BLUEHEALTH INNOVATION CENTER (BHIC)

LET’S BUILD THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE TOGETHER

INNOVATIONS

OF THE WORLD

FOR TODAY'S BIG THINKERS

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BlueHealth Innovation Center is a unique combination of top players (local governments, pharma and technology companies, research centers and health care institutions) working towards the same goal.

Our mission is to support the digital transformation of healthcare through digital innovation. More specifically, we stimulate student entrepreneurship and support young start-ups and scale-ups in HealthTech.

Based next to Antwerp, we also have offices in Genk and Ghent. We are proud of the partner organizations who join our mission: Antwerp University Hospital, AZ Klina, City of Antwerp, City of Genk, City of Ghent, CoFoundry, Ghent University, GZA Ziekenhuizen, imec.istart, in4care, Ingram Micro, Inno.com Institute, Microsoft, PwC, Roche Diagnostics, U-Sentric, UCB, University of Antwerp, University of Ghent, Ziekenhuis Netwerk Antwerpen, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg and Zorgbedrijf Antwerpen.

From left to right : Dovilè Petrauskaitè (Junior Consultant UCLL), Tom Braekeleirs (CEO), Frederik Horemans (Regional Manager Genk), Kim Luyckx (Regional Manager Antwerp), Ilse Robberechts (Communications & Office Manager) and Maarten Van Gorp (Regional Manager Ghent).

Meet the BHIC Team
We coach students, start-ups and healthcare professionals in the development of innovative digital solutions, be they focused on cure, care or prevention. Every day we guide people from idea to sustainable business.

The start-up lifecycle
We support start-ups throughout the different lifecycle phases, each characterized by its own approach, opportunities and challenges

During the ideation phase we help students and start-ups with their first steps towards entrepreneurship. We offer a wide range of ideation services from coffee coaching over innovation camps, hackathons to speed dates. Health RampUp is our 8-month incubation program to expedite the creation of HealthTech start-ups. Health RampUp prepares the start-ups for their initial seed pitch. This program is proudly supported by PwC.

For the acceleration phase, we work closely with tech accelerator imec. istart to support start-ups to gain market traction, stimulate further growth and find follow-up investments.

For the scaling services we work together with imec.istart, Microsoft and other partners to enable international market entry

Speed dating – Every year we bring the start-ups and partners in our BHIC ecosystem together for informal conversations, aiming to forge collaborations.

The Future of Healthcare
When asked what the future of healthcare could look like, one thing is certain. It will still be explicitly human. Although digital technologies will play a major role in all aspects of cure and care. Be it as diagnostic decision support, patient relevant information, making healthcare more efficient, or all of the above. As long as it improves the end result for the patient, we should welcome digital innovation.

With the evolution towards a more value-based system, digital technologies will help in every part of the equation. But most importantly, they should increase the experience for the patient and the professional. Whether it’s through mobile applications or data driven artificial intelligence, experience will be key.

As a tech optimist, I look forward to a technology driven healthcare future, where automation is at the tip of a finger, data rules decision making, and interactivity through extended reality is king. A future in which technology is ubiquitous, as present as needed, but as invisible as possible.

Inspirational events
We organize inspirational evenings with fascinating keynote speakers, intriguing discussions and interesting network opportunities. Enjoy the after movie of our New Year’s event with Dirk De Wachter and Ann Simons about resilience and happiness.

In 2019, NephroFlow was acquired by Nipro, one of the world’s largest suppliers of medical equipment to dialysis centers. This was the first exit for the BlueHealth Innovation Fund.

BLUEHEALTH INNOVATION FUND
The BlueHealth Innovation Fund, with headquarters in Antwerp, has a close collaboration with BlueHealth Innovation Center and imec.istart. The fund was established by four BHIC partners, namely UCB, Antwerp University Hospital, The CoFoundry, and BC10 (a subsidiary of in4care). The fund invests in multiple early-stage health tech start-ups each year in a series of formal calls within the imec.istart program.

The fund has investments in 17 healthtech companies that were also supported by the imec.istart program. The portfolio companies range from medical devices and therapy solutions to NLP and early detection solutions, active in the pharma, hospital, elderly care facilities and consumer markets.

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