HealthTech Israel Podcast

Alon Ben-Noon is the Co-founder and CEO, of NeuroSense Therapeutics, a drug development company focusing on the treatment of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. *This interview was conducted in January of 2022* Since the interview, NeuroSense successfully concluded additional biomarker experiments of ALS and Alzheimer's disease. In addition, the company commenced a Phase IIb clinical trial in ALS (Paradigm Study) and enrolled several patients with the aim to complete enrollment by the end of 2022 and present Top Line results by Q2 2023. The company is traded on Nasdaq under the ticker NRSN. Summary of interview: 01:13 Tell us about your career journey and meeting Shay Rishoni 06:25 Tell us about ALS and why it has become a relatively well-known orphan indication 09:30 Tell us about PrimceC 12:40 Could you talk about your financing journey 16:13 Did the crowdfunding process affect your public offering in some sort of way? 18:54 Is it true that zebrafish have over 70% genetic similarity to humans? How is that even possible? 21:00 Could you expand on the leadership team at NeuroSense? 23:10 How has your personal life changed since the company was floated to NASDAQ? 25:00 You have a very unique organizational culture in NeuroSense Therapeutics and you're growing. How do you intend to keep some of that culture while you grow? 27:30 What’s next forNeuroSense? What are the next milestones and pipeline products? 30:15 How long do you expect you are away from the market with the PrimeC? 31:05 Have you put any thoughts to having a companion diagnostic? 32:25 What are your thoughts about the Israeli ecosystem? 34:25 If you could go back to your 16-year-old self and tell yourself something, what do you think it would be? 35:40 Are there any people in your journey that were meaningful to you personally and to NeuroSense Therapeutics

Dedi Gilad is the CEO of TytoCare, the healthcare industry’s first all-in-one modular telehealth device and AI-powered platform for on-demand remote medical exams and visits. To date, TytoCare has raised more than $160M in funding.

In this episode, we're speaking with Cecile Blilious, who is the head of impact and sustainability at Pitango Venture Capital. Interview questions 00:56 Tell us about your professional journey and what brought you to where you are today? 03:03 How would you define impact investments? And what does it take to be an impact investor or entrepreneur today? 07:40 Why should I as a CEO of a startup company be focused on ESG? 15:02 What are the sustainability models that you're developing at Pitango and how is this relevant to HealthTech companies? 21:54 Is there an expectation that companies will have an Impact and Sustainability Officer? 24:13 Is there going to be a personalization of expectation around ESG for health tech, specifically? 32:43 Could you tell us a little bit about GITA, the Global Impact Tech Alliance, which you founded? 38:29 Is there anything that, in the next 5 years or in 5 years, you are dreaming of doing once you've put in motion this train of ESG connected to impact?

Today we're speaking to Daniella Gilboa, CEO of AIVF. A company that is out to transform the fertility and IVF treatment journey. Daniella was an embryologist for more than 15 years before establishing AIVF. And she's a biostatistician too. 00:55 We'd like to hear about your personal journey. What is the process that leads an embryologist to establish an AI driven IVF company? 07:42 You have said that you believe that being an embryologist is probably one of the most noble professions in the world. What did you mean by that? 09:12 What made you feel like you have the tools to take this endeavor forward as its CEO? 11:47 What in your eyes are the problems in the current status of IVF and the journey in which women are trying to or families are trying to conceive? 19:15 What would be the role of the embryologist going forward, once you have this technology out in the market? 22:45 How do you bring patients into the equation of IVF transformation? 31:51 How does the AIVF solution work? 35:02 Can you tell us where you are in the AIVF journey in terms of the product and regulation and market? 38:16 How is Dan Ariely involved with the company and what does her behavioral economics have to do with IVF? 43:36 Is there an element of the product right now that connects to the patients? Will the patient be able to follow what is happening with their embryo, remotely, while everything's happening. 47:46 Why aren't there more female CEOs in healthtech? 50:55 What is your best tip for a scientist who is thinking about opening a startup?

In this episode we are talking to Yotam Drechsler and Dr. Yaron Segal from BrainQ. Yotam is the CEO of the company and Yaron is the investor, founder and Chief Innovation Officer. This is the story of a personal quest to help a loved one that morphed into a game-changing solution making a significant impact on the neurorecovery of stroke victims. BrainQ’s investigational cloud-based technology aims to reduce disability and promote neurorecovery for stroke victims. Using a Brain Computer Interface-based approach, the company’s frequency-tuned low intensity electromagnetic field therapy is designed to operate based on biological insights retrieved from brainwaves using explanatory machine learning tools. These insights are aimed at imitating the natural processes of neural network synchronization and promoting recovery processes. The system is designed to allow for scalable and decentralized care via a portable, non-invasive wearable device that is cloud-connected with integrated telemedicine tools that enable remotely monitored sessions through an app.

Prof. Varda Shalev, Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer at Alike.Health Prof. Varda Shalev is a practicing Primary Care Physician, a medical researcher, associate professor of medicine at the Tel Aviv University School of Public Health, founding director of the Macabbi Institute for Research and Innovation KSM and recently the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Alike Health - a healthcare startup developing an AI-based system designed to help patients manage their medical data, monitor their conditions and gain insights into their treatment. Summary of interview 01:15 What are the most memorable milestones that brought you to where you are today? 02:58 What is the driving force behind your passion for Health Technology? 05:43 What made you the jump into co-founding a startup? 07:14 What is the difference between being an intrapreneur that innovates within an organization, and an entrepreneur? 09:06 What was the value you found in collaborating with startups in your work at the Morris Kahn and Maccabi Research & Innovation Institute? 15:03 Let's talk about Alike Health, what does Alike do? 20:27 Obviously the US market is very interesting, why aren’t you creating a product for the German market? 22:15 Doesn't the scoring system create more anxiety with the patient? Will the patients know how to act upon it when there is no 100% certainty? 24:27 Do you give patients the option to call a live person and discuss or get clarifications on the report? 26:12 What is the business model for your company? 28:35 You raised your seed round from a single investor – Pitango. Do you think raising a seed fund from one VC investor is advantageous? 29:33 How has the Israeli Health Technology ecosystem evolved over the decades? 36:27 Where are we going with health? What is going to be the next revolution that we're going to see? 40:04 How is Alike.health closing the loop on data? 41:45 What advice would you give to someone who wants to do what you are doing? 46:15 If you could go back to your 16-year-old self, what would you tell her? 47:13 Why do you think there are less Women entrepreneurs and what needs to be done in order to change it?

Liron Fendell is the CEO of Nutritional Growth Solutions, or NGS, which specializes in scientific supplement formulas for children of small stature. NGS shares are traded on the stock exchange in Australia. 01:01 Who is Liron Fendell? Would you mind telling us a little bit about your professional background? 04:19 What does NGS actually do now? 06:16 What does the gain is 1 to 5, 7 centimeters mean to children and their families. 08:15 When did you start thinking about what the brand would be? What kind of affected that decision and how do you balance that nutrition versus pharmaceutical in your work? 12:30 Could you maybe talk about your branding process? What does it take to build a brand for a company? 16:56 What type of resources do you need internally to be able to support a deal as you had with GSK? 20:59 Is India the only territory where you white-label your products? Or does it happen in other areas of the world? What is your strategy in each region? 22:41 What did you find are the pluses and minuses of working via Amazon or Shopify? 26:35 How do you interact with your customers to receive feedback for your products? 29:13 Who really is involved in your marketing efforts in the different markets? 30:50 How does working with influencers work to push your brand on social media? 35:12 What is your perspective of the US versus China, or, China versus the rest of the world? 41:09 How did NGS's listings on the Australian Stock Exchange come about? 42:53 How has your life changed since the IPO? 44:39 What's next in terms of markets, products, ducks, etc.? 47:25 If someone wants to go through your journey, what would you recommend that they do and prepare?

Uri Goren is the head of digital engagement and capabilities at Teva Pharmaceuticals, and just recently became a member of the National Advisory Board for digital health for the Israel Ministry of Health. Uri founded and continues to contribute insights through his digital magazine, e-Pochonder and is one of the first advocates for patient centric health care. Interview milestones: 02:25 How did you decide to become a trailblazer and advocate for patient-centric healthcare? 07:20 When do you think it is the most important moment to listen to patients? 11:50 Tell us about the Society of Participatory Medicine and the E-Patient Movement. 17:02 How can we keep that balance of - the empowered patient, who is the most important person in the room, with the knowledge and judgment of the medical professional whose recommendations should be trusted? 21:40 Do you think breaking away from traditional channel to market is happening on a wide scale in the industry? 25:51 Do you have any comments on how you're using different digital channels for your personal and professional messaging? And what is the difference between them when you make a decision about which channel to use? 30:37 How many hours a day do you commit or spend in order to promote these channels? 32:30 How much time do you spend on an average day on digital media 34:14 What you do at Teva? 37:38 What exactly is digitalization of B2B? 40:28 Are there any social networking tools that you can use to differentiate B2B from B2C? 43:32 What is the National Advisory Board for digital health for the Ministry of Health in and what are your goals in the advisory board? 48:12 What are you seeing that is special in the Israeli Digital Health ecosystem? And what do you think is missing, and maybe entrepreneurs should pay more attention to? 52:21 What is the main problem do you think that needs to be solved for the healthcare market with technology?

Michal Geva is the managing partner and co-founder of Triventures. Michal is one of the most prominent investors in Israel's MedTech and digital health scene. She resides on the boards of many companies and has accumulated a track record of multiple exits, including 6over6, Orthospace, and Aprica. 01:01 Where did your passion for health tech actually start? 03:42 Why did you decide to found Triventures? 09:34 Could you expand a little bit on how your model works? 11:52 Do you build a company to exit versus building a company to scale? 18:30 At what stages do you look for ventures intrapreneur ships in terms of their lifecycle? 29:01 What has changed for try ventures over the last two years in terms of the investment strategy? 38:30 What are some tips for working with investors and managing the Board of Directors? 42:06 How does an early-stage company or a company get on your radar? And what can they do at the meeting with you to come out better or not worst on the other side? 49:02 What are the unique challenges to females on the leadership side as running a VC on the one hand and as a CEO on the other?

Galit Zuckerman Stark, CEO and cofounder of Medasense. Medasense is NOL technology, enables clinician to personalize pain management, optimize treatment and avoid overmedication. All this in it with a noninvasive sensor platform and AI technology. 01:14 What brought you to the medical field and to becoming the CEO of a breakthrough product in what is actually a very difficult market to operate in? 03:18 How did you get to pain as a field of interest? 05:05 Why is there a need for an objective measurement of pain? 09:05 Can you go back to 10-11 years ago and share what you were thinking your product process was going to be? And then go to, where you are now and what your product actually is? 13:40 What do you think are the main things that have changed in the “Pain industry” and allowed you to sell products and raise significant amounts of capital from investors? 16:46 Can you explain a little bit about how Medasense’s technology works? 20:03 How is Medasense’s pain score personalized? 20:59 Are you only addressing the pain component of surgery or are you helping the anesthesiologist manage the types of medications administered during surgery? 22:54 How and why did you make the decision to work with a large multinational company such as Medtronic for distribution? 26:08 it's quite unusual for an Israeli company to start with Europe. Why did you decide to begin your sales in Europe? 28:50 How do you make sure you don’t lose touch with the market when you sell through distributors? 34:10 Who helped you during the transition from a product company to a commercialization 36:59 What's next for Medasense? 41:05 How does your product work with patients who can communicate? How can you reconcile the gap between your measurement and what the patient is saying? 43:20 Do you think you have different challenges because you're a female CEO in this space? And if so, you know, do you have any tips for other female CEOs?

Omri Shor is the co-founder and CEO of Medisafe, where for the last decade, he and his team are trying to free patients from the stress of managing complicated medications, thus enabling them to lead healthier, safer, and fuller lives. 01:00 Tell us the story behind the founding of Medisafe 02:28 What is it like starting a business with your brother and still managing it today after nearly a decade? 04:21 Can you tell us a bit about how your product has evolved from what you thought you were doing when you began to where you are now? 07:06 How does Medisafe ensure that the patients get the right medication, at the right dose and at the right time? 09:06 Can you give us some examples of strange adherence-related behaviors that you've seen with people that you wouldn't have even imagined? 13:51 What are the main things you know now that you wish you had known a few years ago working and navigating in healthcare organizations and pharma companies? And what would you recommend to those who wish to sell into these systems? 16:43 The unique culture of Medisafe – “we dare!” 18:27 Why would you want to come work at Medisafe? 23:00 How do you maintain this fast-moving, exciting spirit of a startup when the company is not that small? 25:40 What was your original business model for Medisafe and has that business model shifted for you? 31:14 Could you elaborate on how Medisafe sits at major junctions throughout the patient's continuum of care? And how do you combine the tech, the AI, big data, etc., with the behavioral aspects of the patient's needs? 34:32 Do you view the elderly population as a separate group and make sure that you're creating a solution that is relevant for them? are you putting more focus on them in your product development? 35:48 Tell us about using JITI and Maestro to build the patient journey. 38:23 Can you share your own personal experience of growth in the last years? 40:59 Did you feel that moving to the US was the only option for you as the CEO or was this a choice? How has that move affected you on a business and personal level? 44:12 What's next for Medisafe? And what is your best tip to aspiring digital health entrepreneurs?

Today we're speaking with Keren Leshem. Keren Leshem is the CEO of OCON Healthcare that focuses on women's health, primarily creating high-quality intrauterine drug delivery solutions. OCON is innovating in areas that have not been touched for three decades. Furthermore, Keren is very active in the FemTech ecosystem as a whole. 00:55 What was your journey that brought you into this market of pharma, MedTech and drug delivery? And why did it begin abroad? 02:59 What does OCON do? 06:31 Why did you build OCON with a female majority? Is there any difference in managing a company that is predominantly female on a day-to-day basis? 09:23 Do you think that you need to be a woman to lead a FemTech company? 10:40 What are seeing is changing in the FemTech space? What do you expect will happen looking forward? 16:47 When did you feel that OCON’s solution is really unique? 22:44 What did you find when you joined the company in 2018? And what did you do to turn it around? 26:40 You mentioned you found a way to recruit patients inexpensively during COVID. Can you tell us a little bit about how you did this? 33:23 Do you do any promotion to the end-user using social media? 34:49 Where does the world of direct-to-consumer or at least consumer-centric marketing live in your vision going forward for OCON? 38:40 What would you say to those people that say that using social media and LinkedIn is only applicable to MedTech companies that are already in the market? 42:28 What tips you would give to up-and-coming CEOs in the MedTech space if they can contact you for advice and mentorship? 46:51 Could you elaborate a little bit on your volunteer work with Michla’la? How did you get involved with that?

Nahum Ferera is the CEO of EyeYon Medical, a company he co-founded in 2011, that is developing therapies for a range of corneal diseases. Nahum holds a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering and an MBA both from Tel Aviv University. Here are some of the questions we asked Nahum: 01:11 What's your personal journey in med tech? How did you come to found EyeYon? 04:00 Why do you think we don’t hear about ophthalmology startups and do you think that this is changing? 08:10 Can you explain what the cornea is? And why is it considered the window to the eye? 12:50 What is the story behind EyeYon and behind EndoArt, which is your main product? 17:45 When you fundraised for the company 10 years ago, what was the story behind that fundraising? And did it involve the two products you are now focused on? 22:40 How did you attract a VC from a very early stage? 26:40 Are there two different got-to-market strategies for your products or are you building on top of each other for it to go to market? 32:20 What are your plans moving forward with EndoArt and beyond? 38:00 How do you keep your work and life balance? 42:00 If you could go back to your 16-year-old self, what words of wisdom would you give to you?

Danny Farin is the CEO of Perflow Medical, that develops and commercializes devices for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke. Danny is a serial entrepreneur. Prior to Perflow, he co-founded and was CEO at Eon Surgical, which commercialize a platform for scarless laparoscopy procedures. Eon was acquired by Teleflex Medical back in 2013. Here are some of the questions we asked Danny: 02:04 Tell us about your background and what you are up to these days. 06:52 Can you share what you think you did right in the Eon journey and how did that acquisition happen so quickly? 10:30 Can you elaborate on the differences between corporate thinking versus a startup thinking? 15:45 Can you share a bit about your experience with Rad Biomed incubator? And if you have any kind of takeaways about your journey with Eon and now Perflow, and the advantages of being part of a system like that? 19:10 How did Perflow come to be? And when you decided to join the team, what were the early warning sign or the signals for you to know that you have a good technology that has a potential to make a real dent or change in the market? 23:19 When you entered the neurosurgery market did you have a moment of panic and if there was that moment, what helped you calm down and fill in the gaps 30:00 You are involved in a digital health startup called CVAid that is intended or is targeting the problem of early detection of strokeCould you tell us a little bit about that? 37:00 We are curious to hear your experience and what you're imagining will happen going forward in that bundling of diagnostics and therapeutics. 39:45 In which territories is Perflow currently selling? 41:00 What kind of advice or tips would you have for companies who are looking to sell medical devices through distributors?

Yonit Golub Serkin is the Managing Director of MassChallenge Israel. Previously she was a founder of Moonscape Ventures served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Development at the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg and is the spokeswoman for New York City Economic Development Corporation. Following is a summary of our interview with Yonit: 01:34 We heard that your first job was as a figure skating instructor? 04:01 How did you go from figure skating to being the spokesperson for the New York City Economic Development Corporation? 08:14 …and now you're in Jerusalem leading Masschallenge. How did that happen? 11:12 What is MassChallenge? 12:41 Do you think Israel is making the right choices to use this startup ecosystem as an engine to fuel the economy in Israel? 16:26 Why is Masschallenge not industry-focused and why do you think this is an advantage? 19:44 How does mentorship and networking with Corporates work in Masschallenge? 21:17 What do the corporates get out of acceleration programs? Are there other models that you're seeing emerging ? 26:35 How did COVID impact your operations and model? 32:06 Why is health tech a priority for MassChallenge in Israel and globally? And are you seeing new themes emerge in the innovation space for MassChallenge such as social impact, sustainability? 38:14 What are your best three tips for startups in the health tech space who want to work with a larger corporation or want to solicit relationships with them? 40:51 Are you seeing a shift in female leadership in the technology innovation space?

Lena Levin is the CEO and co-founder of Via Surgical. Her previous venture PolyTouch Medical was acquired in 2011. She has managed to raise tens of millions of dollars over the years with private investors and Israel innovation, and in her not so she mentors early-stage startups and different accelerators. Here is a summary of the interview: 01:20 How do four students with a schnitzel end up founding a medical devices company? 03:11 How does someone without a medical background become a HealthTech entrepreneur? 04:38 What did you learn from the PolyTouch acquisition? 06:54 When you set on your way around the PolyTouch product – was it clear to you that the need was so large? 08:25 In retrospect after 10 years, do you think the Polytech story was a success? 09:33 Tell us what Via Surgical does. 11:42 How involved were surgeons and specialists in the development of the product itself? 12:58 What tips can you give to the listeners, to companies that are thinking of getting KOLs on board? 14:12 As a CEO, how do you manage to have that input of what is happening in the market in terms of innovation, and how do you factor that in, in your evaluation of the market? 17:32 How difficult is it to sell single product into the surgical market? 19:12 Can you share a little bit about your experience selling in the US market with a product like yours? 22:05 What can you tell us about what you've done around online sales advertising in social networks? 23:36 How difficult is it to raise money for pure medical devices with Digital Health taking a portion of the funding and are you seeing a change in terms of who the investors are and what the focus is? 26:08 What tips can you give to companies who are thinking about working with Israel's representative offices worldwide such as the office that supported your deal with Catcher out of Taiwan?. 29:47 How do you see the unique challenges or different challenges that you face being female CEO and entrepreneur? 34:19 Where is Via Surgical going next?

In this podcast we are speaking with Nadav shimoni who is the head of digital health at Arkin Holdings. Arkin Holdings, is a single family office that is the largest private Israeli healthcare investor focused on healthcare, currently managing a ~$1.5 billion healthcare portfolio. Jump straight to: 00:42 Nadav - what made you decide to join the industry and why? 04:00 What should we mean with the term “Digital Health” 06:30 How can startup companies break through the noise and make investors, professional investors actually listen, without using Buzzwords. 08:30 How do we better translate our entrepreneurial capabilities in Digital Health to international standars? 12:50 What leads you to believe that system needs to be changed in order to jump forward and how can Digital Health innovators cater to the market in a way that translates well? 17:30 Why do you think the attempts at remote patient monitoring are not successful? 21:15 What doctors and providers are looking for is actually tangible information that they can act on. 22:40 Who are you invested in at the moment at Arkin Holdings and what areas are you looking for to invest in? 26:30 What is most important in your pitch is demonstraitng the minimum viable product and then enlarging it to a commercial proposition. 29:25 What does your day look like? 31:55 What is the 81 Alumni association? 35:10 If you could invest a million dollars of your personal funds in a moonshot in health, what would that be? 35:40 If you could, re-choose your career path then and not choose to go to med school, what do you think that

Interview with Lihi Segal, CEO and co-founder of DayTwo DayTwo provides personalized nutrition and actionable insights that allow you to live healthier and maintain normal blood sugar levels. 01:00 Lihi shares the story of the fouding of DayTwo 03:46 Tell us a little bit about what we know about the gut microbiome, why you're using that, and a little bit about how that became the product that is DayTwo? 08:15 How does one become a customer of DayTwo? 10:00 What do you see as the benefits of having a real coach versus a digital one? 14:00 What are the things that you are implementing currently in order to increase adherence? 17:45 The DayTwo business model and difference between a healthy person and a Type2 diabetic person. 20:15 What have you learned when analyzing the data from your customers? 24:15 The clinical and scientific journey behind DayTwo’s technology 28:50 How did the COVID pandemic affect DayTwo? 31:10 What are your expansion plans globally? 32:15 Are you looking at additional therapeutic areas beyond Diabetes? 33:00 Tell us a bit about the investors of DayTwo 37:35 How do you balance your personal life with the demands of being the CEO of DayTwo?

In this episode we are speaking with Yoav Fisher, Head Of Technological Innovation and Digital Health- HealthIL. HealthIL is is part of the Israel Innovation Institute, a not for profit organization bringing innovative technology and knowledge into real-world settings. Jump straight to highlights from the interview: 01:00 Yoav shares his professional journey 03:48 Are there any similarities between the consumer goods market and healthcare market? 05:43 Can we talk about the consumerization of health? 08:06 Tell us about HealthIL 12:10 How did COVID affect the prioritization of activities and what is happening post-COVID? 14:09 Can you put your economic hat and your HealthIL hat and say if you think this investment that the Israeli government has decided to make in digital health makes sense in the long term? 18:12 Some takeaways from a recent Startup survey around funding gaps, access to knowledge and access to access. 21:21 Is Digital Health really a growth engine for Israel or not? 23:47 What do you think startup companies can do in order to better their position when they're looking for funding for a strategic partnership or for even cooperation attention from HealthIL? 29:25 Is the fear that corporates will steal your idea misplaced? 30:34 If you had a Million Dollars to invest - where would you be investing in the Health market? 34:32 How entrepreneurs should analyze their markets and competition using their value proposition. 40:25 When it comes to health, and health technology, Israel does not have a factory for producing organizational talent.

Amir Gross is the co-founder and CEO of CardioValve. Before co-founding and managing CardioValve, Amir founded and led Valtech Cardio in 2005 until its acquisition by Edwards Life Sciences (NYSE: EW). Here is a summary of our conversation: 01:30 Amir shares how the pandemic gave him more time with his family 03:30 How does a lawyer end up in the world of MedTech and cardiology? 05:50 the story of the founding of Valtech. 07:38 what is structural heart disease and what problems, challenges are there to meet in the field? 10:00 Are you seeing any impact or any change in the Cardiovascular market, due to the entry of digital health devices? 13:00 Amir shares about his investments as an angel investor and areas of interest. 15:30 Why is a company’s image so important even in the early stages? 19:00 What are some tips that you can give about managing stakeholder relationships – externally and internally and how to make sure that they're part of your journey as a CEO? 23:00 Do you have a moonshot and what is it for you personally and for the cardio space? What would be, a dream, change or technology that you would see coming 10 years from now? 24:30 Amir shares “the why” - We're doing it for patients, we're doing it for humanity. 26:55 What are your 2, 3 biggest pieces of advice to an entrepreneur at the beginning of their journey and how to best prepare. 29:40 If you could go back to your 16-year-old self and tell yourself one thing. What would that be? 31:25 When are we going to hear a next substantial milestone for Cardiovalve?