica Sjöholm and Sebastian Soidinsalo.

Opportunity to create value for pharma industry

However, there is no time to be wasted, due to the limited patent life and the long time it takes to get to the market. The development is in its early stages, but a two-year research-to-business grant from Business Finland will boost the innovation to its next development milestone.

“The funding just kicked in at the start of September, giving us the chance to strive for our scientific goals, such as making sure that the polymer is safe to be studied in people.”

But while the market launch of the first jasmine polymer-based drug is perhaps a decade away, the upside of such a breakthrough is considerable.

“We have an opportunity to create significant value for the industry with our polymer,” says Soidinsalo. “Big pharmaceutical companies are facing problems with drugs’ bioavailability toxicity and stability and our polymer could be the answer to some of these difficult drug formulation problems.”

At the moment, Finland doesn’t have that many startups that are doing “hardcore drug development” as Soidinsalo puts it. Still, participating in Health Incubator Helsinki has been a good experience for the team:

“We’re able to expand our networks and gain a more realistic perspective on our project through feedback,” he says.

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Jasmine Pro

For AnalysisMode, the above seemed like an intriguing possibility. Instead of using hundreds of hours per year doing manual experiment data analysis, one could unleash the power of AI – and secure accurate results in a matter of hours.

So how does it all work, then? With AnalysisMode, scientists can use past experiment data, usually in the form of spreadsheet datasets, as input for the startup’s AI. AnalysisMode can train the AI based on this data, in order to predict and design new experiments.

“With our solution, you can predict bench experiments before making them,” sums up Tiago Sampaio, co-founder and R&D Director of the company that was started in 2017.

Five times more discoveries

In this undertaking, one uses – in lieu of an actual bioreactor – a virtual bioreactor, a digital twin of the real thing used in a lab.

“Our virtual bioreactor supports experiment simulations in different modalities, such as CHO cells, T-Cell, Viral Vectors, and more can be added at the request of the customer.”

The AnalysisMode software can run tens of thousands of simulations based on the input data provided by the scientist, discovering more “recipes” for cell culture experiments.

“From simple text data, we manage to predict molecular-level properties,” Sampaio explains.

Sampaio says that scientists using AnalysisMode’s solution are able to rack up five times more discoveries, while saving around €250,000 in annual biomanufacturing and research costs (per 10-people bench science team).

Opening the AI “black box”

According to Sampaio, the virtual model has several attractive qualities from the perspective of the scientific community. First, it works also for small data, which is useful when dealing with novel diseases, for example.

“Second, our AI technology is capable of explaining each prediction – in human language, instead of mathematical formula, and it is adaptable, meaning you don’t need to retrain a whole AI every time new data is added.”

Finally, under this model, the bench scientist is able to understand why the AI makes every single prediction – and work is able to proceed that much smoother.

“We opened the AI black box into a transparent interface to allow for this,” reveals Sampaio.

AnalysisMode team members from left: Tiago Sampaio, Mia (Minh Anh) Le, Milda Dapkeviciute and Teppo Hudsson. Recently, Belma Alispahic has joined the company, leading AnalysisMode’s scientific team.

Health hackathon champion

In addition to perfecting their AI solution, AnalysisMode has been busy making a name for itself in hackathon circles. In 2020, the company won five HackTheCrisis events and was a finalist at EU vs Virus. Previously, the company has also won the Finnish Ultrahack. This year, the company won EU’s Data 4 Healthy Recovery hackathon and was recently chosen as the winning team in the EU Data 4 Healthy Recovery Accelerator.

What’s the secret behind such a stellar performance?

“I believe it is a combination of domain knowledge and determination that wins hackathons. We go all-in,” Sampaio says with a grin.

Working towards affordable cures

Sampaio, a Brazilian native, is currently cooking his innovations under the Northern Lights – in Rovaniemi, Finland, above the Arctic Circle. He has a vision where virtual lab tools take cell-based treatments to another level entirely – finally conquering disease. Having lost his grandfather to cancer last year, Sampaio acts with a sense of urgency:

“There are threats out there similar to COVID-19 and we must prepare for those threats. Obviously, affordable cure for disease is a major part of this,” he says, adding that harnessing the full abilities of AI can provide humanity with the firepower it needs to meet these challenges.

“For example, with cell therapy, the cost can be as much as one million euros per just one patient right now. Using AI, we can cut the price by half.”

AnalysisMode is one of the Health Incubator Helsinki’s Batch II companies – and Sampaio says that networking within the program has already yielded great contacts.

“The incubator is also showing us participants what are the concrete steps we need to take in order to go forward.”

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: AnalysisMode

Helsinki startup Phonolyser is taking on Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) which is a structural heart defect present already at birth. As it is also the most common birth defect in the world, all medical solutions are of critical importance in order to safeguard the infants’ health and wellbeing. The company is one of the promising health startups selected for the Health Incubator Helsinki program that started in the spring of 2021.

Bahman Doaeian, Chief Business Officer at Phonolyser, points out that every year, around 1.35 million babies are born with CHD worldwide.

“CHD is the most common cause of birth defect related infant death – and despite its vast prevalence, public awareness about CHD and also the funding to address this issue seem really underwhelming at this point,” Bahman says. It is estimated that approximately 200-300 babies each year are discharged from the US hospitals with an undiagnosed CHD.

Phonolyser wants to change all this with its device by the same name: Phonolyser™ is a groundbreaking smart heart analyzer for pediatricians and healthcare staff to differentiate innocent murmurs from pathologic ones. It is packed with technologies such as AI, doppler, ECG and sound to detect and diagnose CHD with a remarkable degree of confidence (Sensitivity: 98%).

Accurate screening and diagnosis tool – for all healthcare personnel

Phonolyser™ shows in what phase of the cardiac cycle the murmur is occurring (systolic or diastolic), the intensity of the murmur, its location, and in what direction it is radiated.

“All of this information can help and lead the physician to the most accurate category of diagnosis,” Bahman says.

According to Bahman, Phonolyser™ is a revolutionary new device since it is accurate, real-time, and affordable, helping healthcare professionals identify and diagnose congenital heart disease more effectively and faster than ever before.

“What’s more, every doctor and a member of the healthcare staff can use it: it’s not meant only for specialists and cardiologists,” adds Bahman.

Saving healthcare costs

Avoiding loss of life and helping babies grow up healthy is, of course, paramount here. Nevertheless, there are other concerns, too: for example, although most infants diagnosed with CHD are healthy, every year more than 10 million babies are referred to pediatric cardiologists.

“The problem of unnecessary referrals costs huge amounts of money and time and we’re here to save the healthcare industry billions,” says Bahman.

Examinining a patient in three minutes

Founded in 2017, the startup hit the ground running and put together the first version of its device in August of the same year.

“It was doppler based – and made out of a biscuit box,” reveals Bahman.

Evolution continued: Launched in April 2019, version 2.0 combined Doppler with AI and ECG; newest version, 3.0., which came out in May 2020, has added sound to the mix.

“The present version is two times faster than what we started with. Now it takes less than three minutes to examine a patient,” says Bahman.

Finland is the place to be in healthcare

Presently, Phonolyser team is “very excited” to be one of the 13 outstanding startups of the Health Incubator Helsinki in 2021.

“We plan to use the resources and mentorship that the program brings us to help more people live healthier and longer lives,” Bahman says.

“Finland is simply the place to be, if you want to build a healthcare business that centers on children,” he concludes.

Text: Sami J. Anteroinen
Photos: Phonolyser
Cover photo: Unsplash