2025 Health and Pharma Pitching Competition Coming Soon!
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The call for the 2025 Health and Pharma Pitching Competition at Y Science is to be released in August 2025.
Once again we are thrilled that this competition will be jointly organized by HiLIFE from the University of Helsinki, Orion Pharma, and Swissnex.
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Below you will find details of the 2024 Pharma Pitching Competition.
2024 Pitching Competition Recap
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Our Pharma Pitching Competition is for Finnish and Swiss early-stage science-based startups and pre-startups working on solutions in the fields of oncology, pain treatment and AI for health and drug development.
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The competition was jointly organized by HiLIFE from the University of Helsinki, Orion Pharma and Swissnex.
​​All finalists
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received speaker coaching to prepare their pitch,
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had the chance to present their idea on the Y Science stage,
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met potential investors,
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networked with experts in the fields of their solution,
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received a Slush ticket, and
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had the chance to pitch their idea in a dedicated slot for the Y Science Health/Pharma Showcase during Slush at the Swisstech Pavilion
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The winner received 5,000 EUR to take their exciting idea further!​​
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Here were the 2024 finalists
San Pun
AiMorphous Health
Sebastian Högnabba
NeuroEye Insight
Antti Rahikkala
Smart Bubbles
Mikko Pitkänen
Surgerix
2024 Competition timeline
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August 26: Applications open
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September 23: Applications close
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October 11: Announcement of the finalists
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October 14, 14:00 - 16:00 EEST: Introduction to pitching (hybrid workshop)
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October 15 - November 15: 1-on-1 pitch coaching (online)
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NEW: November 4, 15:30 - 17:00 EET: Increase the impact of your pitch deck design with Polar Hedgehog (online workshop)
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November 15, 13:00 - 14:00 EET: Final meeting to review rules and logistics of the pitching competition (online)
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November 19, 15:30 - 18:30 EET: Dress rehearsal of the competition (Helsinki, Finland)
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November 20: Pharma Pitching Competition at Y Science
Jury for the selection of the 2024 finalists
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Sammeli Liikkanen, Director of Digital Medicine at Orion Corporation
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Alain Bindels, VC Partner at Clarma Capital and Founder of InnoSense
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Anastasyia Markvarde, Sr Program & Innovation Manager at EVERSANA
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Roberta Gilardi, CEO at G-Gravity
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Pekka Kallio, CSO at the Finnish Drug Discovery Center Ltd
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Marcel Hofstetter, Scientific Officer at Innosuisse
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Virginia Ballotta, Manager New Ventures at BaseLaunch
2024 pitch coaches
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Paolo Borella, Managing Partner and Program Head at VITA Accelerator
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Charlotte Chenu, Science and Innovation Project Manager at the Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom
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Chiara Facciotto, Innovation Ecosystem Lead at Meilahti Medical Campus, University of Helsinki