Korean giant Samsung grilled six Skolkovo startups in a series of product pitches for healthcare and connectivity innovations.
Hoping to strike up a potentially life-changing partnership with a world-leading electronics company, budding entrepreneurs had to deal with questions ranging from the regular - “How do you physically gather the data?”- to the more peculiar - “Can I use the device if I want to check the radiation levels at the market on a big fish?”
Lee Youngmin, right, testing Oriense technology at Skolkovo last week. Photo: sk.ru
Friday’s event offered a glimpse inside the inner workings of the Skolkovo Foundation, which takes multinational companies on board as partners with the aim of sharing their expertise with startups and giving them first refusal on emerging technology in return.
Samsung is one of several dozen key Skolkovo international partners, a status that requires the companies to conduct research and development at Skolkovo and contribute to the innovations ecosystem. Representing Samsung was the company's R&D center general director Lee Youngmin.
“Samsung showed interest in our startups, so we arranged a get-together in Moscow,” said Igor Bogachev, the executive director of Skolkovo’s IT cluster.
Skolkovo frequently gathers its top startups to pitch state-of-the-art innovations to the companies in the hope they will support the projects in the form of investment, partnerships, joint ventures as they seek to commercialize their ideas.
Regarding Samsung, Bogachev noted: “Any success depends first of all on how cutting-edge Samsung considers the technology of our startups to be.”
“We at the IT cluster, of course, believe in and are very proud of the innovative technology of our companies, technology that is backed by an independent Skolkovo panel,” Bogachev added.
Sk.ru presents a rundown of the technology offered to Samsung on Friday:
Oriense has designed a pair of high-tech glasses to help blind people navigate indoors and out. Cameras and GPS technology analyze the environment and notify the user of obstacles with the help of three-dimensional audio. The user hears sound emanate from the direction of the obstacle. The designers say the glasses, which will be offered with a provisional retail price of $300 to $700 per unit, increase the independence of the blind and visually impaired and decrease care costs. A prototype is nearly finished, while market entry is planned for next year.
Medarchive is cloud software that stores all of a patient’s medical records in one easily accessible place. Its 7,000 existing customers already benefit from the e-consultations, personalized medical calendar and personal emergency card currently on offer. The data is gathered in all manner of ways from manual input by the patient or doctor to medical results being uploaded automatically. It allows all medical personnel, from physicians to emergency crews, instant access to a patient’s comprehensive medical records, eliminating the myriad of bureaucratic inefficiencies as information is passed from institution to institution. Medarchive is currently available via a web service or a mobile app for iOS or Android.
Angioscan offers a range of cardio diagnostics for personal and professional use through next-generation devices. Its aim is to achieve the earliest possible detection of cardiovascular disease. One device is an electronic peg that clips to your index finger and evaluates stress levels, pulse rate, the stiffness of the arterial wall and other issues. A two-minute test, the company claims, helps reveal symptoms associated with hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, among other things. Data from the devices can be uploaded to a cloud and accessed by doctors for professional diagnoses. Angioscan also produces a radiation detector for food and other items.
From the nascent Internet of Things movement, which is looking to incorporate everyday objects from toasters to washing machines into one network, comes GO+. This team offers a cloud-based platform that allows users to control everything from your kettle at home to the air conditioning at the restaurant. In the future, objects can be commanded remotely to interact, ushering in an era of superior utility from everyday appliances. It is the first serious attempt in Russia to bring the Internet of Things to the mass market.
Another promising mobile health diagnostics firm, Fruct MD is a cloud-based platform that encourages a healthy way of life by detecting problems before they become serious. It produces a variety of sensors that can be connected to smartphones to monitor health and fitness levels. Fruct MD also offers a ‘nearest doctor’ search and ‘red button’ emergency alarm. It sends your location to paramedics in the event of an emergency.
Iridium Mobile also hopes to be the go-to firm for the Internet of Things with its ‘remote for all devices.’ Currently, the company says, you need 20 smartphone apps to access 20 devices. It wants to slash that ratio to 20/1. With its single platform, Iridium is striving to be the first firm to turn the concept of a ‘smart home’ into reality. Its software is available on iOS, Android, Windows and Mac OS.