On November 27, 2024, the summary of the 3rd edition of our competition took place at the Capitol Theater in Warsaw, under the patronage of the TVP Foundation.

How can we summarize the MCSC 2024 final gala? It was an evening full of inspiration and passion, an opportunity to celebrate incredible achievements and foster connections. Above all, it was a celebration of innovations that are taking healthcare to a whole new level.

An evening full of innovations

The official part of the event began promptly at 6:30 p.m. The gala was hosted by Nikoletta Buczek and Małgorzata Maj from the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Medical Technology Innovation at IMiD, and also project managers of the competition.

The first speaker was Dr. Tomasz Maciejewski, Director of the Mother and Child Institute. As the initiator of the competition, he briefly summarized the previous editions, shared the origin of the initiative, and introduced the team responsible for this year’s organization. You can read more about the Team HERE.

The 3rd edition of the Mother and Child Startup Challenge was filled with many solutions presented by the hosts. The new startup evaluation process, the use of the VestBee platform in the Jury’s voting process, and the focus on a single competition track were not the only changes introduced this year.

For startups that reached the TOP 20 and later made it to the final TOP 10, we prepared a series of dedicated workshops and webinars. The top ten ideas also had the chance to present themselves to a broader audience during Demo Day.

UES Ultra Echo Scan – winner of the 3rd edition of MCSC

The grand prize, which was the opportunity for a pilot implementation in the hospitals organizing the competition, went to UES – Ultra Echo Scan.

The jury appreciated the potential of the project, highlighting the scalability of the solution and the possibility of its use in newborn screening worldwide at a low implementation cost.

“Innovative solutions in artificial intelligence significantly ease the work of medical staff. As we know, AI is used for imaging and data organization, but it is increasingly able to assist diagnostic processes. A big advantage of the winning project is its simplicity and intuitiveness,” said Dr. Tomasz Maciejewski.

“Preliminary pulse oximetry tests, combined with UES, allow for a quick and comprehensive check to determine if a newborn has congenital heart defects. I am convinced that this will significantly impact the speed of detecting defects and starting treatment,” emphasized the Director of the Mother and Child Institute.

UES is an advanced diagnostic tool that helps detect congenital heart defects in newborns by using artificial intelligence algorithms in the analysis of ultrasound images. The winning technology also has further applications in diagnosing children and adults.

More information about the project can be found on the website: https://www.prometheusmedtech.ai/pl/projects/ultra-echo-scan/

Partner Prizes – Supporting Innovative Ideas

Our partners also provided attractive additional prizes to reward the innovation of ideas, and the audience applauded each winner enthusiastically.

• OVH Cloud – cloud credits worth €100,000 and €50,000 for SynDiag, Uhura Bionics, UES, and Omnidermal.
• EIT Health – mentoring worth €1,500 and two tickets for the EIT Health 2025 event for UES and EFM.
• Consonance – design consultations worth PLN 10,000 for the Aptamedica startup.
• WKB Lawyers – legal services for Uhura Bionics, SemiRobotics, and SynDiag.
• European Innovation Foundation – a service package worth PLN 15,000 for FunkBIOTICS.
• Revolve Healthcare – consultations for Omnidermal, SynDiag, and Uhura Bionics.
• talanoa – access to the “How to commercialize MedTech startups in the US” course for SynDiag.

Read more about startups’ ideas : We know the TOP10 of the 3rd edition of the Mother and Child Startup Challenge – Mother and Child Startup Challenge – 3rd edition

Hospital mentoring – a new element

A novelty in this year’s edition was the introduction of mentoring care for selected startups. Some hospitals decided to support the project they believe has the potential to revolutionize healthcare.

What does this recognition mean? A startup under mentoring care can count on support from the hospital in terms of expertise and networking. This distinction also opens the door for future collaboration.

Projects under mentoring care:

• Uhura Bionics and Semi Robotics – University Clinical Center in Gdansk (Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne w Gdańsku)
• Uhura Bionics and SynDiag – Pomeranian Hospitals (Szpitale Pomorskie);
• Uhura Bionics – Voivodeship Specialist Children’s Hospital in Olsztyn (Wojewódzki Specjalistyczny Szpital Dzieciecy w Olsztynie);
• Aptamedica – “Polish Mother’s Health Center” Institute (Instytut „Centrum Zdrowia Matki Polki);
• Aptamedica – University Children’s Clinical Hospital in Białystok (Uniwersytecki Dziecięcy Szpital Kliniczny w Białymstoku);
• Semi Robotics – Bonifraterskie Medical Center;
• FunkBIOTICS – Mother and Child Institute (Instytut Matki i Dziecka).

Audience Winner

This year, we introduced the “Audience Winner” poll. The winner, based on internet voting, was the neendu project, a home system for monitoring the health of newborns and infants from the first days of life. It aims to predict early symptoms of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

The winner was given mentoring support from the Mother and Child Institute Foundation. The voucher was presented by the Foundation’s President, Dr. Dorota Kleszczewska.

The idea behind the poll was to gather feedback from a wider audience about the projects submitted to the competition. Allowing the public to vote enabled us to learn which solutions they deemed most necessary.

Guests

The large interest in the competition and the final gala resulted in impressive attendance. Among the audience were representatives of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Development and Technology, Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Office of the Patient Rights Ombudsman, the Medical Research Agency, the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariffing, the National Health Fund, the National Centre for Research and Development, the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, the Polish Pediatric Society, the Polish Academy of Sciences, and the Supreme Medical Chamber.

We were also pleased to host representatives from the hospitals co-organizing the competition. We also received strong support from the Board and staff of the Mother and Child Institute, for which we are very grateful.

It is worth mentioning that for the first time, the MCSC final gala was open to the public, with free tickets available through prior registration.

Thanks and Congratulations

The Final Gala is not only the conclusion of another edition of the competition but also the beginning of new challenges, inspiration, and opportunities. We sincerely congratulate all the winners, and wish further success to all the participants in their future projects.

We would also like to express our thanks to all participants of the final gala: Partners, Patrons, representatives of the hospitals co-organizing the competition, Jury members, and the Program Council. Without their support, involvement, and passion, this event could not have taken place at such a high level.