Healthcare belongs to some of the fastest-growing tech sectors globally. Accelerated by the pandemic and the need for innovation, healthcare technology has been one of the most discussed topics among the startup community in the Czech Republic.
With the growing trend of using tech for enhanced home monitoring and care, technology has started significantly contributing to making healthcare more accessible, keeping us healthier, and saving lives. From artificial intelligence and machine learning to telemedicine, digital health, and portable solutions, the trends of the future of healthcare and medicine will transform many treatments as we know them today.
Stepping into 2023, The Recursive looked at some of the most promising young Czech health tech and med tech startups that improve the lives of patients and the quality of care offered by doctors, shifting both domestic and international healthcare to a new tech-enabled era.
Czech health tech startups on the rise
Name: Upheal
Founders: Juraj Chrappa, Martin Horváth
About: Established in 2021, the Czech-US startup Upheal brings the first AI-powered mental health platform for clinicians to save time through note-taking and transcribing sessions, secure video calling, and organizing the data into summaries, highlights, and other analytics. Upheal was founded by two Slovaks living in the Czech Republic as a reaction to online mode therapies caused by the pandemic, assisting clinicians with a tool that allows them to focus entirely on their patients.
Highlights: The health tech startup closed its first pre-seed round of $1.1M in October 2022, backed by KAYA VC, Credo Ventures, Calm/Storm Ventures, and several business angels.
Name: VOS.Health
Founders: Jiří Diblík, Ondřej Kopecký
About: The health tech startup VOS developed a personal well-being AI-powered application to help users focus on themselves and reflect on their emotions. Founded in Prague at the beginning of 2021, VOS represents mental health and community-based platform by providing quality, science-based educational content, and support. The startup also developed a B2B version for organizations to promote employee well-being at the workplace.
Highlights: After closing two pre-seed rounds in 2020 and 2021, VOS.health raised €1.5M in seed funding in January 2023, supported by Czech VCs Soulmates Ventures and Purple Ventures.
Name: Kardi AI
Founders: Stephen Burke, Tomáš Skála
About: Some of the newest Czech AI-powered health tech startups is Kardi AI. Based in Olomouc in the Moravian region, it brings patients a cardiac home monitoring solution and a care application, solving the time-consuming issue of yearly ECG examination. When monitoring, the Kardi AI app analyzes the heart rhythm and sends data to the patient’s cardiologist, allowing them to make the most accurate diagnosis. The startup was established in 2022.
Highlights: In May 2022, Kardi AI closed a €350K pre-seed round led by Bulgarian BrightCap Ventures with the participation of the Czech angel syndicate DEPO Ventures.
Name: S-Case
Founders: Slavomír Hruška, František Kudlačák, Denis Čapkovič
About: The Slovak-Czech telemedicine startup S-Case, founded in 2019, develops a portable diagnostics medical device to improve access to primary healthcare in more remote areas. Their diagnostic solution, Scase, consists of a mobile, point-of-care medical device combining smart sensors with a digital patient database. Using AI technology, the device allows healthcare providers to communicate, visualize, and monitor their patients’ data remotely.
Highlights: Up to date, S-Case raised €1.82M and was backed by Czech investors bpd partners, Y Soft Ventures, AI Startup Incubator, and a business angel in a seed round in 2021.
Name: Carebot
Founders: Daniel Kvak, Matěj Misař
About: The Brno-innovation-hub-based med tech startup Carebot was founded in 2021 to enable the accuracy of computer-aided diagnosis of chest X-ray images using AI. Based on an extensive database, Carebot’s solution analyzes chest X-ray and identifies possible health issues, assisting doctors with determining the diagnosis. Following positive feedback and successful development, the founders are currently working on obtaining the European certification to enter the healthcare market.
Highlights: Carebot closed its latest seed round in June last year, raising €400K to previous pre-seed funding of €300K in 2021 from a business angel. The startup also won the “Idea of the Year” (Nápad Roku) 2022 award from Vodafone.
