We thank you once again for your partnership, and invite you to be in touch to further discuss our work and answer your questions. Please feel free to reach me directly via email or phone.
Wishing us all a year of good health and success,
New Startup Partners of 2022
Wide Therapy is a digital behavior-learning platform for young children with disabilities that helps them overcome their personal challenges in a playful, easy, and effective way, based on evidence-based therapeutic techniques that accommodate how children think and adapt to their individual processing needs, such as video self-modeling and applied behavior analysis. It targets child motivation and incorporates visual elements from the child and their real-life surroundings to create a virtual setting for effectively learning and practicing behaviors that are fundamental to their development and wellbeing, such as using assistive devices, sharing toys or objects with others, toilet training, and adapting to new treatment environments. The Wide Therapy platform can be used by children as young as 2 years old with minimal assistance - it’s simple, intuitive, and does not require any reading or language comprehension so it can be personalized to suit children in any language, without requiring extensive training for clinicians and parents or dedicated adult supervision. Wide’s initial trials have shown a high rate of success, and they are currently working to expand their platform to include more behaviors.
ALYN Hospital is collaborating with Wide Therapy to test out their platform with a few users at ALYN’s
Shachar education programs. Their first clinical trial expected to launch during the coming months at ALYN.
For over 25 years,
Tzora Active Systems has been a leading developer and supplier of high quality mobility scooters and exercise solutions for people with impaired mobility. Their advanced APT (active passive trainer) is a recognised, FDA- and CE-approved medical device in accordance with the highest ISO safety and quality standards. They have made it suitable for home use by making it easy to fold, lift, and store. They are developing Tele-APT, a remote APT rehabilitation platform that encourages patients to perform their exercises at home consistently by giving users a more immersive experience, while reporting objective measures of patient activity and compliance back to the therapist to inform their clinical decisions.
Tzora Active Systems is partnered with ALYN clinicians to develop a pediatric APT with remote rehabilitation capabilities with the goal of fostering motivation in child and adolescent patients.
Gravity is an early-stage Canadian startup creating tailored digital tools for pediatric rehabilitation. Gravity has partnered with ALYN to co-develop an authoring tool for a powered wheelchair simulator that will allow therapists to adapt the visual elements and clinical goals to each patient’s needs. The collaboration is a continuation of prior research by Dr. Naomi Gefen, leading mobility expert and Deputy Director of Clinical Services at ALYN, and has already attracted grant financing from the Canadian innovation authorities.
2022 Collaboration Highlights
- ALYN Hospital has signed a research collaboration agreement with The Medea Institute, the research arm of the La Nostra Famiglia Association (Italy), whose wide network of rehabilitation centers, focus on children and young adults, and dedication to innovation and the integration of technology make them a natural partner for us. Initial research collaborations will involve our motion analysis lab, which is projected to pave the way to additional initiatives in other fields.
- ALYNnovation’s ongoing partnerships with HealthIL and 8200 Impact’s Accessibility track continue to deepen, further promoting our reputation within the Israeli healthtech sector as leaders of innovation and institutional collaborators for co-designing impactful solutions for ability creation technologies.
2022 Startup Achievements
- Wide Therapy were awarded grant funding from the EzerTech assistive technology incentive program from the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA). The grant will finance their first clinical trial, set to take place at ALYN later this year.
- Additional congratulations to Cognishine, 2021 recipients of the EzerTech grant, who have begun collaborating with Reut Hospital, a Tel Aviv-based geriatric and rehabilitation centre, in order to expand their grant-funded clinical trial at ALYN to include elderly patients.
- Tzora has completed their prototype for a pediatric APT (active passive trainer) that will include remote therapy capabilities and an interactive responsive interface to improve engagement. Preparations are underway for clinical trials to begin in Q2.
- Headovations’ HEADALOFT 360, designed and developed in partnership with ALYN experts, is currently undergoing a clinical usability study with ALYN patients.
- Cognishine won second place in the Leading Health Initiative of 2022 contest, held by Yedioth Ahronoth Group and the Reboot Forum, a public project that promotes health and healthcare system sustainability. The contest identifies initiatives that have the potential to facilitate significant impact for patients, their families, and healthcare providers, which thereby contribute to the sustainability of the health system in Israel. Winners from this year’s 290 applications received a “Reboot Accelerator Package” which included financing, introduction to influencers and decision-makers, professional advice and support, and broad professional and public exposure. Click here to read the article (in Hebrew only).
- Cognishine has signed a contract with Israeli HMOs Meuhedet and Clalit Health Services, Israel’s largest HMO, who will now offer therapeutic treatment with Cognishine’s platform to their patients undergoing rehabilitation.
- Voiceitt closed their Series A round of funding by successfully raising $4.7M from notable investors including Cisco and T3 – The Technion Technology Transfer.
- Voiceitt launched a new version of their app that supports interpretation of spontaneous speech for native English speakers with distorted speech in addition to smarthome control –people with speech disabilities can now join their beta program here. Check out this demo video of “conversation” mode in action!
- Wide Therapy and Voiceitt were both participants of The Herzl Social Impact Entrepreneurship Summit, held by the World Zionist Organization in Basel, Switzerland, to mark the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress. They were selected as part of a group of 125 impactful entrepreneurs from around the world to network, brainstorm, and collaborate on how to improve the life and well-being of all human beings, present and future.
- Wide Therapy traveled with the exclusive MassChallenge 2022 Roadshow, which brought the winners of the 2020-2022 cohorts of the MassChallenge Core Accelerator program to meet with industry experts and ecosystem leaders in the US. They spent a week in Boston and New York forming valuable connections with some key stakeholders in both the public and private sectors.
- Congratulations to Wide Therapy, who were one of 13 finalists of the 6th Annual Coller Startup Competition’s Online Track at Tel Aviv University. The competition this year included 110 startups from all faculties and disciplines, who were judged by an interdisciplinary panel of 52 experts hailing from venture capital, private investment, academia, and entrepreneurship. The final event gave them the opportunity to reach a large audience of investors, industry professionals, students, and other entrepreneurs.
2022 Event Highlights
July 2022 – ALYNnovation was proud to collaborate with the IIA and the National Insurance Social Funds to host a conference and networking event for the official launch and reveal of the restructured EzerTech grant track. Non-profit organizations and tech entrepreneurs creating solutions for the elderly and people with disabilities were introduced to the new changes and received guidance and valuable tips from speakers from the IIA, the National Insurance Social Funds, and HealthIL, Israel’s digital health innovation ecosystem.
Hosting the EzerTech launch event at the ALYN Innovation Space
July 2022 – ALYNnovation represented ALYN Hospital in Lake Como, Italy, at the Lake Como School of Advanced Studies where we were invited by the EU to teach as part of the Digital Interactive Smart Spaces summer program. The course, offered by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Summer School, facilitated multidisciplinary discussion of “Smart Spaces” and the challenge of increased access to related technologies, including development tools, solutions that facilitate communication and interaction, domains of application, social and ethical implications, and more. Alongside the distinguished professors from around Europe who taught throughout the program, ALYNnovation presented our innovation model and its sustainability and success, sharing the structure and strategy for design partnerships between healthcare institutions and hi-tech. One of the highlights of the course was our presentation that offered a deep analysis of the factors that contribute to the prevalent lack of utilization and abandonment of rehabilitation technologies, introducing crucial elements for user experience evaluation that are applicable across fields and users.
ALYNnovation in Milan with our friends at Amici di ALYN and our research partners at Medea and Politecnico di Milano
September 2022 – ALYNnovation hosted and contributed to HealthIL’s course on medical innovation for governmental hospital staff. More than 12 representatives participated from different hospitals around the country with varying areas of expertise including general medicine, psychiatry, geriatrics, and more. The robust full-day program included lectures on ALYN’s innovation model, facilitating integration of innovative products and services within medical facilities, and multi-stakeholder design partnerships.
September 2022 – ALYNnovation joined forces once again with 8200 Impact and Bank Hapoalim to arrange a meetup for entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals in the health and assistive technology space. We had the opportunity to network with early stage startups, and to teach them about the implementation of our innovation model at ALYN Hospital, as well as avoiding common mistakes at the start of the process that can impede future adoption. They also had a chance to hear from our hosts of the event, Naschitz, Brandes, Amir & Co., who provided a great breakdown of early stage fundraising and keys to optimization. Finally, 8200 Impact gave excited attendees a sneak peak into ACCESS, their freshly-launched Inclusive Mobility Acceleration Program targeting startups working on accessibility and mobility. Registration is now open until March 14th, 2023 - click here to read more details and submit an application!
ALYNnovation teaching young entrepreneurs about our model for institutional implementation of innovation
November 2022 – ALYN Hospital hosted the rehabilitation pavilion for the second year in a row at
HealthIL 2022, Israel’s largest healthcare innovation conference. Exhibitors included ALYNnovation startups
Wide Therapy,
Headovations, and
Cognishine, as well as a few other rehabilitation solution companies. At the ALYNnovation booth, we were excited to give the first public demonstrations of the pediatric powered-wheelchair simulator co-developed by Dr. Naomi Gefen, Principal Investigator at ALYN PARC and the hospital’s Deputy Director General of Clinical Services, in partnership with
McGill University and Gravity, the Canadian-based startup that joined ALYNnovation’s portfolio this year. As part of one of the conference’s affiliated events, ALYNnovation was invited to a workshop for the
Israeli Society for HealthTech fellowship to give a spotlight session on enhancing intra-organizational growth in health.
ALYNnovation leading roundtables (left) and discussing our model with members of the ecosystem (right) at HealthIL 2022
December 2022 – ALYN Hospital participated in the
72nd Annual Rehabilitation Science & Technology Update (link in Hebrew), a nation-wide 2-day conference dedicated to the presentation of research initiatives and study that have contributed to the promotion and development of expertise in the field. ALYN PARC’s PIs gave presentations as part of several different breakout sessions. This is the most important annual event in rehabilitation in Israel, which gave ALYNnovation the opportunity to introduce our startup partners to representatives and experts from every rehabilitation institution from across the country.
December 2022 – ALYNnovation represented ALYN Hospital as part of
HealthIL’s delegation of Israeli healthcare innovation leaders to Denmark and Sweden. The meeting, hosted by the Directors General of the Ministries of Health and the Israeli ambassadors of Denmark and Sweden, connected senior representatives of Israeli hospitals and HMOs with their European counterparts with the goal of creating an infrastructure to support future research and innovation partnerships.
Group picture of the
HealthIL healthcare innovation leadership delegation
December 2022 – In recognition of the first anniversary since the establishment of ALYN PARC, ALYN Hospital hosted a festive fun-filled science fair during Chanukah for patients and staff, their families, and the community. The event, titled “It doesn’t take a miracle” in honour of the holiday, celebrated the contribution of innovation and research to raising the bar on pediatric rehabilitation through the work and success of ALYN PARC’s PIs, innovative approaches and initiatives within ALYN’s clinical departments, and ALYNnovation’s partnerships. Guests were invited to visit the 16 exhibits and booths located on every floor of the hospital where they could see, touch, and test out the different ways that science improves the therapeutic process for children. The exhibits included a number of ALYNnovation startups who had the chance to interact directly with patients, families, and therapists:
Wide Therapy,
PLAYWORK,
Gravity,
Cognishine, and
Headovations. The day ended with a talk for staff and parents about the future of technology in medicine by
Professor Dina Ben Yehuda, Dean of Medicine at Hebrew University and Head of Hematology at Hadassah Hospital, and an arts & crafts corner and raffle with exciting prizes for our younger guests. It was a great day and the event was enjoyed by guests of all ages!
PLAYWORK in action at the science fair
Your continued partnership with ALYNnovation will change and impact the lives of thousands of children with disabilities throughout Israel and the world.