Where exactly does your abdomen hurt? Do you have nausea, vomiting, cramps? If it is up to the Vienna-based start-up XUND, it’s no longer a doctor who asks these questions first, but the XUND-app. With the help of artificial intelligence, the HealthTech start-up has developed a digital health assistant that provides patients with initial prognoses about clinical pictures and empowers them to take better decisions. For their market entry, the three founders of XUND were looking for investors and were able to convince several investors from the tba network of their business model.
In an interview, Tamàs Petrovics, CEO of XUND, explains how it all came about.
What exactly is XUND?
The XUND app makes it possible to reduce health risks, determine initial prognoses for possible clinical pictures and evaluate further measures. Through the use of text mining technology, we can analyze some of the largest medical databases, containing millions of publications to find correlations between reported symptoms and possible underlying causes. Furthermore, with our interdisciplinary team of doctors and writers, we ensure both the medical quality of the data and that the content is presented in an easily understandable way. Our goal is to empower patients and channel them through the healthcare system in the best possible way. The physician should not be replaced, but rather be given more time to focus on the really relevant cases.
How does XUND ensure the security of patient data?
In our system, we store personal data in so-called „Health Safes”, independent and detached from the app. In addition, a blockchain solution ensures that every access to the personal Health Safe is logged transparently and traceably. The sovereignty over the data is thus always and exclusively in the hands of the user.
How did the contact with the tba network come about?
Our first contact to the tba network was arranged by the Austrian Wirtschaftsservice (aws). After an initial meeting, we were invited to a pitch in South Tyrol and got the chance to present XUND to the entire group of potential investors.
The advantage of tba network: 22 experienced entrepreneurs with a global network are involved. This gives start-ups like us the opportunity to present their idea to several investors at the same time – which of course also increases the chances of finding a suitable business angel. For us, it was important to identify investors who would also support the team strategically, bring a strong network and industry-specific knowledge with them. Under the lead of Peak Pride, the start-up unit of Hans Peter Haselsteiner, a group of Tyrolean Business Angels have thus recently put together a financing round with a high six-digit investment sum.
What are your next steps?
Before entering the market, we are planning to obtain the certification as a medical device. This way we want to ensure that patients’ safety is fully guaranteed and that the medical engine meets the highest quality standards as well as legal requirements. The launch of the iOS app should therefore take place as soon as possible. Android users will have to wait a few months longer. The medical device certification and market research are our main areas of focus at the moment, and this is exactly where the new investors support us.