Dozen start-ups from health industry, finalists in South Summit 2016
<p>These include usMIMA, one of the companies to come out of the Design Health Barcelona master, which has been selected to pitch its project to investors</p>
usMIMA, one of the start-ups that have come out of the Design Health Barcelona masters program, is the only Catalan company from the healthcare sector chosen as a finalist in South Summit 2016, which encompasses a total of 100 projects and will be held in Madrid from 5 to 7 October. usMIMA will pitch its wearable MowoOT –a non-pharmacological, non-invasive solution to chronic constipation without side effects– which is already on the market.
Of the 12 projects selected from the healthcare sector, half are in the seed phase (including usMIMA), four are early stage, one in the concept phase and one has already reached the growth phase. Most of the companies are Spanish, although five are from other parts of the world.
Along with the rest of the start-ups from other sectors chosen as finalists in South Summit (a total of 100), the companies will have a space to pitch their projects to international investors and leading companies in different sectors. Each year this innovation-based conference attracts more than 7,000 participants, including 3,500 entrepreneurs and 550 investors.
The innovation, feasibility and scalability of the technology were the main criteria used by the more than 150 judges to choose the projects that will pitch at the Startup Competition, which hit an all-time record this edition of more than 3,000 projects. The selection was made by the Spain Startup Advisory Board along with investors and corporations looking for innovation.
The South Summit health and wellness category has received collaboration from Venture Health, a venture capital company from Silicon Valley that is committed to investing in innovation as a way to transform clinical results. South Summit, organized by Startup Spain and IE Business School with collaboration from Endesa, BStartup Banc Sabadell and Google for Entrepreneurs, is a great opportunity for start-ups to pitch to investors, gain visibility and foster new business opportunities. Finalists from previous years, which have included Cabify, Carto, Job&Talent and Typeform, have raised more than €500 millions in funding.
The 100 finalists include initiatives from the main industries: fintech, education, health, fashion and lifestyle, industry, travel, food and media and entertainment. 63% of the finalists are Spanish, 12 of which are from Catalonia, and there is a total of 17 different nationalities represented, from Europe, Latin America and other leading countries like the United States and Israel.