Dutch universities and scientific institutions were asked to nominate their best spin-offs and join the Academic Startup Competition 2019. The University of Twente has selected the following companies: 20Face, Hy2Care and LipoCoat.
The company 20Face was founded in 2017 by UT researchers Tauseef Ali, Raymond Veldhuis and Luuk Spreeuwers. It offers a system of algorithms for ‘unconditional facial recognition’, meaning a software able to recognize a face even in poor lighting conditions, from a picture with low resolution and in many pose variations.
Hy2Care is a spin-off of the former MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine at the UT. It has developed injectable hydrogels for the treatment of cartilage defects, mainly aimed at functional cartilage repair of the knee.
A MESA+ spin-off company LipoCoat has developed a bio-inspired coating technology that can make any surface resistant towards pollution of micro-organisms and proteins. The coating can therefore be used to, for instance, protect medical devices against dirt and bacteria.
The Academic Startup Competition is an initiative of VSNU, the Netherlands Academy of Technology and Innovation (AcTI) and StartupDelta. It aims to help to more effectively translate science into societal impact. The 27 startups nominated for the contest are in the race for the top ten Dutch Pioneering Innovations from Science. A finale will be held on the 14th of May in Amsterdam. During this event, a jury will select ten winners who have the opportunity to present themselves at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in June in The Hague.
