Tech Talk: Technological cooperation with the Windy City

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a delegation of Chicago investors, academics, healthcare professionals and water experts came to Israel in search of technology collaborations with the Start-up Nation.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 21:03

Chemi Peres and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel display a copy of Shimon Peres' autobiography (photo credit: Courtesy) — Chemi Peres and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel display a copy of Shimon Peres' autobiography

(photo credit: Courtesy)

MHealth Israel, the largest connected health community in the Middle East, recently announced the winner of its connected health start-up contest: Healthymize.

The company provides early detection of COPD exacerbation via personalized speech monitoring based on analysis of patients’ voice and breathing during regular voice calls. The start-ups presented in front of a packed conference, held in at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, with the winner beating out eight other finalists to win a significant prize package to help fast-track their technology to market.

“This is our fourth year running mHealth Israel, and it is incredible to see the growth of the community and the significant global interest in the breakthroughs being produced by our innovators,” said Levi Shapiro, founder of mHealth Israel. “By bringing together the newest developments in the Israeli mHealth ecosystem, and veteran leaders of international organizations – both public and private – we are helping to accelerate the path towards a healthier future.”

HIMSS CEO, Hal Wolf said: “ The healthcare industry is on the brink of sweeping change. Innovation in healthcare is tough, and the ecosystem will be impacted by those who can bring innovation and sustain it. We are facing one of the largest change management opportunities the world has ever seen.”

The competition runner-up was AI DOC, which utilizes deep learning and AI to analyze medical images and patient data, detecting critical anomalies for radiologists. Other finalists included Augmedics, Neetera, Day Two, Eye Control, Dreamed Diabetes, MedyMatch and Wikaya.

“We’re thrilled to have been part of the mHealth Israel Conference and to win the competition,” said Dr. Shady Hassan, Cofounder and CEO of Healthymize. “We’re grateful for this opportunity and look forward to presenting our technology to a wider audience at the HIMSS Conference. Within the next year, we expect clinical trials via partnerships with connected health organizations around the world.”

This year’s mHealth Israel Conference attracted more than 500 health-tech innovators from Israel, the US and Europe. Speakers included Wolf; former UK health minister Nicola Blackwood; representatives from the French Health Ministry; Scott Dulchavsky, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of the Henry Ford Innovation Institute and chairman of surgery and surgeon-in-chief at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit; Gustavo Perez, CEO, Guided Imaging, GE Healthcare; Merck principal Alexandra Hoffman; and many others. The conference took place in Jerusalem with the support of the Jerusalem Development Authority.

“Israel has a tremendous amount of health innovation and talent to offer the world, and I’ve had the privilege of meeting some extraordinary companies during my visit,” said Blackwood.

“Start-ups are helping to pave the way for a promising healthcare future, but they must be careful not to fall into the trap of ‘build it and they will come.’ For healthcare start-ups to succeed, they must deeply understand the market and how their solution fits into it. They should not assume the market will adapt to fit their solution.”

SOSA

“Chicago has the most diversified economy in the US and the world,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told a gathering of entrepreneurs and representatives of Israel’s hi-tech industry earlier this month at an event organized by SOSA, a global network of tech-innovation hubs.

“The diversity, size and scope of our activity are highly connected with Israeli innovation and can cause American companies to embrace the disruption, instead of fearing it,” he said.

Emanuel headed a delegation of 40 investors, academics, healthcare professionals and water experts from Chicago who came to Israel in search of technology collaborations with the Start-up Nation.

SOSA promotes global innovation and creates business opportunities for entrepreneurs, investors and international corporations at its innovation centers in Tel Aviv and New York.

During his trip, Emanuel met with SOSA CEO Uzi Scheffer and some of its founders including Chemi Peres, Rami Bracha, Tal Barnoach and Jonny Sachs.

“Chicago is an up and coming tech hub and has been mentioned in the media as a possible candidate to host Amazon’s second North American headquarters. The Windy City’s partnership with Tel Aviv can only help both cities tap into one another’s financial and creative assets, deepening their well of ingenuity and innovation,” said Scheffer.

SOSA was founded in 2013 by a group of investors, including leading fund managers in Israel and prominent hi-tech entrepreneurs, to create a unique place for innovation, entrepreneurship and investment, and to create business opportunities between entrepreneurs and innovative ventures and international corporations and investors.

Through its innovation centers in Tel Aviv and New York, SOSA serves as a convenient landing pad for entrepreneurs and start-ups in creating international business opportunities, and for corporations, governments and cities, when they come to find cutting-edge innovative technologies.

The SOSA Innovation Network currently has 5,000 startups, 150 investors and venture capital funds, more than 50 international corporations and corporations, including Yahoo Japan Capital, Jefferies, HP and Bertelsmann. Each year it produces dozens of POCs and hosts over 150 delegations and events and maintains thousands of business interactions between its start-ups, investors and member corporations.

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Translated by Hannah Hochner