About HVL team

Health Venture Lab is a global network helping teams disrupt healthcare. We nurture innovation projects, decreasing their risk factors during commercialization and strengthening the value they create. 

Who we are

HVL was born out of an opportunity with EIT Health to create a support system for innovative healthcare projects. The founding mission was to provide startups with a value-building access point for teams to collaborate and partner with industry and academic institutions. 

All of the trainers, speakers, and mentors who participate in our programs are curated from a diverse range of healthcare players. Experts from partner Universities, GE Healthcare’s organisational department and its Research and Development teams, independent experts, and business coaches are all included to provide teams with holistic advice.

At the end of the day, our growing international alumni and mentor community is our greatest strength. HVL has become the first step in the internationalization of many of our participating startups. The community provides teams with personal relationships in the Healthcare sector in multiple European countries.

 

Meet the team

Olivia Blanchard

Olivia fell into the innovation ecosystems right at the beginning of her career at the GLOBSEC Danube Tech Valley Initiative. The native French started in consulting, and has experience as a liaison interpreter: can you guess which are the six languages she speaks? Being an alumna of ISIT Paris, she has a strong understanding of intercultural communications, international relations and languages. Olivia has also been dedicated to her nonprofit work on the Board of Directors of BETA Europe and BETA France for years.

As Managing Director of Health Venture Lab, she is dedicated to empowering the next generation of innovators, bringing innovation to healthcare and inspiring a strong team through a holistic approach.

Innovation is the heartbeat of progress, I hope to lead the way as Managing Director. I am convinced that Health Venture Lab is destined to transform the future of healthcare one breakthrough at a time.

Ernest Lara

Ernest is the manager of Catalyst Europe, a biomedical innovation program for scientists, engineers and clinicians to develop research ideas with a high potential for impact. Guided by MIT LinQ Catalyst methodology, participants work closely with a team of European and Boston-based faculty mentors and organizations in a translation-oriented process to develop need-driven biomedical opportunities. The process is based on a multi-stakeholder and international approach that fosters collaboration among universities, hospitals and private companies with the objective to increase the potential of biomedical research and build innovation capacity in the regions involved. Ernest is responsible for managing the Catalyst Europe program, as well as for building the Catalyst Europe consortium and nurturing the relationship among its partners. 

Collaborations with purpose, aimed at creating impactful value, are the flowerbeds where the seeds of innovation can thrive, grow, and flourish into solutions that change the world. Health Venture Lab nourishes that soil by aligning a unique network of stakeholders committed to cultivating groundbreaking healthcare and climate innovations.

Mercè Feu

Mercè is Operations Manager at Catalyst Europe, a network of universities, hospitals and companies that join forces to deploy the Catalyst methodology in Europe. Catalyst is a principled methodology developed by MIT whose mission is to increase the potential impact of biomedical research and improve the likelihood that newly developed solutions will address unmet healthcare needs.
Previously, Mercè was Operations Director in the innovation unit at Richi Foundation, where she managed an international innovation program that scouts and selects healthcare and cleantech startups from all over the world and accelerates them by connecting them with Boston's innovation ecosystem. Mercè has been a member of founding teams in 3 different tech-based startups, one of them successfully acquired by a London Stock Exchange AIM-listed company. She has participated as a jury member in MassChallenge HealthTech and in the European Institute of Innovation & Technology for Health (EIT Health) Headstart startup programs. She has participated as a mentor at MIT IDEA2 innovation program. 

I strongly believe in impact-based solutions generated through multidisciplinary collaborations. Building innovation capacity in the regions where innovators are, and fostering cross-team collaborations, is key for their success, and HVL strongly supports that.

 

Barbara Pánczél

Barbara, a Program Manager at the #HelloAI program, is a highly motivated and self-directed professional with academic degrees in economics and an MBA. She is dedicated to actively engaging with organizations seeking to bridge the gap between AI and healthcare. Leveraging her knowledge, insights, and technical expertise, she aims to foster collaboration and drive innovation, enabling healthcare organizations to harness the transformative potential of AI. Through strategic partnerships, thoughtful implementation, and ongoing collaboration, she is committed to spearheading advancements that will shape the future of healthcare and improve patient outcomes globally. Barbara as one of the founder organizers, has been a member of the HelloAI family since its inception in 2018, tirelessly supporting a program that provides essential and comprehensive insights about AI technology in healthcare, ultimately helping deliver better patient care.

As #HelloAI's program manager, I'm dedicated to leading the AI healthcare revolution by offering a tailored program for healthcare experts, tech leaders, students, and AI enthusiasts. Join me to be at the forefront of healthcare transformation, leveraging AI to improve patient outcomes and revolutionize the healthcare workforce.

 

Daniel Szemerey

Daniel sharpened his entrepreneurial skills by building MakerMap, a manufacturing startup in his domain of expertise: architecture. In addition to gaining first-hand experience with product development, customer acquisition, and fundraising, he also cultivated a deep appreciation for IP-heavy innovation while building his company.

As Strategic Advisor of Health Venture Lab, he is dedicated to designing a partner network and program series that supports health innovation teams throughout their journey toward commercialization. 

Entrepreneurs that work in healthcare innovation have a lot of courage — it’s one of the most difficult paths to take. They’re also incredibly smart. Out of every innovation field, healthcare has one of the biggest potentials for direct impact, which is what drives me to create the most supportive partner network possible with HVL.