S3E Charge 2024 | Meet the startup: BEDEV
BEDEV is one of the 17 startups selected to participate in the 2024 edition of S3E Charge, the EU-funded accelerator program fostering deep tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Southern Europe.
We spoke with Gonçalo Fonseca, Founder and CEO of BEDEV, to learn more about how this Portuguese startup is planning to make medical devices environmentally and economically friendlier, thanks to the use of 3D printing technologies.
https://youtu.be/aOUMIiTmnzs
Hi Gonçalo! Tell us about BEDEV, the mission behind the business and the technology you’ve developed.
We founded BEDEV in February 2019 from a research scholarship that we won in the previous year, which allowed us to start our company. Our main focus is the development of early stage medical devises using 3D printing, with the ambition of bringing medtech to greener pastures by making them long-lasting (instead of single use), without putting patients at risk.
How would you describe your entrepreneurship journey so far?
Challenging, but in a good way! When you enter the entrepreneurial world there's all these questions that you need to answer, which makes it very challenging from the very beginning. We've faced some difficulties but we were always driven by our willingness to keep moving on and continue developing our business idea.
Why have you decided to enrol in the S3E Charge accelerator?
We heard about S3E Charge through our incubator, Ubimedical. When we started researching about the program it we realised it was a perfect match for us — not only because it can support us to consolidate and evolve our business plan for our technology, but also to meet and learn from other startups in a similar situation to ours. It's also amazing that it will help us to pitch and connect with potential investors, which is crucial for us at this stage.
As a startup based in Portugal, it's very important for us to meet other companies from countries close to ours. Entrepreneurs in Southern Europe share similar difficulties, especially in terms of financing, so it's great to learn from their perspectives and how they're evolving their business plans.
What are the key ambitions for BEDEV? Where would you like to see the business in 5 years?
Of course we'd like to grow BEDEV and become as big as other tech startups like Google or Amazon, and we're aiming to achieve that type of success in the long term.
But, thinking about the next 5 years, after completing the necessary clinical trials and receiving the approval from regulatory agencies, our plan is to enter various international markets with our medtech device. We want to get well established in countries like the US, Germany and China, and from there continue expanding globally — it sounds ambitious, but with the right investment, we believe we can do it, without a doubt.
Drawing from your own experience, what piece of advice would you give to an entrepreneur who’d like to launch their own startup?
Don't be afraid, and cancel the outside noise. If you believe in your idea, just go for it! There are a lot of opportunities in your country and within the European Union, and even abroad, that you can access to develop your own project into a business. None of us are born with the knowledge required to set up a startup, we all have to learn as we go.
Remember we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes, so don't be afraid to follow your dreams and look for those opportunities that can help you get to where you want to be.
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S3E Charge 2024 | Meet the startup: CRIAM
CRIAM is one of the 17 startups selected to participate in the 2024 edition of S3E Charge, the EU-funded accelerator program fostering deep tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Southern Europe.
We spoke with Afonso Pinheiro, Biomedical Engineer and Researcher at CRIAM, to learn more about how they've grown this Portuguese medtech startup from a PhD research project to create a portable and fully automated device for blood testing, and their ambitions to make this technology accessible to patients and medical professionals around the world.
https://youtu.be/3ezuVn2cRV8?feature=shared
Hi Afonso! Tell us about CRIAM, the mission behind the business and the technology you’ve developed.
CRIAM — which stands for Chemical Reaction and Image Analysis for Mobility — was founded in 2016 at University of Minho, in Braga (Portugal). It started as a PhD thesis on blood grouping, while exploring different ways of using automation for emergency services to have a fully mobile, fast, and accurate way of testing a patient’s blood, anywhere.
The key ingredient is the ability to take this device anywhere, no cables required, and to have a fully automated test; while the reaction is taking place inside the device, the medical practitioners can be confident that their results will be as accurate as on the lab bench.
Why have you decided to enrol in the S3E Charge accelerator?
Our main objective with the S3E Charge accelerator is to get in contact with more funding opportunities so we can reach our final device requirements, while getting to know where our technology can be of most use in the EU. We're also excited about meeting upcoming startups and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, outside our field.
What are the key ambitions for CRIAM? Where would you like to see the business in 5 years?
In five years, I see our device and testing cartridges being fully optimised, ready for large-scale manufacturing, and a small set of units being used around the world to collect feedback on its usability. I also envision a broader portfolio of patents, and clinical trials, for infectious diseases of several kinds — from sexually-transmitted infections, like syphilis, to respiratory diseases, like tuberculosis, covid, and other inflammatory conditions.
Our goal is to scale blood testing services to those most in need, by bringing a reliable and affordable diagnostic solution closer to everyone, be it in a city, a rural area, or remote villages in a developing countries. That is our vision.
Drawing from your own experience, what piece of advice would you give to an entrepreneur who’d like to launch their own startup?
During our journey we've had a lot of opportunities to meet incredible people, to partner with them, to hear their stories and learn from them. That would be my main advice for someone looking to grow their startup, to go out there and connect with people — from end users and stakeholders, to practitioners and experts in the field; it's always valuable to have a diverse range of feedback on your ideas and ambitions. Communication and humanism, that's my main takeaway from my experience with CRIAM.
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S3E Charge 2024 | Meet the startup: QX
QX is one of the 17 startups selected to participate in the 2024 edition of S3E Charge, the EU-funded accelerator program fostering deep tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Southern Europe.
We spoke with Zoran Nasteski, CEO and Co-founder of QX, to learn more about how they're using blockchain and Web3 technology to create safer online retailing spaces, their reasons for joining S3E Charge and their ambitions to grow the business in the next 5 years.
https://youtu.be/9yAPVzMVOzA
Hi Zoran! Tell us about QX, the mission behind the business and the technology you’ve developed.
QX is a Web3-based platform that helps brands and retailers connect and engage with their customers without using their data. We use a combination of blockchain and cloud technologies to enable brands to become more effective at managing their customer engagement and experiences.
Trust has been declining on the consumer side, so we're utilising blockchain because it's the only proper technology that helps brands re-build trust and improve their connections within the retail space.
How would you define your entrepreneurship journey so far?
For us, launching a deep tech startup focused on an industry as big as retailing and e-commerce has felt like venturing into total uncertainty. So it's been a very bold move from everyone involved in QX!
Why have you decided to enrol in the S3E Charge accelerator?
We're now at the point in our business where we need to start making some important decisions. Most of our financing has come from ourselves and from some early-stage accelerators, but now we have to decide if we want to pursue a private investor path or seek public funding; as a deep tech startup, we're not necessarily 100% dependable on external funding, but it makes our odds better to succeed in our venture. We want to be more knowledgeable about the funding opportunities that exist out there, and learn what's possible and accessible to us, not just run to the money.
We want to be very strategic in terms of what type of capital we bring into the business. And I believe S3E Charge will help us move forward in this area so we can make the right decision for our startup.
What are the key ambitions for QX? Where would you like to see the business in 5 years?
When I think about QX in the near future, I see as a small company that supports a very heavy industry that has become extremely dependant on data and is now suffering a huge fall-off in consumer trust because of that.
Our mission is to become the go-to experts on e-commerce innovation who understand consumers' needs and, in turn, are able to create safe online retailing spaces by protecting shoppers' data.
Drawing from your own experience, what piece of advice would you give to an entrepreneur who’d like to launch their own startup?
Don't chase the money! Think long and hard about what you're trying to do because, at the end of the day, what you design and develop is what will bring value, both to your business and to your customers. You don't want to go into the market with a mediocre product that no one will pay for, so you need to start by focusing on building your product or service and the problem that you want to solve.
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S3E Charge 2024 | Meet the startup: ivoluntry
ivoluntry is one of the 17 startups selected to participate in the 2024 edition of S3E Charge, the EU-funded accelerator program fostering deep tech innovation and entrepreneurship in Southern Europe.
We spoke with Andreas Kountouras, CEO and Co-founder of ivoluntry, to learn more about how this Greek startup is building an online community platform for volunteering activities, their reasons for joining S3E Charge and their ambitions to grow the business in the next 5 years.
https://youtu.be/9mt18jPItmc
Hi Andreas! Tell us about ivoluntry, the mission behind the business and the technology you've developed.
Antypas Azoidis and I co-founded ivoluntry in January 2023 with the aim to digitally organise and maximise volunteering activities around the world. The idea came from my personal experience volunteering as a lifeguard.
We've created a digital platform that connects volunteers with opportunities provided by NGOs and non-profit organisations, creating an online space where they can explore available activities and people interested in contributing to them. It also helps to digitally capture and maximise the volunteer footprint of companies, maximises the sample of scientific research in this area, and contributes to develop voluntourism.
We are currently in the development stage of our website and we are looking for volunteers and NGOs who would be interested in connecting through our platform.
How would you define your entrepreneurship journey so far?
Being an entrepreneur is an exciting adventure. It constantly forces you to get out of your comfort zone which, in turns, make you grow professionally and personally.
In our case, we're always willing to learn and collaborate from other professionals and fellow entrepreneurs, and we're constantly evolving to get the business to the stage where we'd like it to be.
Why have you decided to enrol in the S3E Charge accelerator?
We'd like to introduce our platform to volunteers and NGOs based in many different countries, and we believe this accelerator can help us achieve that goal. Through the help of our mentor, we hope to get feedback on our plans of expansion and start growing an international network; we're also very interested in improving our pitch presentation for when we're ready to introduce ivoluntry to investors and new audiences.
What are the key ambitions for your DataFruit IIoT? Where would you like to see the business in 5 years?
In the next 5 year, we want to achieve our set financial goals and reach European citizens and organisations looking to develop their volunteering activities. We also plant to integrate educational interaction features within the platform to continue spreading the ivoluntry philosophy.
Drawing from your experience, what piece of advice would you give to an entrepreneur who'd like to launch their own startup?
My advice would be to observe the national ecosystem to be aware of what's happening at a social, economical or even cultural level and see how it all ties in with your business idea, and to take part in entrepreneurship programs which can help develop your startup. And don't be afraid of failing — it's all part of the journey!