The year 2022 proved to be very dynamic and rewarding for Kelvin Health. We focused deeply on the CVD indications; achieved significant progress in further developing our deep tech thermography platform; expanded our data collection partner network with multiple HCPs; initiated massive patient observation; won multiple awards; and registered significant investor interest. It sounds like a busy year for Kelvin Health. Let us elaborate:
The year began with refocusing our efforts on developing a CVD diagnostics case, particularly detecting peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and critical limb ischemia (CLI). More than 230 million people worldwide suffer from PAD, and more than 40% are asymptomatic. The lack of access to frequent screening and monitoring leads to complications such as CLI that have a very negative prognosis, including major amputation or even death.
Focusing on building a thermal AI imaging solution that can save lives and the limbs of hundreds of millions of people worldwide was the most logical and motivating thing we could do at the start of the new year.
We expanded our medical collaborations with leading hospitals across Europe, such as Acibadem CityClinic, Athens Medical Center, and Maribor University Medical Centre, to mention a few. This helped us to work closely with medical experts on collecting patient data using Kelvin Health’s proprietary Data Collection Platform.
We’ve put significant efforts in developing our Data Collection Platform, that allows the HIPAA and GDPR ready collection, organization, and annotation of thermal images based on the use case. We are actively working on the regulatory approvals for FDA and CE with one of the leading US and EU consultancy firms.
Besides developing the core thermal AI capability of the platform, achieving very high sensitivity and specificity numbers, we also started the process of testing our first thermal camera prototype, developed in partnership with a high-class thermal optics manufacturer.
The whole year was super intensive in participating in various startup competitions – a great way to spread the word about the innovation we are developing, pitch in front of industry insiders and VCs, improve based on their valuable feedback, spread the word, and expand the network of medical experts and key industry leaders.
We are super excited we won Roche’s HealthCare Lab challenge in the Screening and Early Diagnostics track. During the multiple sprints in this three-month-long marathon, Kelvin Health focused on better understanding the healthcare system and fine-tuning the R&D co-creation process in collaboration with an international community of more than 30 top-notch mentors, coaches, investors, and researchers, including world-leading entrepreneurs in healthcare.
In June, we participated in the Forbes Bulgaria Healthcare Summit, where our CEO Georgi Kadrev, illustrated three personal stories of patients that would greatly benefit from Kelvin Health‘s accessible and non-invasive screening and monitoring, the applicability of Kelvin Health’s thermal imaging AI, and our progress in data collection through HCP collaborations.
We participated in the Innovation and Artificial Intelligence panel of the “Green Deal – Innovation, Investment, and Fair Transition” conference that aims to bring together European and Bulgarian ESG leaders, experts, business representatives, the non-governmental sector, and the media.
Our CEO Georgi Kadrev had the chance to participate in Healthcare Business International London ‘22 and get valuable insights on topics ranging from best practices about university hospitals collaboration to investment and M&A trends in healthcare to home care and AI.
A great highlight in the middle of the year was our participation in the “Together We Shine Brighter” yearly conference of the America for Bulgaria Foundation, where we shared our vision of the future of healthcare as it should be – proactive, accessible, and efficient.
In July and August, we launched an inspiring video series with our medical director, Prof. Ivo Petrov.
September was world PAD prevention month, and we created an awareness campaign sharing daily valuable information on prevention, early diagnostics, and support for people suffering from PAD daily through our social media channels.
In September, we supported CancerCare’s “Race for the Cure” in Sofia, both with a booth and an awareness campaign. Nowadays, breast cancer is a curable disease, and its early detection is the primary factor that makes the difference between above 95% and below 28% survival rates!
In October, Prof. Ivo Petrov, our Medical Director, received the most significant recognition and was awarded Doctor of the Year 2022 by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria – Rumen Radev.
Prof. Petrov is world-renowned in four medical fields of expertise – internal medicine, cardiology, invasive cardiology, and angiology. He is the first invasive cardiologist in the world who did an endoprosthesis implant in a child with aortic dissection. Performed the first carotid stenting procedure and thrombextraction of brain vessels for treating cerebral stroke in Bulgaria. He pioneered the implantation of bifurcation stents in complex pathology of the heart’s arteries, to mention a few of his medical achievements.
We also participated in “BEC ISEVS Endovascular Academy 2022”, one of the most important medical events in the Balkans. We presented Kelvin Health’s solution for the first time in front of a medical audience and were thrilled to see the stirring of interest in the medical community. A recording of our panel, which also includes presentations from our leading medical advisors and partners, can be watched here.
November was very eventful and full of exciting developments. We participated in BioTechX, Europe’s largest pharmaceutical and digital healthcare congress in Bazel, Switzerland, and became members of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and the Bulgarian startup association BESCO.
We attended Roche Supplier Day, although a closed-door event focused internally on the Roche ecosystem. In front of 900+ people, 200+ of which attended on-site in Basel and the rest joining virtually from locations like San Francisco and Shanghai, Roche made a solid commitment to innovation! Our CEO Georgi Kadrev was invited to present Kelvin Health‘s mission and vision of precise and accessible rapid diagnostics of socially significant diseases in the company of 14 other heavily funded startups from all over the world.
A significant highlight of the month was our participation in Med-Tech World Malta, where both our CEO and CTO had on-stage presentations, culminating in Kelvin Health being awarded Health Tech Innovation of the Year 2022. We consider it a great honor and recognition of the hard work and efforts of the whole team during 2022.
We were also invited to pitch as part of the Plug & Play Balkan virtual pitching event, and the 3-minute presence we had attracted a lot of interest that is still echoing and unfolding. Funny enough the pitches were aligned with Pacific Time, and our CEO presented in the middle of his birthday party.
In November, Kelvin Health got to pitch as part of Founders Live at the Bounce Conference in Busan, South Korea, on 24 November and got 2nd prize.
In December, we got the news that we had been selected among the finalists at the XTC Startup Competition at CES 2023. Extreme Tech Challenge’s mission is to empower startups to create new tech innovations to address global challenges. It is the world’s largest ecosystem and competition for purpose-driven technology inspired by the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year, hundreds of startups from more than 40 countries applied to present on the stage of CES, the most influential tech event in the world. Kelvin Health has been selected to the finals of the Digital Health vertical and will present on stage at CES in Las Vegas on January 5, 2023.
Ten days before Christmas, we delivered an exciting presentation of Kelvin Health at the kick-start of beamUp Lab – a year-long set of workshops preparing the interested parties for listing on the BEAM market, a startup-friendly version of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
That was the year 2022, truly exciting and full of outstanding achievements. We believe 2023 will be even stronger and are working hard to make this happen. We were excited about the upcoming mission-driven partnerships across the world. The year 2023 will also bring us closer to the regulatory approval of Kelvin Health, and the impact that we already observe in clinical research will continue to unfold at scale!
