Vienna's life sciences sector is developing extremely dynamically and is highly diverse. In addition to outstanding academic institutions and large companies, the sector is also characterized by small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups. Many of these companies focus on innovations for the healthcare sector. Cooperation plays a central role in ensuring that new developments are designed for unmet needs in a practical way, and is therefore an important basis for success. In addition to strong regional networks, development partnerships and lead customers at an international level, particularly in Europe, open up new perspectives and accelerate innovation processes. At the same time, impetus is increasingly coming from the application side in new ways. Highly specialized contact points facilitate the targeted establishment of contacts.
Health Hub Vienna: The platform for innovation in the healthcare system
Health Hub Vienna (HHV) is a spin-off of INiTS, which, as Vienna's high-tech incubator, has been supporting innovative start-ups in the academic environment since 2002. As an open innovation platform, the HHV has been pursuing the mission of driving change in the European healthcare system through innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship since 2018. It is highlighting Vienna’s role as an internationally renowned innovation location in the healthcare sector and as a healthcare metropolis. Based on decades of experience in the innovation ecosystem, it promotes innovative and forward-looking solutions by combining problem understanding and solution integration. HHV offers healthcare stakeholders a collaborative and innovative environment for networking with each other as well as with international start-ups, scale-ups and technology providers, active matching, network access, knowledge transfer and inspiring events. To this end, HHV collaborates with top-class (inter)national industry experts and incorporates successful examples from Vienna. In innovation projects with HHV partners, specific problems are analyzed in detail, processed and internationally innovative solutions are identified. HHV not only uses the INiTS network, but also works with partners such as Rise Europe, EuroCC (HPC / AI / Big Data Analytics competence centers from all over Europe), or European Digital Innovation Hubs such as AI5production.
INiTS Managing Director Irene Fialka looks back on the successful Health Hub Vienna program with great pleasure: “We have already worked with many pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and other companies. We have been able to call on UNIQA and its spin-off Mavie Next as our partner since 2018. The managers of a social insurance company recently told us that cooperation with HHV pays off from the very first jointly processed case because the innovative solution required can be evaluated much faster than they originally thought. Satisfied partners like this are a particularly impressive confirmation of our approach and what we do. It's great fun to help shape the healthcare system of the future with strategic partners and the most innovative minds from all over the world!”
EIT Health Austria: Making greater use of European offers
EIT Health was founded in 2015 and is one of the largest Europe-wide innovation networks in the healthcare sector. It is part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which is a EU body that strengthens cooperation between high-performance institutes, universities, industrial research centers and entrepreneurship in Europe. EIT Health Austria was founded in 2022 as a contact point to better anchor Austria in the EIT Health network. Since then, the EU-wide networking of Austrian innovators has played a key role in the work of the innovation hub.
Astrid Kaltenböck, Managing Director of EIT Health Austria, invites you to take advantage of the wide range of support services offered by EIT Health: “Austria's expertise in healthcare is in demand throughout Europe, and projects such as ELGA, for example, are important role models for the implementation of the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Our task as a flagship project of the City of Vienna is to promote the exchange of important findings and innovations in the healthcare sector beyond our national border and thus improve patient care in the future. So please take a close look at our offers! I would like to highlight the EIT Health CATAPULT Start-up Pitch Competition, which offers visibility and access to comprehensive training as well as prize money of 30,000 euros!”
Future Health Lab: Focusing on the needs of the Austrian healthcare system
The Future Health Lab is the new innovation center for advancing healthcare provision in Austria. Since 2023, public institutions, leading companies, interest groups and patient representatives, healthcare professions, innovators and research institutions have been engaging in multi-stakeholder dialog here in a protected environment and looking for joint solutions to key challenges. Because when public and private players form cross-sector alliances and users are involved, the system experiences innovations that reach people.
The Future Health Lab's innovation projects deal with topics such as the prevention and early diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, lung diseases such as COPD, and the optimization of patient pathways according to the motto "digital before outpatient before inpatient" or the "hospital of the future". They are organized into strategic fields of action (health missions) and are linked to healthcare structures, for example through the location of the innovation center at CAPE 10 in Vienna Favoriten. Future Health Lab was initiated in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, the Austrian Health Insurance Fund and Vienna Business Agency. It is operated jointly with Impact Hub. Romana Ruda, Managing Director of Future Health Lab comments on the added value of the Future Health Lab: “We address issues that no organization can tackle alone and bring together the shapers of the Austrian healthcare system.”
LISAvienna tip for start-ups: Network to increase product-market fit at an early stage
Located at the interface of Vienna Business Agency and Austria Wirtschaftsservice, Vienna’s life sciences cluster platform, LISAvienna contributes to the further development of the life sciences sector on behalf of the City of Vienna and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Economy. LISAvienna Managing Director Philipp Hainzl emphasizes: "We are very pleased with using Vienna 2030 flagship projects to upgrade the support landscape for innovative life sciences companies. This is an excellent addition to LISAvienna's consulting and networking services." LISAvienna has been advising life sciences start-ups on funding and financing topics, development partnerships and infrastructure issues for over 20 years. The platform also creates spaces for specialist dialog on legal issues and contributes to making innovations from Vienna internationally visible to professional audiences.
LISAvienna encourages companies and research institutions to make use of the services offered by newer players in the support landscape, which can help them get to know innovation-oriented users and decision-makers. Hainzl explains: “We know the challenges that innovative companies face. Early contact with users and continuous interactions can provide trend-setting inspiration for the actual design of products, processes and services, improve product-market fit and increase the chances of success.”
LISAvienna is involved in the Austria-wide LISA – Life Science Austria umbrella brand and is a member of the Council of European Bioregions (CEBR). In this way, the cluster platform enables companies in the region to take part in high-caliber, international industry events at discounted rates. One highlight was "The MedTech Forum" conference in Vienna in May. At the invitation of LISAvienna and AUSTROMED, a large business delegation from all over Austria took the opportunity to network with Europe's industry leaders. LISAvienna Regulatory Affairs Conference is another central meeting point for medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics experts in the region. This year's event will take place on October 17 at Apothekertrakt, Schönbrunn Palace, and will include presentations, discussions and practical insights into market authorization, MDR, IVDR, AI, cybersecurity and reimbursement. In autumn, LISAvienna will once again organize an Austrian booth at Europe's most important biotech partnering conference, "BIO-Europe", November 4-6 in Stockholm. LISA Early Bird packages can be booked until July 24.
Current support offerings
EIT Health: You can get involved here all year round:
- Venture Centre of Excellence: access to finance and strategic connections
- Healthcare Entrepreneurship 101: four-module course for aspiring healthcare innovations
- Innovators Community: sign up for job opportunities, training, networking and events
- Urbanization and Health MOOC: gain interdisciplinary insights on urbanization and health
- Dementia Inclusive Hospitals MOOC: design a good hospital experience for dementia patients
- Call for Experts: share your extensive experience in health innovation
EIT Health: Open calls and deadlines:
- 31.7.2024: Master of Science: entrepreneurship in digital health
- 5.8.2024: Innostars Award: acceleration program supporting to transform prototypes and MVPs into market-ready health solutions
- 19.8.2024: Creating ValEU: innovation training program
- 28.8.2024: Digital Medical Devices – Certified Innovation Path
- 28.8.2024: Health Data – Certified Innovation Path
- 28.8.2024: New Modules to Deliver Healthcare – Certified Innovation Path
- 29.8.2024: Catapult: start-up pitch competition fast-tracking Europe’s best health innovators
- 11.9.2024: TEF Health: testing and experimentation facilities for health AI and robotics
- 18.9.2024: DiGinnovation (Flagship Call): supporting digital health micro and small enterprises on their way to reimbursement
Health Hub Vienna and INiTS:
- SCALEup Incubator program for research and technology startups, starts twice each year, apply at any time
- Partnerships for companies and organizations and events (see below)
Upcoming events
- Health Hub Vienna: HHV Meetups, Vienna, next meeting: 16.9.2024
- LISAvienna Regulatory Affairs Konferenz für Medizinprodukte und In-vitro Diagnostika, Vienna, 17.10.2024: Participation is free and we advise you to register early.
- Future Health Lab: Sleep Innovation Forum 2024, Vienna, 17.10.2024
- Health Hub Vienna: Health Innovation Summit, Vienna, 23.10.2024: “The patient – the undervalued resource”
- BIO-Europe, Stockholm, 4-6.11.2024: LISAvienna is organizing a joint Austrian booth on behalf of our LISA – Life Science Austria umbrella brand– register as soon as possible to get one of the last Early Bird packages.
- Future Health Lab: Navigating Healthcare Innovation, Vienna, 12.11.2024