Düsseldorf, 18th November 2025
The pitch and award ceremony of the 14th MEDICA Start-up COMPETITION was hosted at the MEDICA INNOVATION FORUM, the worldwide hub for health innovations, on Tuesday, 18th of November. More than +230 start-ups submitted their solutions in AI in healthcare, health apps, lab diagnostics, robotics, and others.
Evaluating innovation, go-to-market strategy, commercial potential, and sustainability, the live expert jury board has made its selection for the Top 3 Medical Start-Ups of 2025:
1st place: SVAN Technologies – Develops a surgical drill for neonates that automatically stops at target (Austria)
2nd place: AcroCyte Therapeutics – Engineers a comprehensive 3D cell culture technology for patient-derived tumor models (Taiwan)
3rd place: Virtuosis AI – Analyzes health insights from the voice (Switzerland)
Public vote winner: SVAN Technologies
These victorious startups of the 14th MEDICA Start-Up COMPETITION have now joined the esteemed MEDICA ecosystem, where they will have the privilege of networking with eminent global health tech experts, investors, and business partners from over 170 countries. Additionally, they will be awarded cash prizes of up to 3,500 EUR, along with a comprehensive package of free marketing and promotional activities through MEDICA, propelling the success of the Top 3 Medical Start-Ups of 2025 even further.
Congratulations to all Top 15 Medical Start-Ups of 2025 (alphabetically sorted by company name):
AI in Healthcare
- Aisthesis Medical – Develops digital twins for early sepsis care (United Kingdom)
- Prometheus MedTech.AI – Intergrates explainable AI with standard ultrasound devices (Poland)
Health apps
- Ferrer BioPharma – Develops an operational platform to enhance diagnosis and personalize care (United States)
- Oska Health – Combines an app and personal counseling to create a hybrid care model (Germany)
- Pink Brustkrebs – Supports women with breast cancer from diagnosis through treatment and long-term after care via an app (Germany)
Lab Diagnostics
- ADmit Therapeutics – Forecasts progression to Alzheimer’s disease in patients with early memory complaints (Spain)
- NADMED – Offers a test to measure NAD+ and NADH from blood (Finland)
Robotics
- Healthtech Innovations – Redefines surgical nursing through intelligent robotics (Spain)
- MicroSteer – Enables precise, joystick-guided movement of surgical tools on standard endoscopes (Israel)
- Rovex – Develops autonomous hospital robots that transport patients using existing stretchers (United States)
Others
- Aghetto – Enables safe, one-handed needle and cap removal for syringes (Italy)
- GO-Pen ApS – Allows patients to inject insulin from any vial with a reusable pen (Denmark)
Many thanks to our esteemed panel of judges, who evaluated these pitches live:
- Inga Bergen, Founder, Visionaries of Healthcare/ InBergen Ventures
- Caroline Fichtner, Principal, HTGF
- Claudio Castellini, Professor for Robotics, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg
- Dr. Paul Lukowicz, Scientific Director, German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI)
- Emily Jordan, Angel Investor, former VC & Portfolio Manager EIT Health
- Timo Runge, Senior Partner Solution Architect, AWS
- Andreas Keibel, Business Development Manager Medical Robotics, KUKA
- Harvey Castro, Chief AI Officer, Phantom Space
- Abdulaziz AlRashed, Managing Director, Founder & CEO, HealthTech, Orthonova, Revive Center
The 15th MEDICA Start-up COMPETITION is already open for submissions. Participation is free of charge with chances to present at MEDICA 2026.
More information & free submission: http://www.medica-tradefair.com/mac2
Behind the scenes
The MEDICA Start-up COMPETITION initiated by Messe Düsseldorf and organized by Navispace GmbH is the international leading competition for medical start-ups. The objective is to drive innovation for use in the daily routine of patients and doctors around the globe.
The 14th MEDICA Start-up COMPETITION finals with contributions of the Top15 Medical Start-ups 2025 and international jury, investors, and business partners took place on Tuesday, 18th of November 2025 at the MEDICA – the world’s largest medical trade-fair.
Press Contact
Hanna Sterzik | Project Manager
h.sterzik@techprnrs.com
