WestBIC, the Irish Boost4Health project partner, recently organised a Deep Dive Webinar for Life Science SMEs examining the Irish Life Science Ecosystem and the Irish Healthcare System. The event was attended by 34 individuals from SMEs, support agencies, research organisations, service providers and project partners from Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain and UK and was an opportunity for SMEs and other interested parties to make connections with one another with a view to growing and developing their businesses through international partnerships.
One participant commented “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to promote my services to your audience earlier. Also, the presentation was very well organised and came across very well.”
Another said: “The session was insightful and raised hope for MedTech in Ireland and Europe. Also, I take this opportunity and again raise a hand forward for any collaboration opportunities in the future!”.
One of the project partners Ria Hein from Brabant Development Agency, commented that the event had led to increased interest in collaborative partnerships between the Netherlands and other partner countries such as Ireland.
The attendees heard from Ria Hein, BOM, Lead Partner of Boost4Health who provided an overview of the Interreg NWE Boost4Health Capitalisation Phase. This was followed by Alan Hobbs, Manager High Potential Start Ups (Lifesciences and Industrial), Enterprise Ireland who spoke about the Irish Life Science Ecosystem. The next speaker was Martin Curley, Director of the Digital Transformation and Open Innovation at the Health Service Executive (HSE) who described the Irish Healthcare System and the opportunities for SMEs. There was then an SME Case Study from FeelTect, Andrew Cameron, Founder and CEO, FeelTect who outlined his journey through the Irish ecosystem.
After a Questions and Answers session, there was the opportunity for SMEs and Service Provider participants to provide 30 second pitches on their businesses and to outline their collaboration requirements. The SMEs that pitched were: David Egan, Core Life Analytics; Greer Deal, Med-Di-Dia; Marleen de Vriese, Avivia; Diarmuid Cahalane, European Device Solutions and Nicola Wall, Afortiori Development Ltd. The event was moderated by Eunan Cunningham, WestBIC.
