12 Mar Innovation from the University of Belgrade in the final of IMAGINE IF! Competition
The Safe-Cath team winner is the first IMAGINE IF! competition for startups from the health sector in Serbia, which Innovation Forum Cambridge organizes in cooperation with Scientific and Technology Park Belgrade and Health Tech Lab.
The team Safe-Cath, consisting of dr. Bosko Sremcevic and Nina Ukropina, a student of FON, presented a new model of a catheter that solves the existing problem of contamination, transmission of bacteria and pain during placement, and thus the infections that arise.
The win at the local competition provided the Safe-Cath 2000 team with financing, placing the next round on the global IMAGINE IF! a competition at the University of Cambridge on June 27, as well as a six-month use of laboratory space in one of the global capitals of IMAGINE IF! competitions, including Belgrade. If it wins the world competition, the team expects an additional 10,000 euros for further development of innovation.
The inventor of this innovative technology, dr. Bosko Sremcevic has been working for two years with University of Belgrade Center for Technology Transfer team to ensure the commercialization of his invention. During this time, joint efforts have provided funds for further development of technology and filing a patent application worth 20,000 euros through the TTF program, the Innovation Fund of the Republic of Serbia, cooperation with Health Tech Lab, support for participation in IMAGINE IF! competition, additional promotion and presented to potential investors.
IMAGINE IF! the competition and accelerator program is being implemented for seven years in various countries around the world, on three continents, and for the first time in Serbia, and has recently been ranked among the 7 best European accelerator programs in the field of technology related to health. In the first local IMAGINE IF! The program involved 12 teams that worked with more than 40 mentors in the past month. Mentors of the Safe-Cath team were Tamara Čolić Milosavljević (Center for technology transfer of the University of Belgrade), Rare Svetozar Kolesar (3D Republic), Sanja Jeremić (IMGGE), dr. Jelena Vukotic, and Milos Arambasic (Startup Grind).
In addition to the new catheter model, some of the innovations presented are: a smart glove for the blind and visually impaired, a device that monitors the condition of asthmatics, and a device designed for therapy in solving speech problems. The best of them was decided by an expert jury, comprised of representatives of the profession and entrepreneurs.