New York, NY May 7, 2024 — HITLAB announced the winners of the Spring 2024 Breakthrough Alliance (BTA) Innovator’s challenge. The BTA is a digital health consortium founded in partnership with New York City Economic Development Corporation and was created to accelerate the optimal adoption of digital health innovations through shared evidence, communication, and perspectives to improve health outcomes, access and care delivery.

The finalists, who were selected based on innovation, scalability, sustainability and impact of their solution, include VitalTracer, iFocus, Shemha Health, WeavAir and Telegenz.  

All 5 finalists pitched their solutions to a panel of judges during the second day of the June 2024 Innovator’s Summit, which coincides with NYC Health Innovation Week. 

The judges included: 

• Merck Global Health Innovation – President, Bill Taranto 
• Novo Nordisk, Head of U.S. Digital Transformation & Innovation, Amy West 
• Illumina – Head Global Partner Marketing, Effie Edisei 
• SVB – Director Startup Banking, Pooja Majmudar 
• HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance Board, Europe Chair, Laurent Van Leberghe
  

The winning solutions selected include: 

1st Place – VitalTracer Ltd  

2nd Place – iFocus Health 

3rd place – Weavair 

All three winning solutions will be evaluated in validation studies conducted by the HITLAB Research and Evaluation team. They will also receive an opportunity to present with other industry leaders at one of HITLAB’s monthly Digital Health Symposia. The 1st and 2nd place winners will receive published articles. 

Our 2nd day of Spring 2024 Innovator’s Summit got exciting today when the 5 BTA Challenge finalists pitched their solutions to our panel of judges,” said Stan Kachnowski, Chair of HITLAB and Director Columbia Business School Digital Health Program. “Congratulations to all the finalists, we are looking forward to collaborating with you again in the future.” 

Summary of Winners and Honorable Mentions: 

• VitalTracer Ltd: VitalTracer Ltd presents the VitalTracer Platform, a wireless monitoring system designed for collecting vital signs in home settings. By tracking vital signs, healthcare providers can remotely assess patient health, facilitating early discharge and improving pediatric care.  
• iFocus: Introduces groundbreaking eye-tracking technology that objectively measures ADHD treatment progress using the patient’s laptop. By analyzing eye movements during reading, it assesses concentration and impulse control, enabling personalized treatment optimization. The product is now available for patients and clinicians.  
• WeavAir: Their digital health solution utilizes predictive AI algorithms, radar, and ultrasonic sensors to remotely monitor the health status of the elderly. By providing early warning and rescue for abnormal situations, WeavAir aims to improve the well-being of seniors. 

Honorable mentions:

• Shemha Health Ltd:  Introduces #PrOPA, a revolutionary AI-driven tele-oncology solution that is set to transform cancer care. By delivering personalized and predictive treatment pathways, #PrOPA aims to improve outcomes for millions of patients worldwide. 
• Telegenz:  Addresses the gap in clinical training by providing a platform tailored for telemedicine training and accreditation. Unlike generic solutions like Zoom and Teams, Telegenz offers specialized tools for enhancing clinical skills and knowledge transfer. 

About HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance 

HITLAB Breakthrough Alliance is an accelerator that helps early-stage startups conduct rapid pilot studies to test their products and move closer to market. Selected startups have their technologies tested in pilot studies with clinical partners and patients, gathering the data needed to accelerate their concepts. To source startups, Breakthrough holds open innovation competitions and networking events that bring together the digital health and investment ecosystem. 

Breakthrough is membership-based and board members represent the best organizations in health.