ENRICH in the USA Announces Winners of Funding Summit at BIO Digital 2021

PHILADELPHIA, July 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ENRICH in the USA is pleased to announce the winners of the Funding Summit during BIO Digital 2021. A total of 10 global startups participated at the pitch competition following a strict selection process.

The speakers and judges (20) were well-known investors (angel networks, early-stage venture capital firms, and R1 university incubators and accelerators), as well as city, state and US/EU governments/agencies representatives.

The top winner (best score of the two Zoom rooms) won US$500.

The top three startups in each category won a direct access to the ENRICH in the USA Virtual Landing Program (no interview and first month offered) at top US research universities. These universities include Temple University (PA), George Mason University (VA), UC Berkeley (CA), Cal Poly University (CA), and Purdue University (IN).

Biotech & Medtech:

• (First place) Keto Swiss - Basel, Switzerland | Biotech | www.keto.swiss | Keto Swiss is a Swiss biotechnology start-up that develops "brain fuels", a product that improves brain energetics ("MigraKet"), as 1) nutraceuticals (supplements) and 2) pharmaceuticals for the therapy of migraines. MigraKet is safe and contains a human identical metabolite, close to the root cause of migraine, and according to proof-of-concept data is also efficacious and without adding intolerable side effects. In later stages of development, the portfolio can be extended to other neurological diseases characterized by metabolic dysfunction, such as Alzheimer's Disease. The company is currently looking for US$10 million (possibly in two tranches of US$3 million and US$7 million) for further clinical trials, product development & go to market | Elena Gross, CEO/CSO.
• (Second place) PlasFree - Nazareth, Israel | Medtech | www.plas-free.com | Plas-Free is a clinical stage company specialized in the development and commercialization of vital fluid absorbent devices for blood purification. The company has as strategic partner, one of the world leaders in dialysis, apheresis, blood transfusion products - Asahi Kasei Medical (AKM). Plas-Free's goal is to provide improved treatment to patients with its proprietary extracorporeal plasma adsorbent device. Plas-Free's first two products target two main clinical indications with clear unmet needs: (1) CLearPlasma for massive internal bleeding and (2) AAPC-300 for HyperAmmonia (liver cirrhosis). Plas-Free is a private medical device company founded in 2017. | Zeev Dvashi, CEO.
• (Third place) Brenus Pharma - Lyon, France | Biotech | https://brenus-pharma.com | The company develops allogeneic cellular vaccines to treat cancer thanks to its unique, patented and scalable technology. The unique platform allows derisking strategies with multiple candidate generation, cost and time effective scale-up, non-competitive market entrance in combination with standards of care, strong IP worldwide spread and a highly skilled team backed by world-renowned MD oncologists from top cancer institutes in the EU and US. | Sebastien Petitet, CBDO.

Electronic Medical Devices and Equipment:

• (First place) HeartKinetics - Charleroi, Belgium | EMD | https://heartkinetics.com | Developing OKCARDIO, https://www.okcardio.com/ | OKCARDIO is a smartphone application and cloud artificial intelligence for cardiac monitoring and diagnostic. Allows patients with potential heart failure to be diagnosed and become engaged with regular monitoring to ensure daily treatment follow-up and improve the quality of their daily life. | Pierre-Francois Migeotte, CEO/Co-Founder.
• (Second place) IVis Technologies - Taranto, Italy | EMD | www.ivistechnologies.com | The iVis Suite, consists of hardware (Precisio®, pMetrics® and iRes™) and software products (CIPTA®, CLAT and iVerify®). iVis Suite utilizes cutting edge technology to execute full automated, no-touch, remote controlled, customized refractive surgery to optimize vision quality and minimize surgical invasiveness for the treatment of corneal pathologies and refractive diseases. | Giuseppe D'Ippolito, CEO.
• (Third place) Adiposs - Geneva, Switzerland | EMD | https://adiposs.com Adiposs develops medical imaging products and technologies for early detection of cachexia, a fatal body wasting syndrome. | Andrej Babic, CEO.

"We are excited to recognize and celebrate again this unique online format as the selected high growth startups from Europe (and associated countries) showcased this time innovative breakthroughs in the health space," said Sebastien Torre, Director of San Francisco-based ENRICH in the USA Center. "I also want to thank Invest EU, Enterprise Europe Network, Green & Spiegel and Angel Launch for their great support and partnership. See you at our next virtual/hybrid Funding Summit!"

"In terms of deal scouting, I prioritize finding qualified healthtech companies that are in the correct stage with a clear competitive advantage in the US market—which can be tricky. ENRICH's Funding Summits are so valuable, and even more so in context of the health and life science focus of bio, because they help address two of the most critical areas in a company's successful entry in the US: streamlined connections with relevant investors and entry into a network of soft-landing centers to maximize capital efficiency. Coming from the investment and business side, this considered approach means we see some of the most phenomenal technologies across Europe," added Elizabeth Jennings, Board of Directors, SWAN Impact Network; VP, SWAN Impact Fund; Principal, Venture Atlas Labs.

"The ENRICH events provide an excellent occasion to promote the opportunities of new Invest EU program among US investors and institutions, and to learn more about US ecosystems," said Michael Feith, Policy Officer, European Commission, DG ECFIN L2 – InvestEU Governance.

About ENRICH in the USA

Launched in April 2017, the mission of ENRICH (European Network of Research Innovation Centres and Hubs) in the USA (ENRICH in the USA) is to provide collaboration and commercialization support services to European researchers and innovators (from the EU and Associated Countries), and facilitate their access to university centric Soft Landing ecosystems, to maximize their chances of success in the United States.

ENRICH in the USA, funded by the European Commission through Horizon 2020, is represented in the USA by Temple Small Business Development Center - Fox School of Business, based in Philadelphia, PA, and NCURA based in Washington, DC.

Maura Shenker, Director of the Temple University Small Business Development Center, added "Temple SBDC is proud to be supporting this outstanding group of successful entrepreneurs from Europe participating at BIO Digital 2021, and we look forward to our strong collaboration with ENRICH in the USA to offer more transatlantic services and connections."

About Temple University, SBDC

The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) are the only statewide, nationally accredited program providing high quality, one-on-one consulting, training and information resources to empower new and existing businesses. The SBDC program is a public/private partnership with the US Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and 16 universities and colleges across the Commonwealth. The Temple University SBDC is an outreach center of the Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University that has been serving Philadelphia and the surrounding communities since 1983. the highly trained and experienced staff provides startup and small businesses with professional knowledge and assistance. Its mission is to help small businesses grow and succeed.

Media Contact:
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