— Bruges, Belgium, 16 November 2023 —

The HealthTech Investor Summit in Bruges, Belgium, on 4-6 December is the first event to unite the European healthtech sector. This unique summit will bring together the largest group of healthtech investors ever seen, with over 50 investment funds in attendance. Over 70 healthtech and medtech companies from more than 10 European countries will pitch their innovations. The multiple panel discussions and ample networking opportunities with potential investors, clusters and partners will inspire not only the companies pitching but everyone eager to improve healthcare innovation.

Organized by founding supporter Flanders Investment and Trade (FIT) together with MEDVIA and BioWin (the Flemish and Walloon health innovation clusters), the event aims to strengthen the entire European healthtech ecosystem by supporting the investment needs of start-ups and scale-ups from across the continent.

Europe has long been heavily investing in a knowledge economy, fostering some of the world’s strongest pharmaceutical and biotech clusters. By comparison, the healthtech sector is a much younger ecosystem, requiring more attention and an injection of funds to support the digital technologies, devices and diagnostic solutions currently being developed by innovators in research institutes, hospitals and early-stage companies. For Europe to stay at the cutting edge of global health innovation, it needs to bring together stakeholders from across the ecosystem and facilitate funding for future health solutions.

The HealthTech Investor Summit will be an essential event for investors, innovators, and anyone looking for insights into healthcare innovation. All event attendees can expect to take part in an excellent program of talks and panels, where they will gain invaluable information from industry leaders on topics such as:

• Innovative financing models and options in challenging times
• How to combine patient impact with a successful business model
• How to scale a company and seize opportunities in an international environment
• How clusters can help companies address healthcare challenges by integrating healthtech, biotech and biopharma
  
  

Entrepreneurs will have a chance to pitch their innovation in front of a curated audience of 50+ European and US investors actively seeking the next big thing in healthtech. Even if not pitching, they can also schedule meetings with investors and have one-on-one chats with other attendees about funding, mentorship, and strategic partnerships during the event’s many networking opportunities. Investors can likewise expect fruitful days, with Europe’s top talent showing off potential healthtech and medtech products. There will be 70+ companies pitching their ideas at the event (~50 start-ups and ~20 scale-ups) from over 10 different European countries.

Appropriately, the event is taking place at the heart of Europe in the enchanting city of Bruges – a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its historical charm, where attendees can experience Belgian hospitality (and beer) during the conference dinner and at the beautiful Winter Glow holiday festival.

Ann Van Gysel (CEO of MEDVIA): “Healthtech innovation in Europe is thriving, but the ecosystem is still young. Through MEDVIA we can offer access to non-dilutive funding in Flanders, but investors are essential to help the many start-ups and scale-ups reach the market and create value. The interest from biopharma in healthtech is exponential. To build and expand our biopharma hub, we need to bring the different stakeholders together to address current challenges, including funding. Together, we can help build the ecosystem and elevate Europe’s healthtech on the global stage.”

Sylvie Ponchaut (Managing Director of BioWin): “This event is unique in being both the first summit dedicated to European healthtech and the largest collection of investors interested in the space. The aim is to give the ecosystem an injection of money but also to provide entrepreneurs with essential networking opportunities. Our intention is for this event to become an annual facilitator of innovation and investment in the European healthtech space.”

Jan Wauters (Science & Technology Counselor at FIT): “It can be very hard for innovators to identify investors on their own, which is why this event is uniting a critical mass of funds from both Europe and the US, including impact investors, family offices, and private investors. These funds are increasingly motivated to invest in healthtech but sometimes struggle to identify opportunities in the young and fractured European healthtech landscape. Which is why this summit will be an invaluable event for both investors and innovators.”

For more information and to register for the HealthTech Investor Summit on 4-6 December in Bruges, Belgium, visit the website: https://healthtechinvestorsummit.com/

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About FIT

Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) supports and guides Flemish exporters to achieve international success. Talented start-ups receive special attention in this respect. From abroad, FIT attracts potential investors who strengthen the Flemish economic ecosystem. https://welcome.flandersinvestmentandtrade.com/en

About MEDVIA

MEDVIA is one of Flanders’ seven spearhead clusters, each of which represent companies and organizations involved in a key sector in the region. As the healthtech cluster, MEDVIA’s members include medtech and biotech companies, hospitals, life science research centers, digital health services and academia. MEDVIA supports cross-over collaborations among these domains with innovation services that facilitate growth and market access, as well as earmarked non-dilutive funding made available through Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO). https://medvia.be/

About BioWin

BioWin is the health cluster in Wallonia, Belgium, the regional reference for all stakeholders in health, biotech and medtech research, and innovation projects. It includes 250 members from the private, public and academic sectors. BioWin’s mission is to accelerate innovation to meet tomorrow’s public health challenges and develop the knowledge, employment and competitiveness of all players in the health sector ecosystem. By bringing together all the innovation players in Wallonia’s life sciences field, BioWin aims to stimulate regional economic redeployment. The cluster is also involved in implementing the sector’s industrial policy (industrial innovation and research, training, support for business growth), to develop and anchor skills, knowledge and jobs. www.biowin.org

Event and Media Contact
Rita Prota
rita.prota@medvia.be