On April 29, 2025, the SPARK China Advisory Committee was officially established. The first group of committee members bring together industry leaders from well-known organizations, including the head of China Association for Medical Devices Industry, managing partner of Medtronic China Venture, general manager of Abbott China Structural Heart, founder of Ruixi Medical, and managing partner […]
Author Archives: Mario Gaspar
Tribune Therapeutics Raises €37M to Develop Anti-Fibrotic Therapies
Tribune Therapeutics, co-founded by SPARK Norway alumnus Ole Joergen Kaasbøll, has raised €37 million in Seed and Series A funding to accelerate its anti-fibrotic drug development. The company is focused on creating novel therapies for fibrotic diseases, which remain a major unmet medical need. This milestone highlights the growing impact of SPARK alumni in advancing […]
SPARK Denmark Alumnus Launches Akasi Pharma to Tackle Neuropathic Pain Without Opioids
We congratulate Walden Bjørn-Yoshimoto who was enrolled in the first cohort in the Danish SPARK programme in 2023 and has established a biotech company, Akasi Pharma in 2025. The company is focusing on new non-opioid treatments for neuropathic pain. Akasi Pharma has established funding from the Danish Biotech incubator BioInnovation Institute.
AI Startup Retinov Aims to Prevent Vision Loss from Age-Related Macular Degeneration
SPARK Bordeaux’s Soufiane Ajana created Retinov which is a digital platform designed to predict the risk of developing Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss. It uses AI-based solutions to provide personalized insights and preventive measures. The tool includes a blood test called “Tina,” which evaluates Omega-3 levels in the retina, as […]
AI-BASED METHOD FOR AGE PREDICTION, MORTALITY RISK, AND GEROPROTECTIVE VALIDATION
Jena, Germany. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI) in Jena have achieved remarkable success in securing federal funding through the GO-Bio Initial program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). After securing funding for in 2023, they succeeded again now. Dr.-Ing. Debdas Paul, a postdoctoral data scientist […]
Three SPARK Japan Universities Designated as Medical Startup Support Centers in New Government Program
Left to right: Takeshi Machino, Koji Todaka, Yoshihiro Arakawa, Kenji Konomi We are thrilled to announce that three SPARK Japan universities—University of Tsukuba, Keio University, and Kyushu University—have been selected as medical startup support centers through a new 5-year government program. Each university will receive over $20M from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and […]
10th Annual SPARK Global Meeting
The 10th Annual SPARK Global Meeting was held at Stanford University from September 16-17, 2024, in the Li Ka Shing Center. Over the course of 1 ½ days, attendees explored the transformative role of AI in medicine through insightful presentations and engaged in dynamic roundtable discussions addressing challenges and solutions in launching and running SPARK […]
SPARK Gorongosa Launches in Rural Mozambique
From April to August 2024, the SPARK Gorongosa program brought together Mozambican students, teachers, and medical professionals to address the region’s unmet health challenges. Beginning in April with weekly Zoom lectures led by Dr. Peter Santa Maria, Director of SPARK Global, and featuring guest lecturers like Dr. Daria Mochly-Rosen, President and Founder of SPARK Global, […]