The future of medicine has many faces—and on September 14, they all gathered at the Max Liebermann Haus in Berlin. Over 120 guests from startups, politics, clinics, and the investment scene came together for the 4th Healthcare Innovators Bridge (HIB) to witness live how six startups brought their solutions for tomorrow’s healthcare to the stage.
Five-minute pitches, followed by sharp questions from our expert jury (consisting of Kai Uwe Bindseil, Johannes Danckert, Christian Friese, Christian Segal, Silke Sperling, Roger Sturm, and Daniela Teichert): The startups enamentis, Medinexify, platoniq, tio health, Insellar, and NeutroGen Therapeutics impressively showed how much innovative power lies in the healthcare sector. Every single idea made a concrete contribution to the 10-point plan of the European Health Metropolis initiative.
The Winners of the Evening In the end, two teams had special reason to celebrate: 🏆 Audience Award: This went to Hamed Bahmani and the team from Insellar. With a minimally invasive brain interface for the nasal cavity that specifically activates oxytocin networks, they aim to treat severe neurological diseases. 🏆 Jury Award: The team of Holger Münchmeyer, NeutroGen Therapeutics, convinced the jury with universally applicable, freezable neutrophil transfusions that can provide lifesaving care to patients with acute infections in hospitals. Congratulations!
In addition to the startups, the agenda included exciting content impulses: Francesco de Meo set exactly the right tone with his keynote “Just do it? Do it right!” In the subsequent political panel discussion, Moritz Heuberger (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Henry Marx (SPD), Tobias Schulze (Die Linke), and Christian Zander (CDU) debated under the moderation of Karen Piontek and Daniel Dettling on how Berlin can further expand its role as a European health metropolis.
“We are bringing all the people together here now, all the key players, so that startups actually have a chance to flourish in this ecosystem,” Roger Sturm of Gesundheitsstadt Berlin aptly summarized.
A big thank you to our co-hosts, Berliner Sparkasse and Gesundheitsstadt Berlin e.V., for the great collaboration, as well as to all speakers, jury members, and guests. You make the HIB a real highlight of the Berlin healthcare community every year!
You haven’t been there? Then check out the video from Björn Tritschler:
All the event photos – made by Claudia Burger – can be found here: HIB 2026 Photo Gallery
