The world’s leading trade fair for the medical industry will take place in Düsseldorf between 13 – 16 November 2017.
MEDICA World Forum for Medicine in Düsseldorf has a 45 years long tradition! As a startup, there are at least three reasons why you might be interested in attending this year.
First, there will be more than 5,100 exhibitors and 127,000 visitors there. Plenty new people to meet!
FTR4H ambassadors: Dr. Hu Junhao, Entrepreneur, Mark Wächter, Entrepreneur, Dr. Ashish Atreja, Gastroenterologist & CTO at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr. Klaus Stöckemann, Venture Capitalist, Maren Lesche, Entrepreneur and Communications Manager, Muthu Singaram, Entrepreneur & Venture Capitalist, Tjasa Zajc, Journalist and Audience Developer.
The most important reward for the winner of the MEDICA App Competition is certainly the global awareness created at MEDICA as well as through MEDICA means.
What else?
In addition the solution ranked number 1 will be rewarded with EUR 2,000, the number 2 with EUR 1,000and the number 3 with EUR 500.
Our partner SXSW grants two (2) ‘SXSW 2018 Interactive badge registrations’ worth USD 1,325 per pass to the winning team for accessing the cult event SXSW 2018 in March 2018 in Austin, TX (USA).
Our partner Startupboothcamp (SBC) Digital Health sponsors following vouchers for the top 3 places:
– 1st price winner gets one (1) exclusive ticket to attend SBC Masterclass in Berlin during the next SBC Health program
– 2nd price winner gets a SBC mentoring dinner in Berlin
– 3rd price winner gets 1 hour of SBC online mentoring
For the first time, 20 start-ups up to 3 years old will get a chance to present themselves to the visitors throughout the duration of the fair. Don’t think twice about meeting key industry players from Siemens, Philips, Mindray, Toshiba, Compugroup Medical and many more. A pitch at MEDICA CONNECTED HEALTHCARE FORUM. is included in the price of a spot at the MEDICA Start-Up Park. More info here.
Meet the current supporters and ambassadors of the organisation.
Future For Health (FTR4H) is continuing its mission to become a Global ThinkTank on Digital Health. We’ve presented the organisation at different World of MEDICA Trade Fairs in Germany, India, China, we’ve been at SXSW in the USA. We keep partnering with experts in digital health from different countries. These are our current evangelists, some of them also this years jurors of MEDICA App Competition, which you are welcome to apply to by 30th September.
FTR4H will be located at USA Pavilion at MEDICA 2017. It will also feature a FTR4H LAB showcasing innovators and visionaries in this field.
Mark Wächter, Entrepreneur
Mark Wächter.
Mark Wächter is marketer with many years professional and leadership experience in the areas of Consumer Goods, Internet and Mobile Communications. In May 2005 he founded MWC.mobi, a worldwide active management consultancy focusing on Mobile Strategy Development and served clients in over 30 countries on all continents in the past years.
Mark is head of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) in Germany (locally known as BVDW Section Mobile) and member of MMAs Board of Directors. He is co-founder of MobileMonday and chairs the advisory board of Germany’s first Master Degree Program in Mobile Marketing at Leipzig School of Media. Mark is a Mobile Aficionado since the very beginning and became a globally well respected Mobile Media Evangelist and Strategist aka ‚Mr. Mobile‘, acting as advisor and mentor on many Mobile Initiatives. In December 2015 Springer Gabler published his book ‚MOBILE STRATEGY‘. This has been chosen as basic compendium for the charismha study on Mobile Health Apps.
Digital Health is a core competency of Mark. He organizes the world’s largest Medical Mobile Solutions award, the annual MEDICA App Competition. In May 2016 he co-initiated the global Digital Health Society, FTR4H, and since then acts as the Chief Evangelist of this platform. So far, FTR4H launched in China, Europe, India and the USA.
Maren is a storyteller and communicator by heart. She supports several startups and women in tech in establishing strong marketing campaigns to create a successful brand and support sales.
As an advisor and business development expert for Israeli startup VoiceItt, Maren is in close contact with investors, she pitches on stage to win competitions and supports the team of 12 that is spread over three continents, in scaling up in Europe their voice and voice-pattern recognition software for people with speech impairment suffering from diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer, strokes or paralyzation.
In February 2016, Maren also joined the team of etventure Startup Hub, a small team of startup experts that brings entrepreneurs and corporates together to form strategic partnerships. At etventure Startup Hub, she is also the Communications Manager for several EU-funded programs such as Accelerator European Pioneers, Welcome and the new IoT European Platform Initiative.
Dr. Klaus Stöckemann, Venture Capitalist
Dr. Klaus Stöckemann.
After obtaining his PhD in biology and pharmacology, he had held several leading positions in research and development and business development with companies like Schering AG and ASTA Medica. He later became a partner in a leading international investment firm 3i and in 2009 he co-founded Peppermint Venture Partners, which specializes in investments in Digital Health and Medical Devices. He is the Chairman of the board of several young companies such as Caterna Vision GmbH, which develops digital therapies for treating eye disorders and Emperra GmbH, which has developed the ESYSTA® System – the first GSM and Bluetooth enabled smart insulin pen connected to a web based portal, enabling web-based telemedical closed-loop management system for patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2 and Vice-Chairman of Implandata a company having developed the first wireless sensor for measuring intraocular eye pressure in Glaucoma patients.
PVP is currently launching its second fund (PVP II) with a focus on investments in innovative solutions alongside the individual health journey at the crossroads of medical devices and digital health. PVP II aims to start investing from 2018 on.
Klaus is also a mentor of several digital health accelerators such as Startupbootcamp as well as Member of the board of the German Association of Venture Capital since 2015.
Muthu Singaram, Entrepreneur & Venture Capitalist
Muthu Singaram.
Muthu is a parallel entrepreneur having been involved in several startups over last 20 years. He has over 25 years of experience in Engineering, Management and Entrepreneurship, has been a judge and mentor in many business plan competitions and is a Mentor / Entrepreneur in Residence in several Universities.
Among other things, he was responsible in developing the Malaysian National Uniprenuer Development Programme (NUDP) at the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDC). He was also a council member for the National Incubator Network.
His recent major consulting assignment is for the Malaysian Government Agency (Agency Innovasi (Innovation) Malaysia) under the Prime Minister’s Office on industry driven Innovation, helping research and entrepreneurs in accessing technology and business models.
He is currently working on a Virtual international Business Accelerator aka VibaZone based in several locations. The vision is to develop and provide a virtual community of entrepreneurs or anyone wishing to participate in / building or growing a sustainable business in any area or industry. Muthu still involves himself with new startups and works with them to go to market.
He is also the author of the book Entrepreneurship: A Hands on Guide To Starting Your Business.
Tjasa Zajc, Journalist and Audience Developer
Tjaša Zajc.
Tjasa has a Bachelors degree in journalism and a Master’s degree in health management and economics. In the last few years she focused her interest on exploring chronic diseases, healthcare systems, the digital health market and how stakeholders in these fields could be better connected to increase the speed of healthcare improvement.
She currently works for a Slovenian trade publication for healthcare professionals Medicina danes, is the host of Medicine Today on Digital Health Podcast and an Audience Developer (looking for strategies to increase reader/ subscriber retention) for its publisher – Časnik Finance, owned by the international publishing house Bonnier AB. In the past she worked for the Slovenian Press Agency and as a photographer and journalist for the weekly magazine Mladina. She has contributed to MedTech Engine – an innovative new internet portal specialized for medtech stakeholders. She is a member of the jury of this years’ Medica App Competition – the world’s largest medical app competition evaluating medical mobile solutions.
Dr. Hu Junhao, Entrepreneur
Dr. Junhua Hu.
Hu Junhao is an entrepreneur with a doctorate in Photoelectric. He worked as a research scientist in Institute for Infocomm Research, and a senior optical fiber sensor expert and then founded Darma Inc. in the United States.
DARMA completed the mass production and shipment of smart cushions in 2015, and favored by Google, Apple, Aetna and other international well-known enterprises. In 2016, DARMA has sold products to United States, Britain, Poland, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and other dozens of countries.
With excellent sensitivity and medical level accuracy, DARMA Fiber Optic Sensor attracted a lot attention in the field of healthcare, and got thousands of orders in the stage of R&D.
Meanwhile, DARMA Fiber Optic Sensor attracted a lot of doctors and professors in well-known hospitals and medical school in China and US, such as Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Ashish Atreja, Gastroenterologist & CTO at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Ashish Atreja.
Dr. Ashish Atreja is the Chief Technology Innovation and Engagement Office (C-TIE) at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is the Director of Sinai Applab – a form of incubator/accelerator for testing, validating and translating digital health apps in clinical practice. The goal of Sinai Applab is to utilize data-driven Learning Healthcare System approach to become a national leader in pragmatic trials and innovative patient-centered apps and analytics.
Dr. Ashish Atreja founded the Sinai AppLab in 2012 at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. By 2013, our first grant was awarded, closely followed by more. The Sinai AppLab now boasts extensive experience creating, implementing and evaluating technology platforms to address the needs of patients, health care providers, and researchers within the Mount Sinai Health System and beyond.
FTR4H is in full preparations for MEDICAL FAIR INDIA 2017. Before arrival, we talked to Incubators, Companies, Start-ups, Experts… Here’s what you might find useful if you’re thinking about doing business in India.
1. Make good market research
India ranked at 130 out of 189 economies in 2015 according to the World bank. 4% of the GDP go to healthcare; around 60% of expenses for healthcare are out of pocket, according to OECD. Almost a third of the population is supposed to own a smartphone by 2019, claims GSMA report. All this goes in favour to digital health or at least mHealth solutions, but keep in mind plenty of good startups on the ground are busy tackling everyday issues.
The country is extensively working on using all the advantages of digital solutions to improve people’s lives and health. Heard of Aadhar? It’s unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data such as eyes and finger prints. Nishal Arvind Singh, Founder NASS & Associates IPR Boutique law firm and Legal policy advisor to Honourable Health Minister Satyendra Jain of the Delhi Government explains the plan behind the project: “All payments will be linked with aadhar, to avoid duplicity, promote increase in online payments and disbursement to beneficiaries under many governmental schemes for education, pension etc. This will enable direct transactions into beneficiaries bank account, which will prevent corruption,” says Arvind, adding that in time, it will be connected with healthcare. The unique identification number of a person will prevent duplication and confusion in data management and insurance claimes with others with the same name.
2. Do you have enough time for business here?
According to a World bank report from 2006, it takes 56 procedures and approximately four years for a simple commercial contract in India. As explained by Prabhu Guptara, a distinguished Professor of Global Business, Management & Public Policy at William Carey University, India, a Member of Boards of different companies in the UK, Germany and Switzerland, the problem is the bureaucratic system. It takes years for the legal claims to be processed, let alone enforced. It is a slow system, so brace yourself with energy and patience to conquer it.
3. Know that India has very good medical doctors
Top class. World renowned. There’s a reason medical tourism flourishes here. However, as Sachin Gaur warns, 80% of people live in rural areas and only 20% of facillites are there. There are different initiatives to improve access, such as the the mohalla (neighbourhood) clinics. As explained by the hindustantimes, they were started with the aim of taking diagnostics and treatment of simple ailments to people’s doorstep and reduce the footfall in tertiary care hospitals.
4. Can you make a subscription plan under a dollar a month?
India has 1.3 billion people, the majority is poor. “2/3 of the population can’t be your target market. 30% of the population lives on less than 2.5 dollars/day, another third 5 dollars/day. Which still leaves you with 400 million people you could address,” says Prabhu Guptara. However, given the number of people, if you can design a subscription model for around 20 cents, than you might address the poorer population, says Sachin Gaur, Director Operation at InnovatioCuris. Taking into account the volume you could reach, it can turn out to be a viable business model.
“If you can design a subscription model for around 20 cents, than you might address the poorer population,” says Sachin Gaur, Director of Operations at InnovatioCuris.
5. Ask, connect to people on the ground
Have you heard of HealthCode.io? It’s a platform for healthcare professionals where you can find people interested in co-creation, consulting, commercialisation, fundraising, mentoring, investing, validation. The app, as the founders claim, already has members from 52 countries, so you might find useful connections even outside India!
Be sure to check the two episodes of Medicine Today on Digital Health! Praphu Guptara speaks about differences in the healthcare systems in India, Switzerland or England. Sachin Gaur talks about the innovative solutions in India and problems of digital solutions and cyber security. You can find it on iTunes or Soundcloud.
eSec Forte Technologies is a Global Consulting and IT Services company with expert offerings in Enterprise Application Development Services, Mobile App Development, Information Security Services, Supply Chain Management Solutions and Corporate Training. eSec Forte Technologies is a FTR4H ecosystem partner and some representatives will be present at our FTR4H Lab & Lounge at MEDICAL FAIR INDIA 2017.
Surbhit Bansal, Business Manager at eSec Forte
Curious about the program of FTR4H Lab & Lounge? Check it our here.
We talked to their Business Manager Surbhit Bansal about the company, their collaboration with Start-ups and presence in the Healthcare sector.
eSecforte focuses on IT and security – how active are you in the area of healthcare? Where are you present in India?
Surbhit Bansal: We are a company with our core business of IT and Security. We are present in India and abroad in the healthcare domain, working with organizations such as Ministry of Health, AIIMS, Max Healthcare, NACO, SOS Children’s Village International, NARI, United Health Group, Images Radiology. At Medical Fair India we will focus on presenting our Clinic Management System and Supply Chain Management System.
How do you collaborate with the Ministry of Health?
We have been developing software projects for the Ministry of Health through global NGOs and through direct contacts with couple of departments at AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences). The projects are generally being used for educational purposes and streamlining processes in rural India. As far as cyber security is concerned, we provide the required security services or product licenses as required by the departments.
According to Mandiant Consulting’s “M-Trends 2016, Asia-Pacific Edition,” Indian organizations are more susceptible to data breaches because of poor investments in high-end security solutions. When it comes to health, cybersecurity is, in the era of growing telemedicine and mHealth solutions, so much more important. Do you know of any major health data thefts/threats/problems etc?
The data is centralized and mostly with NIC (National Informatics Centre) servers and highly secure. It’s a false impression that Indian health data is being leaked. Yes, it is as vulnerable as other data but adequate security measures are being taken by the government to prevent data leakages.
What does your Clinic Management System encompass? Is it only an IT system with the main purpose of enabling adequate billing or is there also any inclusion of clinical support, EHR development etc.?
It includes clinical support and EHR development. Details can be viewed on our website http://www.esecforte.com/clinic-management-system/
How can startups collaborate with you?
We can support them right from conceptualization, design, development, testing and delivery of their products. Another area is helping them launch their product’s MVP by the time they establish their team and processes using our years of experience.
So these are potentials what you could offer. Are you actively seeking startups to work with or acquire? What is the basic model of your collaboration with startups? If you help them, do you take equity, do you charge them a fee or something else?
We are not actively seeking to acquire any startup at the moment. We prefer a Fee-based model and in case any startup looks promising we can work on equity model providing the required technical support.
Is there any specific issues you could outline you see startups in India are facing?Are the issues any different than abroad according to your expertise? Where would you say the biggest differences lie?
The major hurdles that we can see based on our experience is a lack in focus on operations by Indian startups. They focus too much on technology and spend heavily on resources allowing them to survive only until investor’s pockets are heavy. Secondly, many good startups don’t get funding if their founders are not from a first class Indian engineering college such as IIT. As a result many startups with solid ideas are unable to grow or survive.What are you going to talk about at Medical Fair India in New Delhi? We are going to talk about Digital Health Solutions alongside the healthcare continuum and how mobile health is restructuring healthcare delivery.
There are currently more than 260,000 mHealth apps on the market, according to data from Research2guidance. Whereas this may be exciting news, the sheer number may also be overwhelming for patients and doctors. How can you know what is useful and what is not? One way hospitals are solving the app reliability challenge is by building in-house innovation incubators.
He are 5 reasons why in-house innovation incubators are good news.
1. Accelerating change
Innovation arms in hospitals are exciting because they help introduce novelties into the rigid healthcare systems.
2. Providing reliability
New solutions are designed by high profile specialists in hospitals. Consequently, solutions are tested inside the hospitals and perfected before they are put on the market.
“I would never give or prescribe medicine to any of my patients that has not been approved in some formal capacity. Why should I prescribe an app?” says gastroenterologist Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH. If you’re a startup, he might take a look at your solution. Why?
One of his jobs as the CTO of Sinai AppLab is onboarding new technologies built by startups outside Mount Sinai. After all, he emphasizes, “it’s impossible for one incubator to do and know everything.”
Ashish Atreja
3. Ease of recommendation
It is easier for doctors to recommend in-house solutions, because they have better access and understanding of the innovation process and reliability of an app compared to the flood of other mhealth digital health offerings on the market.
As Ashish Atreja explains, Mount Sinai even build a platform which allows physicians to prescribe evidence based apps. “We curate the best apps based on the evidence, security and safety. There’s a whole team of people rating the best apps, looking at the published evidence and bringing them to the market place.”
4. Financial benefit
Innovation arms generate new revenue streams for hospitals.
5. Encouraging innovation
When a support environment for creativity is in place, doctors who want to innovate can test and develop their ideas. They also get all the entrepreneurial support in scaling and improving their ideas, so they can reach patients faster.
In 2012, Cleveland Clinic experts designed the Medical Innovation Playbook – a detailed report on the diverse and rapidly evolving technology commercialisation programs of the USA’s top medical centres. It includes an overview of nearly 10,000 invention disclosures, 6,400 patent applications and almost 2,000 issued patents.
The FTR4H health lounge will be featured to the 13,000+ healthcare professionals who will be attending Medical Fair India 2017. In terms of Digital Health angels, mentors and the venture capital ecosystem, we have representatives present of companies like Bertelsmann India Invest, HealthStart, iB Hubs, Peppermint VenturePartners, pi Ventures, t-hub, Utilis Capital Advisor.
Will the Medical Fair India (MFI) floor be open to FTR4H – Lab & Lounge participants?
Yes, FTR4H is an integral part of Medical Fair India, and it will be open for MFI visitor to visit FTR4H and vice versa. MFI is expected to be attended by 13,000+ healthcare professionals.
“Will the Pitch Your Solution” be open for Medical Fair India participants & visitors, or will it be restricted to FTR4H Lab & Lounge visitors & participants?
The opportunity to pitch will be restricted to FTR4H lounge participants (Sponsors, Startups) but every visitor interested in Digital Health can attend it.
Who are the Industry experts who will be moderating and judging the Digital Health Panel discussion & the “Pitch Your Solution” competition?
Pitching your solution means that you will present it to the interested public. It is a great chance to test your own story. We will not judge the pitch. For selecting the best Digital Health solution a dedicated FTR4H Award ceremony will be held on Friday afternoon April 7 at the lounge. The following names are currently aboard for hosting and guiding the pitches:
Dr Vishal Bansal – Investor, Mentor, Technology Enthusiast & Docpreneur Pradeep K. Jaisingh – Chairman HealthStart India
Mark Wächter – FTR4H Chief Evangelist & Mobile Strategist
Dr. Tarun Ramole – Digital Health Evangelist, Director Utilis Capital
Tjaša Zajc – FTR4H Global Audience Developer & Journalist
[learn_more caption=”What is FTR4H?” state=”open”] FTR4H is an international platform, which enables discussions, meetings, dialogs and networking among thousands of Digital Health start-ups, corporations and investors, including accelerators and media from around the world. [/learn_more]
What are the parameters for presenting at “Pitch Your Solution”?
Each startup will have 5 minutes to pitch every day during the whole fair (3 times). This is no competition, but a presentation offering you an opportunity to practice your pitch among your targeted public and get valuable feedback.
What is the format of the “Digital Health Panel” discussion? When will the topics for the discussion be made known to the participants?
Each startup has one pitch and one panel discussion per day. The panel discussion will be held with 5 startups in total plus a moderator. The topic will be decided based on represented solutions. Overall topic is how Mobile, IOT, AI and Data changes healthcare in a mobile-only country like India.
Are both the “Pitch your Solution” and “Digital Health Panel Discussion” part of the FTR4H – India competition?
No. All exhibiting startups at the FTR4H lounge automatically qualify for participation. The FTR4H India Award is a dedicated award ceremony taking place on Friday, April 7th, at 4 pm at the FTR4H lounge.
What are the benefits of the FTR4H India Award? Are there mentorship opportunities to be gained from the award?
The winner of FTR4H will get a mentorship by HealthStart Accelerator for their upcoming Accelerator programme. FTR4H acts as a Think Tank and connector of Digital Health ecosystems in China, Europe, India, Israel and the US with the World of MEDICA. The winner of FTR4H India Award will receive a global recognition through our global initiatives and exposure on our website: www.FTR4H.org.
Who is in the audience for the Blog Post and the teasers? How big and diversified is this audience base?
The FTR4H website is promoted on all Medica Trade Fair websites corresponding with the global roadshow, therefore the attracted audience are experts from the MedTech industry from around the globe.
