IBM and Hadassah Medical Center Launch Digital Health Accelerator in Jerusalem

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on December 4, 2018, Central European Time, IBM Israel and Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center (hereinafter referred to as “Hadassah”) jointly established a corporate accelerator. According to the Israeli publication Globes, this initiative aims to support startups in developing digital health tools, solutions, and innovative services.

This announcement was made at the eighth event of IBM Alpha Zone. IBM Alpha Zone is a corporate accelerator program launched by IBM, established at its Israel branch. The program primarily focuses on late-seed and Series A companies in fields such as big data analytics, cloud computing, security, and the Internet of Things (IoT). It is open to startups innovating in healthcare, retail, tourism, energy, utilities, telecommunications, and media, providing them with office space, resources, and business and technical mentorship. Nutrino Health, a previous participant in Alpha Zone, was acquired by Medtronic last month.

Under the new initiative by IBM Israel and Hadassah, a new corporate accelerator will launch in the first quarter of 2019, open to startups that have completed their seed funding rounds. The program will last for six months. Participating companies will gain access to Hadassah’s relevant resources and medical expertise, as well as IBM’s technical advice and IBM Cloud services.

According to Globes, the corporate accelerator will be established on the premises of the biotechnology incubator at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center.

Hadassah stated that it was drawn to this collaboration by IBM Alpha Zones’ expertise in digital health. Furthermore, the accelerator is supported by the Jerusalem Development Authority, an entity established by the State of Israel and the Jerusalem Municipality to promote the development of Jerusalem.

IBM, founded in 1911 and headquartered in New York, USA, is the world’s largest IT technology and consulting company, primarily providing enterprises with computer hardware, software, infrastructure, and managed services. IBM employs more than 400,000 people worldwide and operates in over 170 countries.

Hadassah Medical Center, headquartered in Jerusalem, Israel, is a renowned medical institution that operates two university hospitals in Ein Kerem and Mount Scopus in Jerusalem.