HCF – Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund – recently revealed its new cohort of ten Australian health technology startups and scaleups participating in the third year of HCF Catalyst, as HCF continues to lead the way in health technology innovation.
The new assembly of health technology entrepreneurs reflects a growing demand in Australia for remote and online access to healthcare. The cohort also reflects a growing focus on developing solutions that harness innovations such as virtual reality, AI and cloud-based systems to propel Australia’s health care system into the future.
HCF Catalyst, accelerated by Slingshot, selected the ten participants for this year’s Catalyst program through a nationwide entry process, with finalists pitching their ideas to a leading panel of judges during the HCF Catalyst Pitch Days in December 2017. The new cohort of entrepreneurs will spend the next twelve weeks turning their health tech ideas into high impact businesses. The program will aid in developing compelling business models and securing the traction, viability and investment needed for each business to succeed. HCF Catalyst also includes hands-on resources such as mentorship, funding, industry relationship-building, and strategic guidance.
The 2018 HCF Catalyst Cohort:
Startups
Vantari VR – Builds tools to enable new ways to visualise, interpret and understand medical images by pulling together cutting-edge rendering technology to take medical imaging into Virtual Reality (VR)
Birthbeat – Designs Midwifery services delivered via Telehealth to prepare families for birth
Pracway – Captures the patient consent process electronically for the first time in Australia, enabling informed consent which is crucial for safe and ethical medical practice ahead of surgery
Soldierly – Provides veteran soldiers with practical tools and structured exercise programs that strengthen physical and mental health, while also reinforcing personal connections within the veteran community – a program created by soldiers, for soldiers
Mindbodyhealing – Disrupts the management of chronic pain and fatigue with ‘mindbody’ e-medicine innovation
MEKSI – Improves a variety of learning, training and assessment scenarios with simulation, to evolve both the teaching of medicine and how trainees and junior doctors develop their essential skills
Scaleups
Dresden Optics – Delivers Australian-made, eco-friendly modular eyewear and high quality eye health care globally to customers with vision loss
SleepFit – Provides digital sleep health programs for employers, insurance companies and health providers to improve their employee’s sleep outcomes through personalised awareness, education, screen, diagnosis and treatment programs
Boundlss – Connects members with their health and life insurers directly through a conversational, AI health platform that puts the focus of insurance on helping members live a healthy, happy life instead of on claims and illness
Myhealth1st – Connects patients with their health providers directly through a trusted digital platform to find health providers and schedule appointments 24 hours a day, seven days a week
Of the new cohort, Sheena Jack, Chief Executive Officer at HCF said, “We have chosen this year’s Catalyst participants because they align with HCF’s vision to drive affordable, high quality outcomes throughout the health industry.”
“We’re proud that HCF Catalyst continues to attract the brightest minds in the health tech space and we want to continue to lead the market by finding disruptive technologies and solutions that solve the biggest problems in health care,” Ms Jack said.
HCF Catalyst has already fostered the success of multiple health technology businesses since the program’s inception two years ago. HCF continues to support Catalyst graduates by funding pilot trials that provide value to HCF members, including recent programs launched with Curo, She Births and The Pelvic Expert.
“We are thrilled to officially reveal the third Catalyst cohort with HCF,” added Chief Executive Officer of Slingshot, Karen Lawson.
“This year’s selected cohort will have the opportunity to be mentored by leading tech entrepreneuers, to expand their networks, and to showcase their innovative health and wellness ideas to their peers, and potential commercial partners and investors.”
This year, HCF Catalyst will feature mentorship from prominent health and technology industry leaders, including Nick Molnar, CEO of Afterpay, Tim McDougall, Founder of Curo Technologies, and healthcare expert Professor Hung Nguyen, Director at the Centre for Healthcare Technologies, UTS.
The project will culminate with a ‘Demo Day,’ where participants will showcase their business models and progress in the hope of driving interest from investors and partners.
For further information on HCF Catalyst and to follow the new cohort’s journey, visit here.
