This article is brought to you by Startup City Haifa
Israel is becoming a leading player in the field of digital health, and the city of Haifa is one of the driving forces of this trend: In Israel's northern capital, an ecosystem is being built that connects partners from the private and public sectors, investors, research and academic bodies, and multinational companies, with medical institutions and startups – all intending to lead the next steps in global medicine.
This week, the most recent cycle of Startup City Haifa’s digital health accelerator ended; eight promising startups graduated from the program, and it would be wise to keep an eye out for them. The acceleration program which aims to promote innovation started this past June. Eight companies that have proven market validation had technological developments at various stages and had activity in the global market were chosen from 120 applicants.
Some solutions of the chosen startups include the identification of signs of mental distress and suicide prevention using a mobile, phone software to detect stroke and heart disease through a telephone conversation, an electronic stethoscope that listens to the body and detects heart and lung diseases, image processing technology for analyzing the brain, and a bot for non-prescription drugs.
The program is led by the JVP Foundation alongside Road2, NVIDIA Incept, Margalit Startup City, the Innovation Authority in partnership with Super-Pharm, Clalit Health Insurance, IBM, Philips, U-BANK, the Technion, Haifa University and others.
"Haifa is becoming a center with a fascinating local tech ecosystem, which paves the way for local entrepreneurs to become international players in the world of medicine," says Erel Margalit, Chairman of JVP and Margalit Startup City. "The world of health must undergo a revolution. From large medical centers to community and at-home treatment, whether used remotely or in person, Israel, and Haifa, need to be leading this revolution.”
The startups that participated had significant achievements including a pilot in the U.S., the closing of a recruitment round, a pilot with a large network in Israel, the signing of distribution contracts, global collaborations, and the beginning of clinical studies in Israel. Considering the success of the program, registration for its second round will open in the coming days.
Meet the 8 graduates of Startup City Haifa’s accelerator
RevitalVision
RevitalVision develops clinically and scientifically proven training software to improve vision for adults with lazy eyes, eye diseases, and visual impairments.
The company has developed software that allows users to actively practice ways to improve their vision. By improving the brain's ability to process images their vision is also improved. The company's technology is clinically and scientifically proven to improve vision in a variety of eye diseases and visual impairments. It is the only treatment in the world approved by the FDA for the treatment of lazy eyes in children over 9 years old and adults. The company's products appeal to a huge market of hundreds of millions of people in the world who suffer from various vision problems and are without any effective therapeutic alternative. The technology allows them to see better, permanently, without any invasive intervention, risk, or drugs. The average improvement achieved with their treatment is 2.5 lines on the visual acuity test board and 100% improvement in contrast sensitivity. In adult patients with a lazy eye, an improvement is often achieved in 3D and binocular vision as well.
Apowiser Ltd
Apowiser Ltd is a digital platform that helps patients remotely locate over the counter (non-prescription) medications that best suit their condition, in an easy, efficient, and fast way, anytime, anywhere.
Founder: Prof. Eyal Schwartzberg, Former Chief Pharmacist at the Ministry of Health; CEO: Eldad Aharani
The company has developed an innovative online digital platform (SaaS) that guides patients and consumers who wish to self-medicate for various health problems using over-the-counter medications and enables them to be purchased in an efficient, fast, safe, and personalized manner. Through the platform, consumers can learn more about the problem they are seeking to treat, check if they are sensitive to medications, receive tips that will assist in the success of the treatment, and of course purchase medications and other complementary products that are suitable for the medical situation.
Sequel.Care
Sequel.Care operates in the field of mental health.
Founding Partner: Amir Natan
The solution offered by the company is intended for those who are in a therapeutic or rehabilitation process. Using the smart system developed by the company, treatment facilities can add measurement tools using artificial intelligence to their treatment plans. The system collects information from questionnaires and sensors installed on the user's mobile phone. The information is analyzed by the algorithms developed by the company and presents the therapists with alerts and insights that allow them to create a personalized treatment plan, make changes to the plan if necessary, and most importantly – identify patients at risk and predict if the patient is on the verge of a mental breakdown or deterioration that may lead to hospitalization or suicide. Several organizations in Israel and the United States already use SequelCare's system and express satisfaction with the results.
OpenDNA
OpenDNA is an AI-based genetic testing system that helps doctors identify patients at risk for certain diseases in their early stages.
Founder and CEO: Dr. Eran Peladhi
The company has developed an AI-based genetic testing system, which helps doctors identify patients at risk for certain diseases in earlier stages, thereby saving lives and reducing the economic cost charged to the healthcare system. As part of the test, a DNA sample is taken from the patient. The sample is sent to a specific laboratory, which produces a genetic file from it. The file is analyzed by the OpenDNA platform, and based on the analysis, it provides conclusions and recommendations to the patient's medical team.
The first clinical application of OpenDNA is the cardiometabolic syndrome (CMS) which is normally characterized by diabetes, hypertension, increased cholesterol, and obesity, and leads to cardiovascular, renal, and other complications. CMD is very common – about a billion patients worldwide suffer from it. The company is also working to apply the technology to other diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, and musculoskeletal diseases. It currently is operating several pilot programs within the United States, including with the Mayo Clinic, an American hospital with a world-renowned reputation for innovation. During the accelerator, the company met with several potential partners and negotiations are currently underway to establish a pilot program to launch the product in Israel.
Cardiokol
Cardiokol is used to identify heart diseases through speech.
Founders: Pini Sabach, Alon Goren, Eli Attar; CEO: James Amihood
Cardiokol’s technology makes it possible to identify atrial fibrillation even in cases where the patients do not feel it, by listening to the voice of the patients. The test process is straightforward: the patients activate the application on their phone twice a day and say "Ahhhh" for five seconds, no matter where they are, and that's it. You can also run the application on a smart speaker or by using Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. The system knows how to listen through landline home phones and call centers for those who do not use the application. The system analyzes the voice and looks for signs that may indicate atrial fibrillation. If there are such signs, it immediately warns and advises the patient to go for an EKG test as soon as possible.
The company has so far conducted clinical trials with more than 700 participants, most of them in Israel, in most hospitals and health insurance funds (HMOs). So far, the results indicate success in identifying the disease. A first study has already been presented at the European Association of Cardiology conference, and a scientific article has been accepted for publication in an academic journal. The technology has also received U.S. approval for the use of voice signals.
The technology is protected by a patent registered in the U.S. and Israel. To date, the investment arm of the insurance company AXA (one of the largest insurance companies in the world), Kamet Ventures, and the pharmaceutical company Bayer have invested in the company. During its activity in the accelerator, Cardiokol was exposed to investment firms, health agencies, and insurers in the ecosystem to allow it to create more partnerships.
BOBO/Balance Better
BOBO/Balance Better is a balance-based device intended for use in the fields of physical therapy, fitness, rehabilitation, and treatment of attention and concentration disorders.
Founding partner and CMO: Yair Agami
BOBO was founded in 2015 by two physical therapists who were looking for innovative ways to keep patients motivated on their way to recovery. The result was the development of a balance-based device to be used for physical therapy, fitness, professional sports, rehabilitation, and the treatment of attention and concentration problems. BOBO has developed five advanced products for training and rehabilitation and has more than 100 thousand users annually worldwide. The products are intended for physical therapy clinics, professional gyms, hospitals, sports facilities, military camps, personal trainers, and home users.
The technology is based on a motion sensor that is attached to the patient's body and transmits their motion data to an interactive application. The app measures the quality of the training by reading the movements of the patients, essentially using their bodies as a joystick. BOBO's products are used in thousands of rehabilitation centers around the world, including Clalit, Maccabi, NYU Langon Health, NISMAT and more.
Sanolla
Sanolla is the first smart stethoscope that detects infrasound sounds– the sound waves that the human ear is unable to hear.
Founders: Dr. Doron Adler (CEO) and David Linhard (COO)
Sanolla's innovative technology, known as "the sounds of life", produces life-saving medical insights from listening to the body's sounds at infrasound frequencies – frequencies that the human ear cannot hear. Sanolla's stethoscope implements AI algorithms, developed by Sanolla, that provide an unprecedented ability to classify cardiopulmonary diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, asthma, and heart disease. The product even opens a door to diagnose heart and lung diseases that until today could not be diagnosed simply by listening.
The company submitted 20 applications for patents, of which eight have already been approved. In the last year, Sanolla received FDA approval as well as approval from the Ministry of Health in Israel. These approvals allow VoqX™ (one of Sanolla’s products) sales to begin for clinical use in the U.S. and Israel. The company aims to replace all stethoscopes based on outdated technology with its new smart stethoscopes.
MDIHealth
MDIHealth is a technology that allows doctors and pharmacists to make sure that the drug treatment they give to the patient is effective and safe
CEO: Avishai Ben Tovim
MDIHealth's technology prevents drug-related deaths and medical costs by significantly reducing drug side effects automatically. The company has developed an AI platform that simulates the work of the clinical pharmacist and enables the personalization of drug treatment by analyzing thousands of pharmacological and personal variables of the patient. The company is based on information that comes from the patients themselves or their medical files and weighs it into a system. This is to help the doctor make sure that the medicine s/he wants to prescribe will be effective and not worsen the situation. The system is used as a decision support system to make personalized medicine accessible to chronic multi-drug patients. The company is currently in contact with a strategic partner in the accelerator to examine potential cooperation.
