Advancience is a startup from Basel with a focus on diagnosing psychiatric disorders. Christian Vogler co-founded Advancience in 2018 to build upon a joint research project from the founders. The company uses data that is gathered while playing computer games to diagnose psychiatric disorders. The team is currently based at the University of Basel innovation office in Allschwill.

Aurteen is based in Alberta, Canada and develops software that improves the detection, monitoring and treatment of retinopathy with preterm infants, which is the leading cause of preventable childhood blindness worldwide. Founder and director Faraz Oloumi is an expert in retinal image analysis. Aurteen hopes to collaborate with clinical and technical experts in the Basel area to bring its software closer to commercialization.

Noul from South Korea works with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) to improve the diagnosis of Malaria, a major cause of death among children in low and middle income countries. The Noul team have developed a portable device that uses image analysis combined with artificial intelligence to diagnose diseases from blood samples. In addition to their work with the DayOne Accelerator, they will be working with the Swiss TPH and the University of Basel to improve their existing AI algorithms.

Focus on children’s health

The three teams will start the DayOne Accelerator in January 2019 and be based here in Basel for six months gaining access to the diverse network of experts in the region. They will participate in a tailored mentorship and workshop program, gain access to local experts, exposure to the local healthcare innovation ecosystem and space at the collaborative workspace at the DayOne lab at Technologiepark Basel. Further, they will each be supported with up to 70,000 CHF in non-dilutive funding.

Fondation Botnar supports this run of the DayOne Accelerator with a special focus on children’s health. The philanthropic foundation pursues the goal to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people worldwide by leveraging digital innovation and artificial intelligence.

58 projects replied to the call made by the DayOne Accelerator inviting brilliant ventures at the interface of digital technologies, healthcare expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to participate in their first program. The initial group was narrowed down to 15 applicants who then pitched their ideas at the DayOne Conference in September 2018, receiving valuable input from the expert participants at the event before the final application.

The DayOne selection committee chose the three winning projects. The committee consists of experts from the Basel healthcare/innovation ecosystem, including representatives from the Basel University Hospital, Medgate, local pharmaceutical companies, publishing, foundations and Universities.

About DayOne

DayOne is an initiative with a vision to create a world-leading hub for healthcare innovation built on the strength of the Basel region respected for its impact and collaboration across disciplines and industries with a focus on precision medicine– the convergence of diagnostics, treatment and digital health. It is managed by Baselarea.swiss in close collaboration with the Canton of Basel-Stadt.

About Fondation Botnar

Fondation Botnar is a Swiss foundation established in 2003 with the core purpose of improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people in rapidly growing urban environments around the world. To achieve this, Fondation Botnar acts as a catalyst, connecting diverse partners and investing in solutions that leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation.