“Get going, get good, get great” #StartupweekDub
‘Connected health in Ireland – how we shape it and how we make it’ a joint event between HIHI TCD and The Digital Hub for ‘Start Up Week Dublin’ opened with the urge to “get going, get good, get great” from MC Kieran Daly. Kieran is CTO and co-founder of Health Beacon, the Dublin and Boston digital health company with significant funding and FDA approval under its belt.
The event designed for health tech start-ups brought together experts from HSE procurement, clinical, finance, industry, regulatory and investment in an event. All of the finance experts, Julian Seymour Halo Business Angel Network and Paul Swift and Hilary Coates of BOI, stressed the value of team to companies starting out. This was echoed by Noel Daly, Enterprise Ireland who added the importance of market research to start-ups. Anne Tobin, HPRA reminded companies that the regulator is there as a supporter of enterprise developmental and to liaise early in the product life cycle. Eimear Galvin HIHI Manger TCD, shared the HIHI approach of ‘develop scale and grow’ and how HIHI engages the market in collaborative activity on behalf of the HSE. Miriam Roche, St James Hospital, acknowledged the potential for connected health and the road that must be travelled in public health to get there. A sentiment shared by Seán Bresnan, HSE Procurement who noted the potential for change in healthcare delivery through connected health solutions.
Following these ‘Key insights’ from each expert, a round of speed networking with companies took place. Each expert had five available ‘one on one’ time slots, allocated to various entrepreneurs. This offered start-ups a unique opportunity to gather feedback from key national stakeholders in connected health development.