HumanITcare: 4YFN22 Awards winner
Nuria Pastor and Unai Sánchez met at 4YFN 2017 and they both founded HumanITcare one year later. The Barcelona-based startup uses AI to improve access to healthcare and was selected as one of the five finalists to battle for the 4YFN Awards 2022. And they won. This is not closing the circle but it is another successful milestone along the path. We have been talking with Nuria about the future of digital health, women founders and their experience at 4YFN.
For those who don’t know HumanITcare what is it that you do? What’s special about your company?
At HumanITcare we have a mission: bringing healthcare at home. Our purpose is to radically improve people’s access to healthcare by connecting their medical team remotely and monitoring their health. What makes us unique is that we can connect more than 100 medical devices and wearables and bring intelligence to the data so doctors can have better insights and personalized alarms.
What has been your biggest challenge in the last year? And your biggest learning?
Our biggest challenge was to raise our first seed round of a total of 4.6M€ (from the EIC) and to grow with a structure of double of the employees. The biggest learning; with a good team, you go further. We serve our clients but without an amazing team, nothing is possible.
You have won the recent 4YFN Awards Barcelona 2022. What is the most exciting thing for you about your experience at 4YFN 2022?
The most exciting is to see that our work is recognized in the most important congress in the world of mobile, but the most important was to share the award on the stage with the co-founder Unai Sanchez and part of the team that was there.
“I met my co-founder during a hackathon of the 4YFN called Imagine Creativity Center. It was unthinkable that someday we will be able to create a company helping millions of patients and receiving these Awards”
You and the co-founders met at 4YFN, how was the journey since then, and what is what you can outstand from the 4YFN experience over the years.
I met my co-founder during a hackathon of the 4YFN called Imagine Creativity Center. It was unthinkable that someday we will be able to create a company helping millions of patients and receiving these awards.
4YFN22 was the 8th edition, Nuria Pastor has been the first woman pitching on stage during the finale that won the 4YFN Awards. As a female founder what do you think is still missing for equality in our society and how do you think we all can “hack the gap”?
I hope to not be the last. The first of more to come. As a society and especially in the startup world we need to work hard to “hack the gap”, In 2019, 2.8% the VC of funding went to women-led startups; in 2020, that fell to 2.3%, Crunchbase figures show. We need to raised the data to ensure equality. One important point here for me is education. We need to educate from the high-school to girls with role models, with some activities and show little girls there are other roles models. Education is the key to empowering other women and hacking the gap.
Tell us more about the most recent project you are working on and how 4YFN has helped and done (or you think can help you in a way) to achieve your goals.
We have started to work with public hospitals also and connect our solution to Electronic Health Records connecting all our API to their system, and allowing patients with chronic diseases to monitor their health remotely. Of course our clients and partners are very happy with this recognition since they are part of that too. I think our passion and vision, have let us achieve our work, day by day.
Any advice for startups that are starting now and more specifically focus on digital healthcare?
My advice is: validate, validate and validate. Talk with your customers and they discover why your company is valuable.
Digital Health is one of the most challenging sectors to innovate but not impossible. Is important to follow all the regulations and to work hard to demonstrate evidence.
My mum and dad. They have taught me to trust in myself even in the most difficult moments, and they are a role model for me, they serve the patients and I serve patients and my team with humanITcare.
How would you like to see the world 4 Years From Now?
Completely improved. I imagine a world where people are feeling that they are taken care of from home with our solution, worldwide. I also believe that technology can be an affiliate of improving people’s life.
Congratulations, guys! Best of luck on the projects ahead and see you at #4YFN23!!
