Bayer’s Grants4Apps® Accelerator Programme and HKSTP Foster the Development of Healthy Ageing Solutions in Hong Kong

(Hong Kong, 23 April 2018) - Bayer has recently partnered with Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) for the completion of Bayer’s Grants4Apps® Accelerator programme in Hong Kong. The programme aimed to advance the growth of healthcare start-ups and the development of innovative solutions for healthy ageing in the territory. Five start-up companies are now well-equipped to make a contribution to the health-technology innovation ecosystem. After the 13-week intensive course of coaching and mentorship exercises, four of these start-ups showcased their solutions to a panel of judges on the programme’s final Demo Day.

Imsight Medical Technology Co. Ltd., a startup with members from the Image Analysis Laboratory of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and joined HKSTP’s Incubation Programme in 2017, emerged as the overall winner of the Hong Kong programme. Their LiverSight Liver Analysis and Reporting Platform is an Artificial Intelligence system that helps medical professionals standardise the acquisition, interpretation, reporting and data collection of Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance (MR) liver imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The commercialisation of LiverSight will help facilitate the diagnosis and staging of HCC, and assess treatment responses.

The company received a grant of HK$50,000 from Bayer to further its development of the solution and support its business growth. Tsougenis Efstratios, Overseas Technical and Business Director of Imsight Medical Technology Co. Ltd., said, “We achieved much more than we have expected from the Grants4Apps® Accelerator. Our acceleration goal was to test out the feasibility of our new product concept. With the extensive coaching and mentoring of the programme, we ended up producing a prototype of the product in such a short period of time. The programme allowed us to get access to invaluable advice and guidance from industry experts, doctors, university professors and business consultants, which is vital in expediting our product development efforts.”

Launched in 2013, Grants4Apps® is a global Bayer programme to promote digital healthcare solutions that improve health outcomes or pharmaceutical processes. The programme was brought to Hong Kong last December as the first healthcare incubation initiative under HKSTP's Global Acceleration Academy (GAA). GAA is a partnership between HKSTP and international industry leaders offering thematic acceleration programmes for technology start-ups.

“As one of the top 50 most innovative companies in the world, Bayer sees a wealth of exciting digital health ideas and solutions in the start-up community. The Grants4Apps® programme gives innovators a chance to learn and fine-tune their ideas and to successfully take their ideas to market, from sharpening their value proposition and gaining market insights to finding investors," said Celina Chew, President of Bayer Group Greater China. "We are impressed by the quality and originality of ideas submitted by the start-ups in the Grants4Apps® Hong Kong chapter, and their spirit of entrepreneurship. We are delighted to work with an experienced incubator like HKSTP to help start-ups turn their innovative ideas into reality, and bring new solutions to the pressing challenges of our rapidly aging population.”

Albert Wong, Chief Executive Officer of HKSTP said, “HKSTP is pleased to partner with Bayer for our GAA initiative. We are excited to see many innovative healthcare solutions developed by local technology start-ups. With this partnership with Bayer, we aim to provide participating start-ups with international perspective, updated market information and needs as well as tailored business skills. According to the latest official statistics, 31 percent of our population will be aged 65 and above by 2036. We hope the joint efforts with industry leaders will inspire more start-ups to develop innovative products and solutions that can support an ageing population and be beneficial for mankind.”

In Hong Kong, five start-ups were selected in December last year to receive the 13-week intensive programme led by Bayer and HKSTP, which included coaching from experienced managers from both organisations and mentoring by external entrepreneurs on business skills. The programme helped the participating start-ups advance their technologies, conduct prototype trials, explore new business models and solve business challenges.

The programme asked the start-ups to develop solutions that can improve patient care and self-care for an ageing population. For the final round of pitching, distinguished guests from Bayer, HKSTP and external healthcare professionals assessed the technology innovations based on three broad criteria - team competence, market understanding, and the originality and practicality of the solution. The other start-ups showcased in Demo Day were:

• acesobee
  acesobee develops affordable and efficient digital healthcare systems to support caregivers and empower patients. Its flagship product, TeamCare®, is a mobile Personal Point of Care (POC) and Personal Care Plan (PCP) app that facilitates team-based, 360-degree nursing care. Through the Grants4Apps® programme, acesobee hoped to promote patient empowerment and medication compliance in the Bayer network and enhance the accessibility of pharmaceutical support of its solution for regional and global markets.
  
  
• BACHcode
  BACHcode’s ReHealthier is a personal health improvement platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and persuasive technologies to help people live healthier. Applying AI deep learning technology into the prevention of chronic diseases, ReHealthier features an AI-powered health coach who will engage and guide people’s health behaviour change in an interactive and engaging manner. The company has launched a free trial version of the platform upon the completion of the Grants4Apps® programme.
  
  
• Mindfio
  Mindfio is developing a revolutionary digital platform that uses biofeedback technology to guide users in mindfulness practice and improve mental wellness. With the acceleration goals of optimising the solution and validating it for the corporate sector through Grants4Apps®, Mindflo has successfully built the full-function hardware prototype and finalised the user interface of the solution. A trial programme of the platform would be rolling out among 50 to 100 employees in Bayer Germany’s office in Lyon.

Other than Hong Kong, Bayer’s Grants4Apps® (https://www.grants4apps.com/) programmes are running in 13 countries, with each chapter focusing on local or regional healthcare challenges.

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