Innovate in Switzerland: Opportunities for Russian Companies in Digital Health
On 22 September, Skolkovo IT companies presented their solutions to biomedicine experts and potential investors during an online session in digital medicine titled “Innovate in Switzerland: Opportunities for Russian Companies in Digital Health.” The event was co-organized by the Skolkovo Foundation (VEB.RF) and Innovaud and moderated by Pierre-Jean Wipff of Innovaud.
The Skolkovo Foundation and Innovaud have already been working together, and a delegation from the Swiss canton visited Skolkovo Innovation Center in February 2021.
The session was divided into two parts, with Swiss experts discussing the most significant trends in digital medicine taking place in the Swiss market as well as the opportunities for startups to develop their business in Switzerland’s Vaud canton, which is home to a highly valued one developed innovation ecosystem. The second part comprised pitch sessions by the Skolkovo companies to Swiss corporate representatives, venture funds, development institutions, and industry associations.
The participating Swiss experts represented Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Ferring Biologics Innovation Center, Center for Sustainable Cloud Computing, EFOUR Venture Capital Firm, Biopole Technopark, and Smart Cardia.
The Skolkovo startups presenting solutions were Epilogica, Botkin.AI, Pro rodinki, and Med.me. Botkin.AI is an artificial intelligence platform used for diagnostics and disease risk assessment – specifically lung and chest. By analyzing images using AI, it reduces the probability of doctor error, workload, etc. Pro rodinki is an app that utilizes artificial intelligence to check skin cancer based on a large data set. Med.me is a cloud platform connecting patients, doctors, clinics, medical organizations, health insurance, and pharmaceutical companies. EpiLogica has developed the epidemiological information system “EpiS” that uses block AI deep neural networks as a tool for national information systems in healthcare.
About Innovaud
Innovaud is the innovation and investment promotion agency for the canton of Vaud, in Switzerland’s Lake Geneva region. We have a long history of supporting innovation by startups, scale-ups, SMEs, and large tech companies. We are also the gateway for foreign companies wanting to establish a presence in the heart of Europe. Our services are offered free of charge and backed by Vaud’s Department of the Economy, Innovation and Sport (DEIS).
Vaud is the ideal place for businesses looking to invest in innovation. More than 2,000 technology companies are based in our region and employ some 50,000 highly skilled professionals. Those businesses, combined with our world-class universities – like EPFL, a renowned engineering school, and HEIG-VD, a school of engineering and management – form part of our dense innovation ecosystem. Vaud is also recognized internationally in many cutting-edge fields such as foodtech, sporttech, trusttech, healthcare, digital technology, drones, and space systems.
The Skolkovo Foundation
A non-commercial organization founded in 2010, it functions as the managing company of the Skolkovo Innovation Center. The goal of the Foundation is to support technological entrepreneurship in Russia and commercialize the results of scientific research activities.
The number of Skolkovo residents already exceeds 3000, and the Foundation provides them with an array of necessary services to roll out developments onto the Russian and international markets. Resident status gives a company tax and customs privileges. In 2019, residents’ revenue amounted to over 100 billion rubles, and the amount of investment raised amounted to 13 billion rubles. Since 2019, legislation has allowed any organization conducting research activities in Russia to access the Skolkovo Innovation Center’s services and benefits.
Located at Skolkovo Innovation Center is the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), which is listed in the Nature Index “Top-100 Young Universities” list. The Innovation Center infrastructure comprises, among other things, research centers belonging to industrial partners and the largest Technopark in Europe.
In 2019, three new partner R&D centers belonging to Sibur, TMK, and Tatneft opened at the Innovation Center. As a result, a total of 750,000 square meters of residential buildings, research, and educational centers have been put into operation on Skolkovo territory, and extrabudgetary investment in infrastructure exceeds 100 billion rubles.
Development Institutions of the Russian Federation:
The Government of the Russian Federation is currently reconfiguring the system for development institutions, allowing for their integration into VEB.RF’s managerial sphere. A centralized investment block is being created at VEB.RF to implement projects that will contribute to achieving the national development goals. The priority of VEB.RF and the development institutes under its coordination is to consolidate public and private investment resources towards making a breakthrough in the country’s development and increasing living standards. We participate in the development of the Russian economy together with other development institutions VEB.RF Group: Rusnano, Industrial Development Fund, Russian Export Center, SME Corporation.