The European Healthcare Ecosystem workshop on 22 October of the V4 Healthcare programme of @Startup Campus financed by the @InternationalVisegradFund in collaboration with @CIVITTA, @DEX Innovation Hub and @Startup Hub Poland showcases the advantages and opportunities of health ventures to achieve success in within the European Union.
An expert in this field, Tamas Bekasi, who has 15 years wide-scale knowledge in process and business development, marketing communication and international service transfer, while working in the agency, corporate and SSC sector will talk about the broader healthcare environment in the EuropeanUnion. As a Business Creation Project Manager for the RIS Region in EIT Health, his top priority is to support and mentor European healthcare professionals.
We asked some questions prior to the workshop on 22 October to glimpse into the European Union perspective of healthcarestartupecosystems:
What do you think, what are the main challenges of the healthcare industry in the post-covid era?
"The COVID era highlighted one of healthcare’s major, and evergreen challenges, the limited availability of resources. For the upcoming years, healthcare systems should be prepared for new diseases related resourcechallenges andshould find effective solutions to automatize repetitive tasks. Fortunately, there is strong spotlight on healthcare and healthcare innovation, and multiple funds are expected to be available,in order toaccelerate this process. Healthcare industry and supporting institutes should handle this opportunity carefully and ensure that funds are allocated for fields and solutions, which actively contributetothe improvement of the healthcare systems."
How can innovation solve these issues?
"Bio-tech products continuously grant solutions for chronic diseases, and slowly but surely give relief from a group of the heaviest health threats for all of us. Digital health and medtech solutions are booming and continuously provideshort and mid-term solutions for maintaining the stability of the healthcare systems. Also, they replacehuman resources in the repetitive tasks which are less dependent on specific professional knowledge, and improvethe quality of healthcare services from the diagnostics, through treatment, to rehabilitation."
What is your best advice for the healthcare startups of the future?
"In most of the cases, early stage startups think that their biggest challenge is the lack of money, and I believe that they are partially right. These startups are not on that level, where they are attractive for investors, therefore they should seek resources from EU and national funds, investments from business angels or from their own pocket. As I see, the problem is not as big as most of the early-stage teams see it. In Europe, we have a large funding portfolio for early stage startups, which can be easily found and applied by these teams. Getting financial support for innovation in Europe is now easier than ever. So, what happens, when the money is available? We all know, that spending 20-30, maybe 50k is quite easy, but for spending it to reach a significant impact on the progress of your product / service is challenging. For this, teams need basic, but proper business knowledge and / or a team member, who was sense and knowledge for this field. This is the first step, to get into the journey for success. Uncertainty is one the other challenges. While we tend to believe that a 9 to 5 job gives us stabile and safe life, the life of an entrepreneur is full of ups and downs. Persistence and striving for excellence should be an organic part of the daily life of each entrepreneur. Sometimes it is hard, but in my view, it is worth it."
We are looking forward to meeting Tamas on 22 October, if interested you can register here!
The project is co-financed by the Governments of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia through Visegrad Grants from International Visegrad Fund. The mission of the fund is to advance ideas for sustainable regional cooperation in Central Europe.