- Imagine IF!, the first truly global competition and accelerator program for science-based projects organized by IQS Tech Factory and Innovation Forum, celebrates the Demo Day, its first final in Barcelona
- The event will host the presentations of the 10 entrepreneurial and scientific projects selected during the initial phase of the program
- The winner will compete against nine selected teams from other European cities and will represent Barcelona in the next phase of the acceleration to be held in Cambridge (United Kingdom)
IQS Tech Factory, the center for entrepreneurship of IQS, and Innovation Forum, the global grassroots network of innovators, organize this afternoon the Demo Day, the local final of IMAGINE IF!, the first truly global acceleration program for entrepreneurial science-based projects.
The Demo Day will take place at the Mobile World Center of Barcelona and will host the presentations of the ten selected teams during the first phase of the program. From this final and the finals of the other European cities, will emerge the 10 finalists of the acceleration program. The jury formed by: Julián Vinué, director of Wayra Barcelona; Carlos Esteban, director of Caixa Capital Risc Investment; Karolina Korth, Managing Director of Business Development at Roche Diabetes Care; Marek Tyl; CEO of Innovation Forum; Nuno Alves; business developer at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and Innovation Forum; and Eduard Diviu, CEO of Sagetis Biotech; will choose the winning project of the first final of Imagine IF! Barcelona and provide him with a prize of 1,000 euros, and a suite of services in order to continue developing the project.
The selected project will represent Barcelona in the Innovation Forum 2016-Leaders Conference to be held in late September in Cambridge, and will fight against other European teams for its chance to receive 30.000 GBP.
All 10 finalists will also take part in the acceleration program from 23 September until 20 December, receive advice from internationally recognized experts to continue the development of their idea and will have the opportunity to participate in the Investors Conference on January 2017 in Cambridge.
Imagine IF!, the encouragement for entrepreneurial and science-based projects
The Demo Day arrives after the celebration of the acceleration program launch event, last June. 17 teams presented their science-based projects to a mentoring team consisting of: Carlos Esteban, director of Caixa Capital Risc Investment; Daniel Inarejos, Business Development Manager at Hetero Europe; Oriol Pascual, director of IQS Tech Factory; Benjamin Basset, investor; and Mar Eroles, Life Sciences analyst at Capital Cell.
Finally, only 10 of the 17 teams moved to the next stage, and those were: Embassy; Enian; iBreve; Social IO Robot; Iomed; MOWoOT; New Born Solutions; NX≈SWIM ; Omnicane; Panakeia.
From June 15 to July 8, participants had the opportunity to prepare for the Demo Day and work in the pre-acceleration of their projects attending to five workshops focused on the most important aspects to turn an idea into a real business, led by industry experts as Carlos Martinez, CEO of M & Partners; Daniel Oliver, CEO of Capital Cell; Mar Eroles Life Sciences analyst at Capital Cell; Joanna Parlinska, Design Thinking Digital at Soft You SFY strategies; and Roi Villar, biotechnologist communication specialist.
The projects
EMBASSY is a new technology that improves productivity, focus, creativity and wellbeing at work.
ENIAN B2B deal-making platform for the commercial-scale renewable energy market.
iBreve helps users to master moments of stress. This new tool analyses individual breathing patterns and makes smart relaxation suggestions based on aggregated pattern recognition and user activity data.
IO Social Robot is a hardware created for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It will be living in the child’s home, being part of the family routine and providing a tool for the child’s stimulation and therapy, complimentary information about clinical signs, and be a playmate for the child, increasing his/her motivation to cover the therapy plan.
IOMED is a new tool for doctors to create, search and store patient data through a simple and efficient system.
MOWoOT is a non-pharmacological, non-invasive, no side effects solution to chronic constipation in form of a wearable medical device based on pneumatic technology with connectivity to smart devices.
New Born Solutions is a healthcare start-up developing the Neosonics, the first medical device to non-invasively screen for meningitis that Works on the prevention of the infection.
NX≈SWIM a tool whose mission is to make swimming more accessible and effective for everybody. It consists of a swim harness, a sensor and a mobile application that makes the training more efficient and provides instructions for the correct movements in water.
OmniCane is a highly advanced assistant technology in the form of a unique pedestrian guidance device. OmniCane combines a series of sensors, electrical actuators, and micro-controllers to better asses the user on its navigation path and provide them with tools to leverage their disability.
Panakeia works in the development of IoT Solutions for the health industry After an initial research, Panakeia will offer an integrated solution for chronic diseases to monitorize, control, prevent and reduce the gap patient-doctor.
Innovation Forum and IQS Tech Factory promote entrepreneurial projects
Innovation Forum and IQS Tech Factory have teamed up to organize Imagine IF!, an innovative acceleraton program focusing on ideas which improve life through scientific innovation.
Innovation Forum is a global grassroots network of over 10.000 innovators that seeks to build bridges between industry, academia and government. Its aim is to facilitate a multidisciplinary structure which brings together engineers, business professionals, economists, doctors, scientists and policy makers, by fostering synergy between academia, industry and the public sector to accelerate the speed of technology adoption for the benefit of the wider society.
IQS Tech Factory was born in 2015 the aim to contribute to industrial development by turning disruptive technologies into business opportunities, being a generator of transforming industries.
IQS Tech Factory promotes and provides support to promising tech ventures by organizing presentations, workshops, network events and and provides assessment in business development.