Luz Saúde : Health Care Start-up Winner of Protechting

Health Care Start-up Winner of Protechting

Amiko, that is developing an inhaler for medication control in collaboration with Luz Saúde professionals, was one of the three winners of Protechting.

Amiko (Italy), Bdeo (Spain) and Visor.ai (Portugal) were the three winning projects of the 2nd edition of Protechting - a program of support and acceleration of innovative projects in the areas of health, personal or patrimonial protection and prevention, and services in fintech and insurance sectors - promoted by Fosun and Fidelidade in partnership with the start-ups incubator Beta-i.

The program ended last 11th July with the announcement of the ex aequo winners, after the 14 final presentations, where the responsible of each project defended his ideas and answered the questions posed by the jury, which included Isabel Vaz (Luz Saúde CEO), Simon Li (Fosun Banking Group), Xizhen Wang (Fosun Insurance Group), Rogério Campos Henriques, André Cardoso and Sérgio Carvalho (Fidelidade), and Pedro Rocha Vieira (Beta-i).

The program received this year a total of 190 applications from 33 countries and sectors such as cyber-risk, chronic diseases, new distribution models, telemedicine and customer analytics, among others. The three winners received a monetary prize of 10 thousand Euros each and gained the opportunity to participate in a roadshow to China, with access to some of the biggest world investors. They will also benefit from funding and the respective projects will have the chance to integrate Fidelidade, Luz Saúde or other Fosun group companies.

This was the 2nd edition of Protechting, initiated in January 25, comprising the phases of project selection and acceleration, along which the start-ups were followed by a group pf mentors including professionals from Fidelidade, Multicare and Luz Saúde.

An inhaler for medication control

Amiko, an Italian start-up of the healthcare sector with Luz Saúde mentoring, was one of the winners, presenting a medical device (a nasal inhaler) with sensors registering different data - such as, for instance, the correct inhalation of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medication by the patient and the administration of the recommended dosage.

This is a smart solution with great potential, since one major difficulty for doctors is to determine if the lack of clinical improvement is due to medication inadequacy, dosage insufficiency or to the incorrect usage of the inhaler by patient.

The device includes sensors that gather data on medication intake, which are afterwards transmitted to a platform, where patient and doctor may verify the efficacy of treatment.

During Protechting, Amiko developed its project with the support of Hospital Beatriz Ângelo Pneumology Service, under the coordination of pneumologists Sofia Furtado (Service Director) and Susana Clemente.
The start-up will now initiate clinical tests to prove the advantage of use of the device in patients with asthma, and in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The Spanish Bdeo project intends to simplify the expertise procedure, for instance in car accidents: instead of using paper forms, the client uses his mobile camera to make videos, take pictures, send notes and treat procedures virtually with an expert from the insurance company.

The Portuguese Visor.ai offers a system that automates up to 70% of the interaction between companies and clients, using artificial intelligence and chatbots (automate chats) - allowing to reduce costs in the departments of client support and to elevate the level of service through chatbots.

In the image, Isabel Vaz (Luz Saúde CEO) and Lingjiang Xu (Fosun Portugal Manager and Member of Fidelidade Managing Board), with Martijn Grinovero, Amiko CEO, the winning start-up in the area of healthcare.