Lochlann O'Regan and Edward Simons, founders of winning company, Epicapture and Sean Kirwan, co-founder of Medwrite. Image: Jenny Callanan
The winners of the accelerator received AWS credits as well as hot-desking space from Dundalk IT to develop their businesses.
Two Irish promising start-ups, Medwrite and Epicapture, have been named overall winners of this year’s eHealth Embark programme run by Dundalk IT.
The two companies competed in the programme alongside eight other businesses operating in the digital health sector.
This is the second year Dundalk IT has run the eHealth Embark scheme, which focuses on providing a springboard for med-tech start-ups to secure investment and boost their profiles.
This year, 10 start-ups took part in the 10-week programme. They had the opportunity to participate in masterclasses led by Dundalk IT’s dConnect Digital Health Innovation Hub on topics such as validation, customer discovery and making product roadmaps.
The founders were also given one-on-one mentoring by AWS so they could learn to use the latest cloud technologies such as data analytics, AI and machine learning for tasks relevant to their businesses.
AWS is offering a combined total of up to $100,000 worth of credits to the two winning companies.
The winners were selected for their products’ promise in tackling global health problems. Medwrite develops software to reduce healthcare workers’ workloads, while Epicapture makes liquid tests to help medical staff to detect and monitor cancer in a non-invasive manner.
Edward Simons, co-founder of Epicapture said that the mentorship and support provided throughout the programme allowed his team to “develop an initial architecture” for their software tool, as well as identify AWS services that meet its business needs.
He added that the credits prize allows the company to implement the tool supported by AWS and to benefit from the mentors’ “experience across healthcare and cybersecurity”.
Epicapture is a former University College Dublin start-up of the year.
Sean Kirwan, co-founder of the runner-up company, Medwrite, described eHealth Embark as a “game-changer for health start-ups”, adding that it offered a “comprehensive and invaluable resource for navigating the complex landscape of the healthcare industry.”
“With a tailored focus on crucial aspects like business idea validation, funding, presenting and practical technical advice from industry-leading experts at Amazon, this programme equips entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed. It addressed key sticking points such as data privacy, MDR compliance, and cloud architecture for healthcare companies and it provided insights from prominent venture capitalists and Enterprise Ireland,” he said.
As well as the credits from AWS, the two winning companies will be given hot-desking access at Dundalk IT.
Carl Power, director of the Digital Health Innovation Hub at Dundalk IT encouraged founders to apply to the next cohort of the programme.
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