Lessons and opportunities in developing high-tech businesses with the HighTechXL startup accelerator. This year the interaction of Philips with startups went into true acceleration mode.
Earlier in the year we announced the partnership with HighTechXL in the Eindhoven Startup alliance which boosts the startup eco-system in the region. But two events in the past couple of months stand out in particular. Two months ago at XL Day I watched proudly as several alumni and new high-tech startups of the HighTechXL program took the stage in Eindhoven to pitch their business cases to investors, industry experts and innovation leaders.
And then last week we welcomed the 10 finalists of the Philips Innovation Challenge at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, organized in collaboration with HighTechXL and Get in the Ring.
XL Day was the culmination of a tree monthly acceleration program led by the startup accelerator HighTechXL. Here, a community of high-tech corporates including Philips Research is connected to young hardware entrepreneurs. This year we were glad to see the fast progress of two of the Medtech companies in the program. The close vicinity and direct contact between the startups and Philips shows how well this interaction now works in practice. Earlier this year, we had already finished a similar program with HightechXL, but then focusing on Philips teams driving internal innovations like a startups. And with great results. At XL Day I was delighted to report in an interview on stage how the previous program has truly accelerated the business impact of our innovation program.
Then in October we reached out to startups with impact on transforming healthcare through the Philips Innovation Challenge. Not sure what to expect, we were overwhelmed by the reactions. More than 90 startups reacted from all over the world, including the US and Canada, but also Taiwan and South Korea. We had such a hard time selecting the top 10 for the final pitch in the ring that we adapted and decided to invite the top 20 and add a full day mentor program. During the day, startup founders met with experts from Philips and HighTechXL in focused mentor sessions to explore the startup plans and potential collaboration opportunities. It all ended in a great final ‘in the ring’, with at the end a fantastic winner: CureMetrix.
