Winners Announced of the 14th MEDICA Start-up Competition

Below is a closer look at the technologies driving these standout young companies and the potential impact they bring to healthcare.

SVAN Technologies GmbH (Vienna, Austria) was awarded the first place prize with its deep-tech innovation for neonatal emergency vascular access. The company is developing an autonomous bone-drilling device designed to provide safe, fast, and precise intraosseous access in premature and full-term newborns. The device automatically detects bone-marrow entry, features a safety-stop mechanism, and offers precise wrist control to minimize injury during urgent, life-saving procedures. Because securing fast intraosseous access for medication and fluid delivery can be challenging in neonatal emergencies, this patented technology could greatly enhance outcomes for newborns and raise the standard of care globally.

AcroCyte Therapeutics (Taipei, Taiwan) secured second place with its precision-medicine and cell-therapy technology. Its core innovation, R³CE (Rapid, Reproducible, Rare Cell Expansion), enables the culture of three-dimensional tissues from a single cell and supports the creation of ex-vivo 3D models from rare cells, stem cells, or circulating tumor cells. This powerful platform for 3D cell culture can support breakthroughs in cancer research, clinical treatment development, and drug discovery.

Virtuosis AI (Lausanne, Switzerland) took third place with its AI-driven voice-analysis platform. By analyzing tone, pitch, cadence, and other acoustic features, the system can detect early indicators of stress, anxiety, and communication difficulties The platform integrates with Microsoft Teams to deliver confidential voice-analysis data and actionable results.

This year’s competition once again demonstrated MEDICA’s role as a global showcase for emerging healthcare technologies. Beyond the top three, the 15 selected finalists represented a broad spectrum of the global medtech innovation landscape, spanning categories such as AI in Healthcare, Health Apps, Lab Diagnostics, and Robotics. The MEDICA Start-up Competition continues to act as a catalyst for identifying promising young companies poised to shape the next generation of medical technology.

Related Links:
SVAN Technologies GmbH
AcroCyte Therapeutics
Virtuosis AI