Czech MedTech and AI companies on a mission to explore Phoenix business and innovation ecosystem

Together with Prague City Hall, the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles and the City of Phoenix (Phoenix Sister Cities), CzechInvest organised a foreign business mission for Prague-based companies focused on AI and medical technologies between 16 and 20 May 2022. Over the course of five days, the companies had the opportunity to visit research institutions such as Arizona State University's MedTech accelerator and Mayo Clinic, the biomechanical laboratories of the CORE Institution and MORE Foundation, and Grand Canyon University.

The business mission was led by Jaromír Beránek, representative of the City of Prague and chairman of the IT and SmartCity Committee, and included a total of six companies focused on artificial intelligence and medical technology: Aireen, PromethistAI, MEBSTER, APify, Iterait and Born Digital. In addition to these six young companies, the Czech delegation also included Zbyněk Škvor, vice-rector of the Czech Technical University, and Jaroslav Olša, consul general of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles.

The business mission commenced with an official welcome by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. In the following days, the delegation visited Arizona State Univerzity and Mayo Clinic's MedTech Accelerator, toured Grand Canyon University and the Canyon Ventures Center for Innovation, and found inspiration at the biomechanical laboratories belonging to the CORE Institute and MORE Foundation. Another interesting aspect of the mission was a discussion with the chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Barrow Neurological Institute about the necessity of innovation in healthcare.

In the evening of the last day, the Czech startups got a special opportunity to present their projects at a roundtable discussion on the common issue of AI/Big Data in Healthcare at the Thursday Gathering of startups at Venture Café in Phoenix.

CzechInvest supports companies in expanding globally and sent 195 companies out into the world between 2016 and 2020. The United States is the most popular destination, as more than half of startups take their business there within CzechInvest's programmes.