Connecting Healthtech Innovation with Real Needs

Hosted at Sahlgrenska Science Park, the event welcomed more than 55 participants and enabled over 45 curated meetings, connecting 39 startups with 8 established organizations and creating space for concrete discussions around commercial collaboration opportunities.

Participating organizations included AstraZeneca, Cambio, IBM, L’Oréal, Mölnlycke Health Care, Novartis, and the municipalities of Umeå and Uppsala — all engaging with startups to explore collaboration potential.

Matchmaking That Creates Momentum

For startup participants, the in-person format played a key role in building trust and momentum.

Aperya, which develops a patent-pending microsphere ingredient that boosts key-ingredient absorption by 100x, was one of the startups taking part in Healthtech Matchday. Co-founder Niclas Roxhed highlighted the value of deeper conversations made possible by meeting in person.

“I think meeting potential customers in person is fundamental to establishing a relationship with them. I wouldn’t have been able to have that kind of meeting online and get all the nitty-gritty details. I also got insights I hadn’t thought about and that we can work on to approach the customer or stakeholder more easily. It was a really good meeting, so it was definitely worth coming here to Gothenburg to have it.”

The importance of face-to-face meetings was echoed by Ebenezer Twumasi Afriyie, CEO of Xcida, which develops nanocomposites for biocide-free antimicrobial applications.

“I think physical meetings are much better than digital ones because you can read people’s body language and tell whether they’re interested or not.”

Beyond meetings with established organizations, the matchmaking also created unexpected connections between startups themselves.

“I met different startups. It’s quite good to learn about their solutions and to see how things are going for them. I talked, for example, to one startup about what they are doing. Even if it’s not close to what we are doing, who knows, there could be a little bit of synergy in the future,” says Ebenezer.

A Shared Reflection on the Future of Healthcare Innovation

Ahead of the matchmaking, a round table discussion brought together actors from across the ecosystem — from public organizations and corporates to incubators and science parks — to reflect on how healthcare innovation can move faster and further.

The conversation focused on the importance of leadership and on creating the right conditions for collaboration with startups to succeed at scale, built on the conclusions of the innovation project SIISH (Snabbare implementering av innovationer i svensk hälso- och sjukvård) as a starting point.

Rather than treating innovation as isolated pilots, participants emphasized the need for long-term commitment, clear ownership, and collaboration across organizational boundaries.

Key insights from the discussion:

• Innovation must be formalized as part of healthcare’s mission, supported by mandate and delivery capacity.
• Support functions need clear innovation responsibilities to avoid slow, uncertain, person-dependent processes.
• Healthcare must define needs, target impact, and post-pilot ownership to move faster toward implementation.
• Culture and risk aversion remain barriers — leadership must build courage and pride in implementation.
• Inclusive language and cross-sector collaboration enable stronger impact, especially around real-life care flows.