Deadline: 17 May 2024
VITA Accelerator has announced that its third call for applications is now open for digital health startups.
The accelerator is looking for pre-seed or seed digital health Italian-based startups, international startups with an Italian founder, or international startups with a strong strategic focus and intention to operate in the Italian market and open a legal entity in Italy.
The accelerator will select up to 10 startups, each of which will be offered a 150k€ initial investment, with 90K€ in cash as a convertible loan, in exchange for 3-6% of equity according to the maturity of the startup.
In addition, a follow-on investment of up to 400K€, and up to 2M€ cumulative follow-on investments will be offered for the most promising cases.
The program will be delivered over 4 months, in a hybrid format, combining on-site activities with online sessions. The curriculum will be tailored to each team and be composed of lectures and workshops, with priority given to 1-to-1 expert mentoring sessions. Each startup will also be assigned to an end-to-end Mentor to help navigate the program, set goals and track progress.
The program will be centered around several guiding themes, including Digital Health & Pharma, Product Development & Service Design, Business Development & Partner Cooperation, and Fundraising, Soft Skills & Events. The startups will also have access to the Italian patient associations and hospitals that are among the VITA Ecosystem Partners, as well as VITA networking events with key Italian and international digital health investors.
Why Go To VITA Accelerator?
- Deep expertise in life science & innovation
- Accelerator Partners – CDP Venture Capital SGR, Healthware Group and Accelerace – bring a deep combined expertise in shaping, operating, and advising accelerator programs together with profound digital health knowledge and extensive ecosystem connections.
- Corporate & global ecosystem access
- VITA Accelerator offers startups a unique opportunity to collaborate with the Corporate Partners Petrone Group and SIFI Group, solving their Innovation Challenges. During the Program, selected startups that have a match with any of the Innovation Challenges will work on the proof-of-concepts (POCs) together with the partners with the possibility to continue these collaborations after the completion of the acceleration program.
- Strong investors network
- VITA Accelerator offers support with identifying target investors for the teams and facilitating warm intros. In addition, they organize VITA networking events with key Italian and international digital health investors. Moreover, they organize mentoring sessions to help startups prepare for further fundraising (Fundraising Strategy, Investor Storytelling, Cap Table Challenges, Best Practices of Fundraising, etc.).
- Greater visbility in front of the digital health community
- The selected startups will participate in Frontiers Health Global Conference 2024, one of the leading digital health events in Europe, taking place in Berlin on 17-18 October 2024. During the event, the startups will gain increased visibility and direct access to a global community of top digital health innovators.
Who can apply?
- VITA Accelerator is looking for pre-seed or seed digital health startups. They are accepting either:
- Startups based in Italy;
- International startups with an Italian founder
- International startups with a strong strategic focus and intention to operate in the Italian market and open a legal entity in Italy
- International startups that do not have an Italian founder will need to flip their company to Italy, preferrably by the start of the program.
For more information, visit VITA Accelerator.
