Medical technology startup EpiGuard selected as the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Oslo Innovation Award
Press release Oslo, Norway, 27th September 2021 – Oslo Innovation Week, on behalf of the City of Oslo and Innovation Norway, is proud to announce medical technology startup, EpiGuard (www.epiguard.com), as the recipient of the 2021 Oslo Innovation Award. Presented during the first day of the of Oslo Innovation Week, the Scandinavian city’s annual week-long technology festival, Ellen Cathrine Andersen, CEO of EpiGuard, collected the award from Vegar Andersen, advisor for the City of Oslo’s Vice Mayor for Business Development and Public Ownership.
Now entering its 14th year, the prestigious Oslo Innovation Award is a collaboration between the City of Oslo and Innovation Norway and is designed to highlight the city’s most innovative startups. The panel made up of previous recipients of the award, business leaders and impact investors, sought out a recipient that had demonstrated their ‘business worthiness’. The companies were considered based on their capacity to problem solve in a way that would create value for the business and for society; with the panel looking to award a scalable, impact-driven startup that had demonstrated the ability to be both ethical and socially responsible, as well as environmentally and economically sustainable. Furthermore, the company had to be a growth company that had proven their ability to scale up their business.
EpiGuard was selected as winner due to their determination to protect healthcare professionals and patients during treatment and transport. During the pandemic EpiGuard’s product – EpiShuttle, a patient transport isolation unit used during transport of infectious patients on land, at sea and in the air – have been an efficient tool in securing the capacity in the health care systems worldwide. When the pandemic in India reached all-time high, EpiShuttle was put in use to transport patients to Europe to initiate life-saving treatment. When the health care system in countries such as France and Switzerland were on the verge of breaking down, EpiShuttle played a crucial part when they transported patients to German intensive care units. The last 19 months have showed that EpiGuard develops products that most countries should have in their inventory when preparing for future pandemics and virus threats.
“We have been working day and night to provide our product to healthcare providers around the world. A product that has saved the lives of hundreds of COVID-19 patients and protected thousands of health care professionals from reinfection. This is just the beginning. Our skilled team are working nonstop to develop sustainable and effective products that will solve problems that health care professionals are facing today and will face in the years to come. We are fully committed to be a part of the solution for future health preparedness and to ensure the capacity of the health care system worldwide.” – Ellen Cathrine Andersen, CEO of EpiGuard comments.
The Jury
In total, five shortlisted growth companies were invited to pitch their business to the Award jury: Karen Dolva – CEO & CoFounder of No Isolation, Pal T. Naess – Co-founder and SVP Growth Projects at Gelato, Laila Danielsen – CEO of Elliptic Labs & jury foreperson, Vice Mayor for Business Development and Public Ownership at the City of Oslo, Victoria Marie Evensen.
About the Oslo Innovation Award
The Oslo Innovation Award was established in 2008 and will be handed out for the 14th year running during Oslo Innovation Week 2021. This award is a collaboration between the City of Oslo and Innovation Norway and the goal of the Oslo Innovation Award is to showcase the city’s pioneering startups, confirming Oslo’s position as a leading, innovative technology hub. Previous winners include Kahoot, Gelato and Otovo.
About Oslo Innovation Week
Oslo Innovation Week (oiw.no) is hosted every September in Oslo, Norway, and for the past 16 years it has gathered 15,000 business leaders and founders, with 30% attending from overseas. The event aims to highlight real global solutions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, through entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation.
About EpiGuard
EpiGuard (www.epiguard.com) is a Norwegian company established in 2015 by a group of doctors at the Oslo University Hospital, together with co-founders Inven2, Eker Group, and Hansen Protection. Our team of medical experts and engineers develop products that provides better solutions for safe transportation of contagious patients. Our first product, EpiShuttle, was developed based on analysis and clinical fist-hand experience from previous global epidemics. Our medical background ranges from intensive care, infectious diseases, internal medicine and anesthesiology, and transport medicine. EpiShuttle improves patient safety and care, the safety for health care providers, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency. We aim to continue to develop and manufacture high-end medical equipment for safe transport of contagious patients. Saving one – protecting everyone.
