The first in a series of HealthTech Adria Meetups is now behind us!
Under the organizational leadership of NetHub Accelerator and the School of Medicine in Split, the first edition of the HealthTech Adria Meetup was held on Thursday in the newly opened Center for Clinical Skills. The theme of the evening was the development of the healthcare innovation ecosystem.
The main goal of the Meetup, alongside networking for stakeholders in the healthtech community, was to raise awareness about the importance of fostering a robust innovation ecosystem in healthcare.
What does the rapid pace of technological progress in healthcare bring us, and how can our region keep up? This was the primary question on the minds of the participants.
Sharing their views on the challenges and immense potential of a healthcare innovation ecosystem were Arsen Ivanišević (MD, orthopedic specialist at KBC Split and founder of the startup Xiphoid), Assistant Professor Benjamin Benzon (MD and researcher at the School of Medicine in Split), Antonio Perić-Mažar (co-founder and CEO of Locastic and co-organizer of Tinel Meetup), Associate Professor Jelena Šuran (co-founder and CEO of the startup ApiotiX Technologies), and Marko Mimica (co-founder and CEO of NetHub Accelerator).
The Meetup was opened by Marko Mimica, who shared his career journey, entrepreneurial beginnings, and his vision for the region’s healthtech future.
“By connecting research groups, clinicians, and industry, we want to encourage collaboration among all relevant stakeholders in the innovation process. Through personalized medicine, we aim to provide patients with higher quality healthcare. We want a community that will support and create global leaders in healthtech.”
The presentation was followed by a panel discussion modulated by Maja Čurković, R&D Manager at NetHub and an expert in user needs research, who opened the floor with a question about the challenges facing the current healthcare system.
The discussion touched on researcher motivation, the lack of funding for transferring scientific results to the economy, and the need for better institutional support. The panelists agreed that while scientists are motivated individually, a collective effort is necessary to spark major changes.
Dr. Benjamin Benzon pointed out that “researchers often spend years studying potential discoveries, which leads to burnout. Consequently, they often settle for publishing a paper, hoping someone else will take the initiative for further development and commercialization.”
Representing the IT sector, Antonio Perić-Mažar emphasized that “access to science is often limited, but every individual has the power to be a community driver. AI will bring massive changes to healthcare and create a new space for startups.”
Dr. Arsen Ivanišević discussed the gap between clinical practice and research, noting that “there is a high level of motivation among colleagues to integrate technology, but due to a lack of time and capacity, innovations often fail to materialize.”
Professor Jelena Šuran shared global best practices and highlighted that the core issue in Croatia is “a lack of institutional support for researchers and insufficient collaboration between the academic community and entrepreneurs.”
The panel ended with a powerful message: the potential for a healthcare innovation ecosystem is vast, and it is up to us to seize the opportunities provided by technological progress.
“This is only the beginning. If we continue in this direction, I am confident in a bright future for our ecosystem. This was the first of many HealthTech Adria Meetups—stay tuned because we will see you again soon!” concluded Marko Mimica.
The event was organized as part of the project “Development of a Business Accelerator for Healthcare Technologies,” co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund.
