Health Innovation Zone 2024

HIZ by DIZ: The First Pre-Validation Program for Innovative Solutions in Healthcare

Welcome to Health Innovation Zone!

Health Innovation Zone (HIZ) represents a unique program for the pre-validation of innovative solutions in healthcare, offering access to industry experts, mentors, testing facilities, and a fast track to the international ecosystem. Through this program, we aim to prepare the next generation of innovative healthcare startups and build an innovation community in this industry.

The program objectives
  • Developing the entrepreneurial spirit of the participants by engaging in structured non-formal training activities in entrepreneurship, with a focus on developing solutions in the field of digitalization and technological innovation in health; 
  • Facilitating a pilot program and launching demonstrations of innovative solutions to healthcare institutions;
  • Developing digital, entrepreneurial, and technological innovation skills among participants;

Building strong connections

  • Supporting pitch sessions to potential clients;
  • Creating the groundwork for the digitalization of healthcare institutions by facilitating collaborative partnerships for the clinical pre-validation of innovative entrepreneurial solutions;
  • Generating a healthcare innovation community within the medical ecosystem of the North-East region, serving as a space for learning, sharing, and validation for medical technology start-ups.

 

Target group

  • The target group includes students and graduates from fields relevant to health innovation, such as IT, medical bioengineering, electronics, medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, biology and others. 

The program is open to the following categories of teams

  • Student and/or researcher teams;
  • Startups developing an innovative product/service relevant to healthcare.

Timeline

Registration of teams
June 21st - 16:00 - Pitch Day
Workshops, Mentoring, Pitching Sessions
November 1st
14 June - 19 June
In-person and online
June-November
Demo day

Pitch Day Health Innovation Zone Location

Technical University rectorate “Gheorghe Asachi” Iași – Hall “Professor Cristea Niculescu – Otin”, ground floor

About Pitch Day

In this edition of Health Innovation Zone – Pitch Day, Imago-Mol Cluster and Digital Innovation Zone organize the national pre-selection for participation with special discounts at HTIS (HealthTech Investor Summit).

 

All teams presenting on 21 June have the opportunity to be selected for the Health Innovation Zone program and win a package worth €5000 to attend the HealthTech Investor Summit in Bruges, 9-11 December 2024 (all expenses covered).


The HealthTech Investor Summit provides a platform for healthtech startups and scale-ups to pitch their products to investors and industry experts, gain valuable exposure and obtain investment opportunities. More information about the HealthTech Investor Summit HERE.

How it was at Pitch Day 2024

Pitch Day – Health Innovation Zone 2024 was an exciting event that brought together 19 teams of innovators with the aim of selecting and integrating them into the program.

 

Teams that presented on June 21 and were integrated into the program have the opportunity to win a package worth €5000 to attend the HealthTech Investor Summit in Bruges, December 9-11, 2024 (all expenses covered).

Health Innovation Zone - Demo Day

Health Innovation ZoneDemo Day 2024, november 2, 2024, V7 Startup Studio Iași

For 2 editions, the Health Innovation Zone program provides support for the validation and development of innovative solutions, connecting them with experts, investors and industry partners. Demo Day is a unique opportunity to discover the latest innovations in healthcare and witness the presentations of the most promising startups of the current cohort.

How you can participate:

    • Silent Participant: you have the opportunity to discover the newest trends in healthtech.

    • Pitcher: pitch your healthcare startup idea and win a free ticket to the HealthTech Investor Summit and/or an assured spot in the 2025 cohort.

Apply now to be part of the program that can take your idea global!

How it was at Health Innovation Zone - Demo Day 2024

Demo Day Health Innovation Zone was more than just a presentation of projects, it was a space where ideas came to life and future collaborations took shape.

For startups, investors and professionals, the event was a source of inspiration and a reminder of the huge potential of technology in health.

With future editions already planned, the Health Innovation Zone promises to remain a benchmark for health innovation in Romania and beyond.

Play Video

Health Innovation Zone mentors

Cristina Baghiu

Coordinator at Digital Innovation Zone Association

Daniel Andor

Product design and strategy specialist

Mihai Mocanu

CMO  Adservio

Călin Corciova

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medical Bioengineering, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Grigore T. Popa” Iasi

Robert Lupu

Associate Professor at Gheorghe Asachi​ Technical University of Iași

Mălin Ștefănescu

Business Angel

Călin Alungulesă

Content Marketing Manager & Copywriter @ Fortech Investments

Eduard Burghelia

Venture Partner, V7 Capital

Andrei Dudoiu

Managing Partner & President BoD at SeedBlink

Andreea Porumb

Founder Medicalo Healthcare

Ștefan Iarca

Cofounder & CEO at Rayscape

Adi Gheorghe

Mentor & Coach for Pre-Seed Tech Founders, Founder @ Doers Ventures

Andrei Pavel

Technology Lawyer, Ventures’n’Law

Tudor Stanciu

Technology Lawyer, Ventures’n’Law

Bogdan-Alexandru Apetrii

CEO Subsign

Alexandru Constantin

Founder & CEO iCamin.ro

Sebastian Botez

CEO Webgrade Product

& Software Engineer

Ariana Cordoș

Junior Project Manager, Freshblood HealthTech

Florina Maria Truța

Pharmacist & Product Validation Specialist / Product Manager

Cătălina Sofron

Senior Consultant, private financing of tech start-ups

Elena Mocanu

Business Consultant

Elena Paraschiv

Scientific researcher, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, ICI Bucharest

Sebastian Muraru

Software System Engineer, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, ICI Bucharest.

Carlos D. Battyan

Digital health expert, Business internalization & Talent management

Health Innovation Zone partners

Academic partners

Community partners

Media partners

Health Innovation Zone Sponsors

Pitch Day Sponsors

How was it at Health Innovation Zone 2023

Health Innovation Zone Teams

Discover the 12 Health Innovation Zone teams working hard to develop their innovative solutions for the healthcare industry. 

What it was at Pitch Day

Pitch Day Health Innovation Zone @Launch Campus was an exciting and high-energy event that brought together 15 teams of young innovators in one place. The aim of the event was to select and integrate these teams into the Health Innovation Zone programme, a ground-breaking initiative to pre-validate innovative healthcare solutions.

Prototyping Day

Demo Day

Download HIZ 2023 presentation

HIZ Articles

Organizers

Our program was supported by a strong consortium composed of renowned institutions with extensive experience in innovation and medicine. Digital Innovation Zone is a leader in technological development, “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iasi is well-known for its technical expertise, EIT Health is a reference in healthcare innovation, and “Grigore T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iasi is a center of excellence in medical education and research.

See what it was like at
"Launch Campus Day"

Pitch Day was the highlight of the selection process for the Health Innovation Zone programme. The 15 teams of young innovators had the opportunity to present their ideas in front of a jury of experts in the field of health and entrepreneurship. The atmosphere was full of excitement and the teams demonstrated their passion and commitment to health innovation.

Health Innovation Zone Mentors

Ciprian Amaritei

PhD Interaction Design, Head of Design, Product Designer & Design Evangelist

Ion Gheorghe Petrovai

PhD Interaction Design, Head of Design, Product Designer & Design Evangelist

Cristina Baghiu

Digital Innovation Zone NGO President

Conf. Dr. Simona Caraiman

Vice-Rector for IT&C at Gheorghe Asachi​ Technical University of Iași

Ciprian Comșa

Associate Professor at The „Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of Iaşi

Robert Lupu

Associate Professor at Gheorghe Asachi​ Technical University of Iași

Alexandru Pleșoianu

Innovation & Tech Transfer

Florin Cardașim

Software engineering for cloud-enabled, data-driven organizations

Lidia Alexa

Lec. Univ. Dr. at Gheorghe Asachi​ Technical University of Iași

Lidia Bețoaea

Director Strategic and Head of One Stop Shop Office at North-East Regional Development Agency

Cătălina Luca

Medical Bioengineer/ Lect. Univ. Dr.

Călin Corcioava

Associate Professor, Faculty of Medical Bioengineering, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Grigore T. Popa” Iasi

Rafael Mastaleru

Frontend Developer at RomSoft

Valentin Iulian Țoc

Start-up Programs Manager at Rubik Hub

Health Innovation Zone Medical Mentors

Ionuț Nistor - Conf.univ.dr

Spitalul Clinic “Dr. C. I. Parhon” Iași – Nefrologie

Radu Iliescu - conf.univ.dr.

Prorector Strategie Instituțională UMF Iași + Transcend, IRO

Adrian Covic - prof.univ.dr

Spitalul Clinic “Dr. C. I. Parhon” Iași – Nefrologie

Cristina Gavrilovici - prof.dr

Pediatrie, Homeopatie

Alexandru Burlacu - Conf.Univ.Dr

Spitalul Clinic “Dr. C. I. Parhon” Iași – Nefrologie

Simona Volovăț - Dr.

Medic Specialist Institutul Regional de Oncologie

Irina Draga Căruntu - prof. univ.Dr.

UMF Iași Histologie și anatomie patologică

Denisa Haba - prof.univ.dr

Departamentul de Radiologie și imagistică medicală – Spitalul Clinic de Urgență ”Prof. Dr. N. oblu” Iași

Delia Reurean-Pintiliei - Dr.

Spitalul Clinic “Dr. C. I. Parhon” Iași – Nefrologie

Mădălina Bostan - dr.

Cardiologie, Institutul de Boli Cardiovasculare “Prof. Dr. George I.M. Georgescu” Iași

Cipriana Ștefănescu - prof. univ.Dr.

Medicina Nucleară Spitalul Clinic Județean de Urgențe “Sf. Spiridon” Iași, Imago Mol – MedimagIA

Octavia Petrilă - dr

Radiologie imagistică, Spitalul Clinic Județean de Urgențe “Sf. Spiridon” Iași

Mădălina Maxim - Dr.

Chirurgie generală, Spitalul Clinic Judeţean de Urgenţe ”Sf. Spiridon” Iaşi

Elena Popescu - dr.

Institutul de Psihiatrie „Socola” Iași