DiaCardio came in first place in the Shengjing Global Innovation Awards 2015 this month. The startup has developed revolutionary software that radically changes the way echocardiograms are decoded. The company is based on more than three years of research at BGU by Michal Yaacobi, Prof. Hugo Guterman, and Dr. Noa Liel, who is a member of the Faculty of Health Sciences and a cardiologist at Soroka University Medical Center.
The winners were selected on the basis of rankings by 13 judges from around the world and real-time rankings of the startup companies by an audience of over 1000 people. In addition to cash prizes totaling $1.5 million, the startups were given the chance to present their technological solutions to investors, as well as to leading technology groups from China and around the world, including Menlo Ventures. The winners were announced in a competition held in Beijing with an audience of over 1,000 people in the final event of the competition that was held in four geographical locations over a period of more than eight months.
Pictured above: The Shengjing Global Innovation Awards 2015 - The winners, judges and the Shengjing's team. (PRNewsFoto/Jerusalem Venture Partners)
The top 5 startups will share $1 million in cash prizes, each receiving $200,000. The startups which came in 6th to 10th place will each receive $100,000 in cash. All of the finalists will also embark on a road show and series of meetings with Chinese internet giants Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, and Xiaomi. The Shengjing Group is also contemplating investment in some of the startup companies through a dedicated investment fund which was set up for the competition.
The competition was initiated by Chinese consulting firm Shengjing360. The finals in Beijing were part of the five-day Zhongguancun International Entrepreneur Festival, attracting entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world. The festival is sponsored by the Chinese government, which considers innovation as an important growth engine. Israel was represented in the competition by Israel's ambassador to China, Matan Vilnai, JVP partner Yoav Tzruya, and Dr. Orna Berry, Corporate Vice President Growth and Innovation EMC Centers of Excellence EMEA and the US. Yoav Tzruya and Dr. Orna Berry also served as judges in the competition.
Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) led the competition in Israel, in collaboration with top Israeli academic institutions, leading technology companies and service providers, which assisted in the process and selection of the finalists. They included EMC, Deutsche Telecom, HFN, PwC, IDC Executive Education and Yissum.
The Israeli competition was launched in February 2015. Nine startups, out of the 180 ventures from across the Israeli high tech spectrum, reached the semi-finals. Three Israeli startups were then chosen to represent Israel in the global finals in Beijing.The participation of Israeli startups in the event garnered great interest from the audience, in particular from dozens of the Chinese media outlets covering it.
Pictured above: DiaCardio wins 1st place: Hila Goldman-Aslan, CEO and the company's chairman, Arnon Toussia-Cohen (PRNewsFoto/Jerusalem Venture Partners)
DiaCardio was represented in the competition by Hila Goldman-Aslan, and the company's chairman, Arnon Toussia-Cohen. DiaCardio is a software company which radically changes the manner in which cardiograms (ultrasound exams of the heart) are decoded, using unique algorithms it has developed. These algorithms decode the main parameters of the heart's functioning in a quick, accurate and automated manner. The software integrates easily with all eco-cardiograph machines and has received FDA approval and CE marking.
Hila Goldman-Aslan: "We are thrilled and proud to have won first place. It was a fascinating and empowering experience. The competition proves that Israel is home to promising technological initiatives. The competition opens up investment opportunities by Chinese investors, and we believe that winning it will advance the recognition of the ground-breaking technology that we have developed at DiaCardio."
