Health Pioneers

• Digital healthcare and wellbeing
• Medical technologies

Researchers with MedTech or digital health-centered innovations or research ideas.

Health Pioneers is a 7-week hybrid entrepreneurial training and pre-incubation programme designed for researchers, scientists and clinician-researchers developing early-stage digital health and medical technology innovations. The programme supports participants in exploring the commercial and societal potential of their research by combining training, mentoring, ecosystem immersion and hands-on project development. Through interactive modules, workshops and expert feedback, participants progressively build a structured innovation pathway adapted to the specific challenges of health technologies. 

The curriculum covers key dimensions of innovation valorisation, including user needs assessment, value proposition design, intellectual property strategy, regulatory and reimbursement pathways, business modelling, funding opportunities and entrepreneurial communication. Participants work directly on their own projects throughout the programme and benefit from personalised mentoring provided by innovation experts, entrepreneurs, investors and technology transfer professionals. The programme culminates in a 3-day in-person bootcamp hosted at the Eurasanté innovation campus in Lille, one of Europe’s largest hospital-university health ecosystems. The bootcamp combines masterclasses, collaborative workshops, mentoring sessions and pitch preparation activities. 

Participants will also interact directly with healthcare stakeholders, start-ups and investors, and gain access to MedFIT, a leading European partnering event dedicated to medtech and digital health innovation. By the end of the programme, participants will have strengthened their entrepreneurial skills, refined their project positioning and identified concrete pathways towards market application, partnerships, licensing or venture creation.

• Understand the key steps required to transform health research results into innovation opportunities and market pathways.
• Develop a clear value proposition based on needs, user expectations and market relevance.
• Explore intellectual property, regulatory, reimbursement and funding strategies specific to digital health and medtech innovation.
• Strengthen entrepreneurial and communication skills through mentoring, workshops and pitching exercises.
• Build connections with industry experts, SMEs and existing start-ups, investors, healthcare stakeholders and innovation support organisations across Eurasanté's ecosystem.