On November 27, 2024, Warsaw’s Capitol Theatre hosted the grand finale of the third edition of the Mother and Child Startup Challenge—one of the most significant events in the med-tech industry. Organized by the Mother and Child Institute in collaboration with partner hospitals, the initiative aims to promote innovation in women’s and children’s health while fostering knowledge exchange between the medical and tech sectors.
Polish Innovation Takes the Spotlight
The top prize, a pilot implementation in partner hospitals, was awarded to UES – Ultra Echo Scan. This groundbreaking system, based on SaaS technology, supports fetal and neonatal diagnostics by enabling the early detection of congenital heart defects (CHDs) during ultrasound examinations. The jury highlighted its scalability and low implementation cost, which could make it a global standard in neonatal screening.
– Innovative AI algorithms significantly facilitate the work of medical personnel. AI is already used for imaging studies and data organization, but it increasingly supports diagnostic processes as well. The winning project’s simplicity and intuitiveness are major strengths. Preliminary pulse oximetry screening, supplemented by the UES examination, allows for a quick and comprehensive check for congenital heart defects in newborns. I am confident it will greatly improve the speed of detecting defects and initiating appropriate treatment – emphasized Dr. Tomasz Maciejewski, Director General of the Mother and Child Institute.
Audience Award and Special Mentions
This year introduced a new feature: a public audience award. Online voters chose neendu, a home health monitoring system for newborns, designed to detect early signs of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Organizers and partners also recognized several promising projects: Uhura Bionics, Semi Robotics, SynDiag, Aptamedica, and FunkBIOTICS, providing them with mentoring support and various awards, such as cloud computing credits, expert consultations, and business mentorship. Key sponsors included EIT Health, OVHcloud, Consonance, and WKB Lawyers.
Creating World-Class Innovations
This year’s edition welcomed innovators not only from Poland but also from the USA, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Submitted projects spanned a wide range of topics, from medical diagnostics to modern healthcare facility management. Experts in medicine, biotechnology, management, and investment assessed the submissions for their innovation, practical potential, and impact on clinical practice. The high competition level made selecting a winner particularly challenging, organizers noted. For the first time, the finale was open to the public, with online registration enabling attendees to watch finalist presentations and participate in discussions on the future of healthcare.
The Mother and Child Startup Challenge is more than a contest; it is a platform for technologies that can redefine healthcare standards. Both the winning projects and the finalists hold the potential for practical application in clinical settings, improving diagnostics and treatment in Poland and worldwide. The third edition’s finale showcased the vast opportunities that arise from the synergy between medicine and modern technologies, while post-event discussions highlighted areas for further development. Congratulations to all the winners—we eagerly anticipate more groundbreaking innovations in future editions!
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