As part of its Innovation Support Programme (ISP), DIGIT-PRE offered personalised, high-value support to European SMEs developing digital solutions for a better health. By combining networking, user-centred design, ethics expertise, market intelligence, and ecosystem insights, the programme helped companies strengthen, validate, and accelerate their innovations. In this article, learn about DIGIT-PRE’s Innovation Support Programme and discover an overview of the services provided and the concrete impact they had on the SMEs involved.
About DIGIT-PRE's Innovation Support Programme
The Innovation Support Programme (ISP) is DIGIT-PRE’s tailored acceleration pathway designed to help SMEs develop, structure, and scale digital health solutions addressing major regional and European health challenges.
It combines:
- Individual coaching by a dedicated Key Account Manager,
- Specialised expert services (regulatory, ethics, business modelling, market access, IP, investment, communication, strategic marketing, literature review…),
- Collective sessions to stimulate peer learning and cross-perspectives between companies,
- And the support of a strong, interconnected European network of partners specialised in health, digital technologies, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Across 18 months, the ISP helps SMEs:
- Clarify their value proposition,
- Strengthen their consortium,
- De-risk and mature their innovation,
- Prepare market entry and scale-up,
- And anchor their development in interregional collaboration, a core principle of DIGIT-PRE.
In short, the ISP is DIGIT-PRE’s engine for transforming innovative ideas into impactful, market-ready solutions across Europe.
Creating meaningful connections across Europe - Service provided by Eurasanté
One of the core strengths of the ISP was its ability to connect SMEs with relevant stakeholders across Europe. Eurasanté, with its extensive European network and experience organising major events such as MEDigIT, supported companies seeking strategic partnerships.
Among them was Robin Assistant, a project developing software to help caregivers plan and organise daily activities. Eurasanté identified suitable European contacts and arranged targeted meetings to support the company’s growth ambitions.
As the project team shared: “We wanted to reach new players across Europe. Thanks to the DIGIT-PRE programme, we met three interesting companies that could become future partners for the Robin Assistance project.”
Navigating the complexity of European funding instruments - Service provided by Eurasanté
One of the key strengths of Eurasanté within the DIGIT-PRE framework is its ability to guide SMEs through the complexity of European funding instruments and to help them identify the most relevant opportunities to accelerate their growth.
Robin Assistant also benefited from this strategic support. Eurasanté first carried out an in-depth analysis of the European programmes that could be relevant for the company’s next development steps, whether technological upgrades, large-scale testing, or expansion into new European markets. During this initial phase, it became clear that the company would gain from strengthening its internal capacity to understand and navigate European funding mechanisms. Eurasanté therefore delivered a two-day on-site training for the management team and key employees, helping them decipher the logic, requirements, and strategic positioning expected in competitive EU applications.
As a result, Robin Assistant now benefits from a tailored monitoring of relevant European funding opportunities, both short- and long-term, while also becoming more autonomous in identifying, analysing, and preparing applications for the instruments best suited to its stage of development.
Thanks to this dual support, strategic guidance and internal capacity-building , the company is now better equipped to secure the resources needed to scale its innovation across Europe.
Understanding Complex Health Ecosystems - Service provided by Business Turku
Digital health innovations often faced complex and highly varied healthcare environments. To help SMEs anticipate these challenges, Business Turku provided strategic guidance focused on the Finnish healthcare landscape.
This included insights into market entry pathways, public procurement dynamics, the function of wellbeing service counties, relevant digital platforms, and current policy trends. These inputs were particularly valuable for SMEs exploring opportunities in the Nordic region, helping them understand whom to approach and how to structure their strategies.
Designing solutions with end users in mind - Service provided by Region Västerbotten
User-centred design was another major component of the DIGIT-PRE support offer. Region Västerbotten supported a sub-project dedicated to postoperative rehabilitation, working on the development of a staff-facing web interface to complement an existing tablet-based patient application.
Through field studies, interviews, high-fidelity prototyping and usability testing, Region Västerbotten helped ensure that the interface aligned with real clinical workflows and supported effective rehabilitation management. The company highlighted that the collaboration provided valuable insights, confirmed usability, and accelerated their path toward implementation.
Ensuring ethical and responsible innovation - Service provided by Gérontopôle Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Projects involving sensitive personal data faced significant ethical and regulatory challenges. Gérontopôle Nouvelle-Aquitaine provided both general training and personalised support on ethics, privacy, and data governance.
The “Elderly Care” sub-project benefited from expert guidance delivered by a specialist in public health law and ethics. This project is a collaboration between Hestia Agora from Sweden and Inlisol from Finland and their goal was to combine in-home sensors with self-reported quality-of-life assessments. The team also received internal self-assessment tools to strengthen their ethical approach. They emphasised how this support helped them integrate ethical responsibility into their development process and view their solution through a broader societal lens.
Strengthening market positioning through strategic insights - Service provided by Health Cluster Portugal
To support the commercial readiness of SMEs, Health Cluster Portugal delivered market intelligence services including competitive landscape analysis and strategic benchmarking. These services helped companies refine their positioning, understand market dynamics, and make informed strategic decisions.
One startup developing a data-driven fall-prevention solution (Kinetic Analysis) received a comprehensive competitive analysis that shaped its go-to-market strategy. The team noted that the insights delivered were highly professional and instrumental to their decision-making.
A collaborative programme designed for real-world impact
Through these complementary forms of support (networking, strategy, ethics, user-centred design, and market intelligence), DIGIT-PRE demonstrated how tailored expertise could accelerate the development and adoption of digital health innovations.
By addressing the specific needs of each SME, the Innovation Support Programme strengthened both innovation capacity and the potential for meaningful, long-term impact across European healthcare systems.