Investing in the e-health sector through its medical decision-support software HEALTHENTIA was an obvious choice for Greek entrepreneur Sofoklis Kyriazakos. For his establishment in Brussels, he chose the BLSI (Brussels Life Science Incubator).
As a specialist in ICT and the founder of INNOVATION SPRINT in 2016, he was drawn to the Brussels-based public incubator, co-founded in 2006 with UCLouvain, which focuses on life sciences and healthcare.
A Dual Role
Holding multiple university degrees from Greece and Germany, this recognized expert and savvy businessman taught innovation management and entrepreneurship in e-health at Aarhus University (Denmark) for several years while simultaneously developing his entrepreneurial ventures. However, this intense and fruitful period came to an end two years ago.
Sofoklis Kyriazakos: “For a long time, I tried to balance both aspects of my career, but eventually, I had to give up the academic side to fully dedicate myself to growing INNOVATION SPRINT and its flagship product, HEALTHENTIA.”
Questioning as a Driving Force
HEALTHENTIA is a Class IIa certified medical device software designed for managing chronic diseases and adapting patients’ lifestyles. It collects, visualizes, and calculates patients’ physiological parameters to facilitate monitoring and decision-making in medical treatment or clinical trials. Since lifestyle is a major factor in chronic diseases, HEALTHENTIA incorporates virtual coaching to encourage behavioral change.
This initiative started in 2015 when Sofoklis Kyriazakos began reflecting on his career path. “Despite the severe economic crisis that hit Greece that year, the e-commerce company I was running there continued to do well,” he recalls. “However, the situation triggered a realization in me and the desire to pursue a more impactful venture. It wasn’t an easy decision, as I was leaving behind a stable and profitable position. But I have never regretted it!”
The Brussels Ecosystem
Sofoklis Kyriazakos then turned to healthcare, a field in which he had deepened his expertise during his academic career. In 2016, he founded INNOVATION SPRINT and started developing HEALTHENTIA, choosing Brussels as his base.
“I love this city for its human scale—not too big, not too small,” he comments. “I have many connections here, both personal and professional. Since 1999, I’ve worked on various European Community projects. In terms of business, we are at the heart of Europe, in a country at the forefront of life sciences. Being hosted at BLSI was the perfect option, as it provides an environment conducive to startups in lifetech and medtech.”
The Irreplaceable Support of lifetech.brussels
At the start of his journey, Sofoklis had a clear goal: to bring a health product to market. But it was more complex than he expected. “I thought I understood the sector’s requirements. I was completely wrong!” he laughs. “I quickly realized how highly regulated this field is and that we needed to refine our objective. We chose to focus on medical devices, which turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated. Fortunately, we received great support from the lifetech.brussels cluster, particularly through the MedTech Accelerator program. It provided us with valuable contacts, answers to our questions, recommendations, and visibility through events. The team is fantastic and committed. We maintain regular contact, and I’m proud to have joined its Advisory Board.”
COVID-19 as an Accelerator
A second crisis accelerated the development of HEALTHENTIA: the COVID-19 pandemic, which paralyzed the world in early 2020, with Europe’s epicenter in northern Italy.
“I told my team we had to act and help solve this crisis,” says Sofoklis Kyriazakos. “We already had connections in Italy, so we offered our application for free to Gemelli Hospital (Rome), one of the country’s leading hospitals, to help manage symptomatic patients.”
The hospital also used the software for other patient- and staff-focused actions, making Sofoklis Kyriazakos proud. “As an entrepreneur, I obviously care about my company’s profitability—I want it to grow, create jobs, and generate revenue. But once we started working with patients, doctors, and hospitals, and received their feedback, I realized something much more important.”
Future Plans
The company has since pursued the necessary steps to certify HEALTHENTIA as a Class 1 and then Class 2 medical device, which was achieved by the end of 2024. With a team of 17 people and a turnover of €1 million, INNOVATION SPRINT continues expanding into ten countries. However, there is one regret: not entering the Brussels and Belgian markets sooner. But the journey is far from over.
“We are already present in 13 hospitals in Belgium and 35 abroad. In 2025, we plan to strengthen our local hospital presence,” says the entrepreneur, who remains committed to running the startup from Brussels, which he still sees as the place to be for e-health.
