Startups in the healthcare sector are known as healthtech. Their services include pharmaceutical products and services with applied technology, health knowledge, vaccines and systems and procedures to treat diseases. They aim to improve people's quality of life, as well as to detect and treat diseases, improve treatments, hospital processes and prevent future problems.
What are the benefits of healthtech?
Health technology has grown the most in the last two decades, partly due to the rising cost of healthcare and the constant search for more efficient and effective treatments.
Health tech also applies to biotechnology and includes diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical equipment, as well as information systems and software that help improve patient outcomes and experience, prevent medical errors and improve the efficiency of healthcare organizations.
These technologies are used in the diagnosis, monitoring, treatment and rehabilitation of patients in hospitals, clinics and at home.
Healthtech startups in Spain
In healthcare, Spain is one of the countries that has changed the most with the arrival of new technologies. With a total of 159 such startups, it is the second most important market for this industry in Europe, behind only the United Kingdom.
In this article we bring you the 10 healthtech startups with the greatest impact on the healthcare market, to inspire you to create something different:
Rehand
This startup aims to rehabilitate patients using technological tools available to everyone.
The first part of 2021 was significant for the healthtech ReHand, as it worked with three times as many centers as at the end of 2020.
They are developing a new platform in addition to the neurological patient vertical, already developed and designed following Ethics Committee approval.
The Centro de Referencia Estatal de Atención al Daño Cerebral (Ceadac) and the IRCCS Milan Don Gnocchi Foundation Center are conducting a clinical trial phase. The startup has carried out extensive scientific work that has resulted in a publication in one of the Q1 scientific journals with the highest impact in its sector at international level.
ReHand is currently working to adapt the technology to the particularities of clinical practice.
Phill
This Startup oriented to the pharmaceutical sector allows you to have the medicines from your nearby pharmacies at home in less than an hour.
Undoubtedly, logistics and user experience make it easier for new generations of patients to improve their healthcare with faster and more efficient access to medicines.
Phill has recently been launched and is available in selected cities such as Barcelona.
It is a startup created by Jekyll, you can see the case study here.
Trak
Trak, a health product created by and for physiotherapists and hospitals, helps physiotherapists in the rehabilitation process working with artificial intelligence and patients in their recovery process.
Thanks to artificial intelligence, this healthtech offers help to the patient's rehabilitation by adapting the therapeutic training and collecting metrics on their evolution, healthcare professionals can monitor their treatment.
Thanks to the Lanzadera Corporate program, the Povisa, Vinalopó and Torrejón facilities of the Ribera Salud group began working with Trak in 2021.
The startup also works with the Hospital de la Asunción within the Kunsen initiative. In 2020, Trak launched the first functional version of the product following the MVP.
Dive Medical
DIVE Medical, an artificial intelligence-based health tech, tracks patients' eyes to determine visual function in uncooperative patients. It also relies on artificial intelligence and eye-tracking technology.
DIVE Medical has had a very well-received start to the year with its commercial presentations to key opinion leaders in ophthalmology and optometry. This is indicated by the launch of five one-month trial demonstrations with opinion leaders. In addition, data was collected from 750 patients as part of the TrackAI project, which aims to improve and validate the screening solution with artificial intelligence.
Aimentia
The disruptive solutions of the start up Aimentia in mental health are also based on Artificial Intelligence.
The goal is to help mental health professionals improve their skills and efficiency.
The collaboration agreement signed with the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona in the first half of the year was the company's most important achievement.
This startup includes AI tools for the assessment of suffering and psychological intervention in children with palliative, oncological and severe illnesses, as well as the monitoring of these people's relatives and guardians.
Serious illnesses, which are often not detected early by professionals, are more identifiable with this tool. As a result, earlier intervention is possible.
The study involved 17 children and adolescents with various serious illnesses. All of them received palliative care. They are planning a new study that will include another 100 children in the future.
Exheus
Researchers at the Sant Pau Hospital Research Institute and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia have developed the Exheus technology.
The startup's technology is a unique RNA test that identifies the activation of all 22,000 genes in the body. It is accompanied by the first genetic report that scans all 22,000 genes.
Exheus Blue Boost and Nutri Diet are the company's first two products to be launched in beta in 2021. Turnover has already started through a pre-sale campaign via online marketing, and its services are already available in Barcelona and Madrid.
The company has already started producing reporting results automatically, improving the entire workflow before and after purchase, and packaging and implementing the MVP for sale.
Nubentos
Nubentos' innovative SaaS platform simplifies the efficient integration of any innovation into any healthcare software. Nubentos has made significant commercial progress this year thanks to its two-pronged go-to-market strategy.
It has managed to increase the number of providers in its marketplace with services such as EB2, Besure.online, DigimEvo, Abi Global Health, Medicus AI, Idonia Health and i4life, in addition to a list of up to 50 companies in agreement phase.
On the client side of its digital health services, it continues to sign up key clients such as DKV, Solutia Digital Health, Softtek, GMV Innovations, Nueva Mutua Sanitaria, Didoc.cl and Universal Doctor. More than 40 companies, very relevant in the sector, are also in the agreement phase.
Sincrolab
Sincrolab is a clinical software that helps children with cognitive problems by offering them personalized and adapted games and exercises. The start up started in 2021.
Sincrolab has developed a statistics management function for patient tracking, as well as a new version of its algorithm that processes diverse data at the product level.
In addition, the healthcare startup is moving into the regulatory sector in line with its planned strategy and is finalizing a seed funding round.
The startup has published its first results in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Nexkin Medical
Allergology is the area of medicine that deals with allergic disorders. This startup offers digital devices to better manage them.
Nexkin Medical makes allergy medical devices, such as NEXKIN DSPT, a digital skin prick test reader, to improve diagnosis, treatment and monitoring. Allergies affect more than 30% of the population.
Capital Cell recently invested €800,000 in Nexkin Medical as part of its next round.
Conclusion
Health-oriented technology-based companies are no longer the future, they are the present.
They are changing the way diseases are understood, improving the efficiency of treatments and the early detection of certain diseases by medical professionals.
It is important to be aware of the latest advances in this industry, as it will be responsible for improving our health and well-being in the very near future.
