On 23 January, the Brainport Voorronde of the National Health Care Innovation Prize, organised by Coöperatie Slimmer Leven, took place in collaboration with Máxima MC and Rabobank Eindhoven - Veldhoven. After an exciting pitch competition, the expert jury selected Abena Nova as the winner. Abena Nova makes continence care with innovative sensor technology that allows the moisture content in the incontinence material to the millilitre accurately measured and prevents unnecessary (night) shifts and leaks. The jury, consisting of Tjeerd de Jong (Fontys), William van Dijk (MMC) and John-Paul van Heel (Rabobank), praised the innovation in care for its absolute added value for the patient. Abena Nova is selected as the winner of the East Brabant region for the final of the National Health Care Innovation Prize, which will be awarded on March 15th for the third time during the Healht Valley Event.
Floow2healthcare was put forward by the same jury as a nomination for the wildcard. After the nine care innovation regions in the Netherlands have all designated one healthcare innovation that may participate in the final, VitaValley will choose a tenth care innovation by means of this wildcard. They still have an opportunity to participate in the final. Floow2Healthcare is a submarket place where healthcare organizations can share products, services and the knowledge and skills of staff. In addition to these two care innovations, there is also a pathway by Carezzo, PJA Personal and MedApp.
After the five pitches, Jan-René Kleijne, Healthcare & Innovation Sector Specialist at Rabobank Nederland, was given the floor. Jan-René Kleijne focuses on national developments and trends in the healthcare sector and the role of innovation. He studied business administration and has worked in various positions at Rabobank since 2009. The participants were given a presentation by Jan-René on the financing of healthcare innovations. The announcement of the finalist took place below.
The National Health Care Innovation Prize is a prize especially for the most innovative company in the scaling up phase. Companies that have already developed, tested and launched their innovation can often use a push to make their business a real success. This year, both a professional jury prize and an audience prize will be awarded. The winner of the jury prize will receive a cash prize of € 10,000. The winner of the public prize will receive a cash prize of € 5,000. The cash prize will enable the winning innovations to take the next step in the company's development. Winners will also have access to the network of healthcare innovation. nl and the regional partners involved. This way we can accelerate the success of innovations together.