At the start of this year the Ministry of Economic Affairs published a call for experiments in healthcare. The aim is to improve the participation of elderly in our society. The total budget available for this call is 6.7 million euro and this money will be used to fund promising business ideas that meet the requirements. Yesterday we received a letter that the Clinical Graphics proposal has been approved!
This is an Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, just like the STW grant we blogged about last month (and yes, we now have two! 
). The SBIR scheme consists of three stages. After successful completion of a stage, participants can submit a proposal for the next stage. The approved first stage consists of a feasibility study. During the second stage companies have to develop and complete the actual product. Central themes of the third and last stage are marketing and commercial exploitation (this is funded by the company itself).
In theory, the deal may still be cancelled within the next two weeks, should anyone object to the decision (hey it’s a democracy and it’s government money), but we’re already celebrating ! An interesting note: 197 proposals were reviewed and 27 were approved. This is less than 14% and we are really proud to be part of that segment.
Today has been a busy and rewarding day. We participated in an elevator pitch competition in Amsterdam. The DURFkapitaal event was organised by Stichting Suikeroom.
Apart from the contest, the event itself was a big success. There were quite a number of investors and startup companies. In between talks it was possible to participate in speed dating sessions, allowing you to come into contact with a large number of interesting people within a short timespan. Truth be told, the format really worked, for both the investors and the startup companies.
As for the contest, the jury made a pre-selection based on the business plan of each participator; the lucky few were allowed to do their elevator pitch in front of an audience + jury. The rules were simple: 2 minutes and without the use of PowerPoint. Especially the latter is quite the challenge for a company that specialises is visual software. However, with a set of bone models and a lovely assistant to hold them (thanks Rachelle!) we managed to convince the jury. We are excited to announce that we won the first prize!
Much excitement here, just before the weekend: our grant proposal has been approved by the technology foundation STW. It’s a Small Business Innovation Research grant (SBIR) and it will be used to explore the applicability of Articulis in hip prosthesis luxation analysis.
It is not without a sense of pride that we can now officially state that Clinical Graphics is part of the Yes!Delft Incubation Centre!
So what does this mean? Well, Yes!Delft is a foundation of Delft University of Technology. Its purpose is to encourage and support startup companies that originate from the university. In essence, it’s a building with +40 startup companies, all eager to realise their dreams. As a Yes!Delft company you can learn from the other startups, at the coffee machine, which produces excellent coffee by the way, or just by dropping by at their offices. There are coaching sessions, business classes, and the office space comes at a reduced rate. In summary, there are great benefits to being part of this really inspiring community and we look forward to moving in with them.
Update: I’ve just had a look at our new office building at the molengraaffsingel in Delft. They should hurry up, really, because the place is still a mess. But, truth be told, it looks great, at least from the outside. Oh and for everyone who wants to visit us: we will even have our own parking spot. How cool is that?
LUMC
TU Delft
Yes!Delft