Start Cup Toscana 2022, the award for the best business ideas stem by research. MyEcho and Neuro-RoboticTouch Lab, two projects developed by the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, are among the winners
MyEcho and Neuro-RoboticTouch, the two business ideas developed by the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, were respectively awarded third place and honourable mention at the Start Cup Toscana 2022, the grand prix of business ideas stem by research. The competition, which took place on Monday 24 October at the University of Siena, compared the ten best business projects generated by Tuscan universities.
The winners
First place went to Bio3DPrinting (University of Pisa), which will focus on 3D printing technologies that use biomaterials such as cells, extracellular matrices, hydrogels, and biopolymers of natural or synthetic origin to create cellular structures.
Second place went to NABIS: NAnostructured on-demand 3D-printed BIostructureS (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia), which focuses on advanced 3D cell culture devices that enable biotechnology operators to easily obtain complex organoids that closely mimic tissues for pharmacological and bioengineering tests.
Third place went to MyEcho (Istituto di BioRobotica, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna), which proposes technical solutions that enable unqualified personnel to acquire ultrasound data, promoting remote diagnosis and accelerating recovery times. The idea stems from methods developed within the European project ADMAIORA coordinated by Leonardo Ricotti, which aims at a new treatment for osteoarthritis.
Neuro-RoboticTouch Lab (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna) was also given an honourable mention: the project is based on an automated multisensory apparatus for the macroscopic analysis of biological tissue samples for the needs of pathologist physicians
The 2022 edition also saw the awarding of the 'Green and Blue climate change' mention to the project with the greatest potential for climate change sponsored by the GEDI group. The prize went to AgriZapp (University of Florence), an integrated platform for livestock farmers.
Another award was presented by Studio Rubino to the most deserving proposal in terms of patent development. The prize went to proBOX (Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa), which will develop a biomedical device for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and prostate cancer screening tests that is non-invasive, inexpensive and can be used at home.
The winning and award-winning teams will participate in the Premio Nazionale dell'Innovazione (PNI), which will be held in L'Aquila in early December.
