Smarter Healthcare for the Silicon Valley

Besides the obvious and well known Silicon Valley treats, the Bay Area is also famous for being a cross-industry innovation engine which brought forward exciting companies like Akili (the first FDA approved video game), EchoPixel (visualizing medical images through advanced VR technology). It is also home to moonshot hubs like Verily as well as world-class accelerators like Y-combinator and Rock Health. Those are the ideal conditions to offer a profitable and instructive program to Swiss healthcare startups.

The Swiss Healthcare Startups (SHS) has launched the “Smarter Healthcare” Booster Program with the support of Engagement Migros, the development fund of the Migros Group and Swissnex Francisco. The program aims to exploit the potential of the Swiss healthcare system and advance developments in the area. As part of the project, SHSH will bring selected startups to Silicon Valley to immerse them in the Bay Area’s vibrant healthcare scene. During the program, the startups will benefit from a wide range of activities that are geared towards shaping their companies. Support from mentors and partners, visibility and increased chances of securing financial support are some of the opportunities awaiting the winners.

The first cohort of the program will take place in October 2020 and is supported by swissnex San Francisco. Eligible to apply are startups that have a bold and compelling vision for the future of healthcare and they are providing a basis to turn today's ‘sickcare’ into actual healthcare – connected and smart. The applying startups must be based in Switzerland, have at least an MVP and are post-seed-stage.

A jury of industry experts will select the finalists in January 2020 from which it will declare two winners. The registration will expire on December 31.

(Press release/ran)

Photo by Hardik Pandya on Unsplash