Posted 25 November 2013
Kinesis Health Technologies Wins Inaugural UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Award
Kinesis Health Technologies Ltd, a new health technology start-up company, has won the inaugural University College Dublin VentureLaunch Accelerator Award and a €25,000 prize.
The founders of Kinesis Health Technologies Ltd are Seamus Small, Dr Barry Greene, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science and Bill Bollengier who is based in the USA.
Kinesis Health Technologies has developed QTUG (Quantitative Timed Up and Go), a novel, patent-protected falls risk and mobility assessment technology which can be used by a broad range of healthcare professionals to facilitate objective assessments of falls risk in older adults.
Prof. Peter Clinch, UCD Vice-President for Innovation, Seamus Small and Dr Barry Greene, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science and co-founders of Kinesis Health Technologies Ltd with Ken Burke, Head of Business Banking, AIB.
Picured far right: Dr Barry Greene and Seamus Small, UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science and co-founders of Kinesis Health Technologies Ltd.
By using QTUG healthcare professionals can potentially improve healthcare utilisation, reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of life of those at risk.
QTUG, based on the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, uniquely provides an objective assessment by the quantitative analysis of gait and mobility data collected using body-worn inertial sensors.
Kinesis Health Technologies plans to launch QTUG into the European (Ireland and the UK) and Northern American (USA and Canada) markets in mid-2014 and plans to be employing 15 people by end 2016.
Falls are a costly, complex and common problem with 1 in 3 of people over the age of 65 falling once per year. This figure rises to 1 in 2 in the over 80s. The direct and indirect societal costs of falls are very significant and in the US along the annual cost of falls management is estimated to be $30 billion. In addition 40% of all injury deaths in older people are as a result of a fall.
Kinesis’ technology will enable healthcare professionals to improve the accuracy of falls risks and mobility assessments in older adults. Improved identification of those at risk of falling will enable targeted intervention and care services tailored towards those who are actually at risk of falling.
Kinesis is a spin-out company which has emerged from internationally peer-reviewed research carried out over the last 6-year in the TRIL (Technology Research for Independent Living) Centre at UCD. Partners in TRIL, in addition to UCD, include TCD, Intel and GE Healthcare.
In addition Kinesis’ technology has been extensively deployed and evaluated in TRIL’s dedicated research clinic in St. James’s Hospital, Dublin.
The new annual UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme has been designed and is managed by UCD’s Office of the Vice-President for Innovation. The first programme took place over the last 3-months at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at the University.
Speaking at the Awards evening Professor Peter Clinch, UCD Vice-President for Innovation said, “Innovation is the third pillar of UCD’s core mission and two of UCD’s key innovation themes are putting knowledge to work and growing and supporting new business. Through the new UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme, held over the last 3-months at NovaUCD, we are supporting researchers to accelerate this process by establishing new ventures which will translate innovative research ideas into companies providing value-added products, services and jobs.”
He added, “Kinesis Health Technologies is an excellent example of a UCD spin-out company, which has been established to address a major worldwide problem, in this case in the health industry, and which has significant global potential and global customers. I congratulate the members of the Kinesis team for winning the 2013 UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Award and wish them every commercial success for the future.”
The overall objective of the UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme, which this year involved a total of 6 new ventures, is to support the creation and to accelerate the launch of sustainable and profitable new ventures based on intellectual property emerging from UCD and National College of Art and Design (NCAD) research programmes. NCAD is a recognised college of UCD.
The programme aims is to equip UCD and NCAD researchers with the knowledge, skills and understanding that will be required to work as part of a team leading a new commercial venture.
At the awards evening Kinesis Health Technologies Ltd was presented with the 2013 UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Award and a cheque for €10,000 sponsored by AIB. In addition Kinesis also received a professional services package to the value of €15,000 sponsored by Arthur Cox, Bryan Maguire Business Consulting and Deloitte.
Speaking after the awards evening Derek McGarry, Head of Design Innovation and Commercialisation, NCAD, said, "The UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme has provided an excellent opportunity for NCAD Origin8 ventures Obeo and Gazel to promote design led innovation to non-designers as part of this invaluable knowledge transfer programme. Our product design ventures have also benefitted enormously from the business mentoring that was provided within this excellent intensive accelerator programme and I look forward to more NCAD ventures participating on this programme in the years to come.”
The UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme consists of ten 3-hour workshops, delivered over a 3-month period and uses the Business Model Canvas approach to start-up development. Workshops consist of a mix of taught content and interactive sessions delivered by external experts and include talks from experienced entrepreneurs. The participating new ventures also receive expert mentoring on topics such as marketing, finance and funding, sales and pitching to investors.
Innovation is the third pillar of UCD’s core mission alongside teaching and learning and research. The mission of the Office of the Vice-President for Innovation is to enhance the value and quality of UCD’s innovation activities in order to achieve a maximum impact for the University, its partners, and for social and economic life in Ireland in the wider world. At UCD there are four key innovation themes; inspiring creative graduates, putting knowledge to work; partnering with industry and growing and supporting new businesses through programmes such as the UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator.
Origin8 is a design innovation and commercialisation gateway at the National College of Art and Design. Origin8 functions as a portal for business clients to collaborate with our leading designers through knowledge transfer. It operates as a conduit between academia and industry. Origin8 also supports staff, students and design residents in the development of products and services, campus company start-ups and related creative enterprise.
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
