EIC summit multi-procurer day pushes connected care ideas toward procurement but real-world hurdles remain
- ›On 3 June 2026 the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme powered by SPIN4EIC held a multi-procurer day on continuous and connected care at the EIC Summit in Brussels.
- ›Three procurers from Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy heard pitches from five EIC-backed companies developing non-invasive monitoring, AI diagnostics and remote care devices.
- ›Organisers framed procurement as a route to scale, but attendees highlighted practical barriers such as clinical validation, regulatory pathways, procurement timelines and systems integration.
- ›The session was part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services effort to link innovators with buyers, and SPIN4EIC offers follow-up assistance, a LinkedIn group and a newsletter for future multi-procurer events.
Advancing connected care beyond hospital walls at the EIC Summit
On 3 June 2026 a focused multi-procurer day on continuous and connected patient care took place in Brussels as part of the European Innovation Council Summit. The event was organised by the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme and delivered through the SPIN4EIC initiative. Around 50 participants attended including representatives from hospitals, corporates, public buyers and the wider European innovation community. Being co-located with the EIC Summit gave the session added networking value as delegates continued conversations across the conference.
Purpose and format of the multi-procurer day
The session aimed to connect public procurers with a curated set of EIC-backed innovators working on technologies that support care outside the hospital. The organisers described multi-procurer days as a bridge between prototypes and real-world pilots, intended to generate pilots, partnerships and future procurement opportunities. The programme sits within the EIC Business Acceleration Services which provides matchmaking, procurement coaching and other support to EIC awardees.
Procurers and their stated needs
Three healthcare organisations participated as procurers and outlined operational challenges they want addressed when delivering care beyond hospital walls. They were Centre Hospitalier EpiCURA in Belgium, Isala Zwolle in the Netherlands and the Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Networks of the Lombardy Region in Italy. Their concerns focused on earlier detection, continuous monitoring of high-risk patients, faster diagnosis in acute events such as stroke and epilepsy, and solutions that can be integrated with existing clinical workflows and IT systems.
What innovators presented
Five EIC-backed companies pitched technologies spanning non-invasive cardiac monitoring, neurotechnology for epilepsy, breath-based diagnostics, AI stroke workflow platforms and portable brain monitoring. Presentations highlighted potential clinical benefits and deployment scenarios. The session emphasised how procurement can be used to de-risk adoption and scale solutions in public health systems.
| Company | Technology and claimed function | Primary care use case | Notes and validation needs |
| Acorai | A non-invasive heart failure monitoring device using multiple sensors and AI to estimate intracardiac pressures and hemodynamic congestion | Remote monitoring to guide heart failure management and reduce need for invasive catheterisation | Estimating intracardiac pressures from external sensors is ambitious. Robust clinical validation against invasive gold standards and regulatory clearance will be key |
| Alpha Brain Technologies | AI powered neurotechnology platform NEVOA and wearables for continuous brain monitoring with seizure prediction | Ambulatory epilepsy management and early warning of seizures to reduce morbidity | Seizure prediction carries high risk of false positives and false negatives. Prospective clinical trials and clear risk management strategies are required |
| NaNose Medical | Breath based diagnostics using nanotechnology sensors and AI to detect disease biomarkers in exhaled breath | Early screening and triage for conditions such as lung cancer and liver disease | Breath diagnostics are promising but historically variable. Standardisation, population level sensitivity and specificity data and pathway integration will determine utility |
| Nicolab | AI powered stroke workflow platform for rapid diagnosis, image analysis, triage and hospital collaboration | Faster stroke diagnosis and streamlined decision making across care networks | Interoperability with hospital imaging systems and medical imaging regulation must be addressed. Local workflow studies are needed |
| Time is Brain | BraiN20®, a portable AI enabled stroke monitoring device that continuously measures brain function in real time | Near real time monitoring to identify salvageable brain tissue and inform treatment | Claims on detecting salvageable tissue require correlation with imaging and outcomes. Regulatory path and clinical utility studies are necessary |
Why procurement is being promoted as a scaling route
Organisers framed strategic innovation procurement as a lever to accelerate uptake of breakthrough technologies in healthcare. Public procurement, when structured as a demand signal, can buy risk reduction and validation in operational settings. SPIN4EIC aims to connect EIC innovators with public and private buyers and to provide training and hands on assistance for both bidders and procurers.
Practical hurdles flagged by procurers and innovators
Speakers and participants were candid about adoption challenges. They raised multiple practical barriers that routinely slow or block procurement led adoption of digital and device innovations. These include the need for stronger clinical evidence, long regulatory and reimbursement pathways, interoperability with electronic health records and imaging systems, procurement cycles that are not set up for iterative pilots, and hospital procurement rules that prioritise compliance and risk avoidance over experimentation.
What success would look like and what is still needed
For procurement to move promising prototypes into routine care success hinges on a set of complementary steps. First, rigorous clinical validation that demonstrates improved outcomes or efficiency. Second, regulatory clearance that matches the intended use case. Third, clear commercial models and reimbursement pathways for health systems. Fourth, procurement mechanisms that permit staged pilots, shared risk and co creation. And finally, organisational readiness in hospitals to adopt new workflows and to measure impact.
Role of EIC Business Acceleration Services and SPIN4EIC
The multi-procurer day is part of the EIC Business Acceleration Services offer to help EIC backed innovators reach public and private buyer markets. SPIN4EIC sits within the Innovation Procurement Programme and provides training, free assistance for suppliers and buyers, matchmaking and a community platform. The event organisers promoted SPIN4EIC channels for follow up including a website, a LinkedIn group and a newsletter. They also pointed to a helpdesk intended to assist EIC innovators and private buyers in launching procurement challenges.
Implications for innovators, procurers and policy
Events like this bring useful visibility and can seed pilot conversations. They are one piece in a longer chain required to scale medical innovations across European health systems. For innovators the message is familiar. Winning a pitch is only the start. The harder work is building clinical evidence, navigating regulators, proving cost effectiveness and aligning procurement and reimbursement. For procurers the challenge is designing procurement that balances compliance and patient safety with flexibility to test and refine new solutions.
A measured view
Strategic innovation procurement is necessary but not sufficient to deliver connected care at scale. It needs to be combined with funding for evaluation, incentives for hospitals to adopt change, and clear accountability for patient outcomes. Policymakers and programme designers must avoid overselling procurement as a rapid route to scale while continuing to expand practical support to bridge the gap between pilots and widespread deployment.
How to follow up or get involved
Organisers urged innovators and buyers who missed the session to stay engaged via SPIN4EIC channels. Practical next steps signalled during the event were to monitor the SPIN4EIC website, join the EIC Innovation Procurement Programme group on LinkedIn, subscribe to the SPIN4EIC newsletter, and contact the SPIN4EIC helpdesk for personalised support.