Among the partners of the lifetech.brussels cluster, SUPERELLIPSE—an innovation and design agency firmly rooted in Flanders—is delighted with a collaboration it considers both relevant and mutually beneficial. Its leadership agreed to lift the veil on the agency’s activities and its interactions with the cluster and its members.
In Brussels, the health and life sciences ecosystem has no intention of closing itself off in a hermetic bubble. The lifetech.brussels cluster encourages its members to look outward. It is open to all companies active in medtech, e-health, or biotech that wish to engage in its activities, even if they are not based in Brussels. As a result, it attracts the interest of partners whose headquarters lie beyond the capital’s borders.
Strategy, design, and engineering in the spotlight
Among them is SUPERELLIPSE, a renowned Belgian innovation and design agency that is also active internationally. From its offices in Mechelen and Antwerp, it helps companies of all sizes—as well as public administrations and infrastructures such as universities and hospitals—to imagine, design, and launch new products or services by combining strategy, design, and engineering. It has developed several specialized divisions, including a strong focus on health and medtech.
“Medical devices must comply with very strict standards, which requires specific expertise,” explain Tine Peeters, Partner, and Tim Ruytjens, Lead Product Design & Engineering at SUPERELLIPSE. “That is why we have a team dedicated to medical projects, including biomedical engineers, ergonomics experts, and even a physician. We also hold certifications such as ISO 13485, which are essential for the development of medical devices. In addition, our in-house prototyping lab enables us to physically validate concepts and produce pilot batches for clinical trials.
We work with a wide range of clients developing innovative technologies: universities, hospitals, startups, as well as more mature companies seeking renewal and external innovation. We position ourselves as a fully-fledged partner, from concept through to market launch. Beyond our technical and strategic expertise, we also deliver concrete outputs: prototypes, pilot series, regulatory validation. Our service goes beyond consultancy—we provide tangible contributions at every stage of development. We bring our knowledge and expertise into our clients’ projects to help structure and accelerate their innovation processes.”
Advice and support
SUPERELLIPSE’s approach is particularly well suited to startups.
“We aim to support them so they can grow faster and bring their products to market efficiently,” explain Tine Peeters and Tim Ruytjens. “This is essential in the medtech sector, where—with the right product strategy and a precise project plan—we ensure that development is optimized for certification as well as functional and clinical testing. We strive to minimize development costs by focusing on what truly matters. Rather than making large upfront investments, we prioritize a clear and phased roadmap.
When working with startups on their hardware and/or software products, we also support them—when needed—in identifying grants and other funding sources. Our involvement is often seen as a true mark of quality: investors and partners tend to place greater trust in projects when we are involved in the technology and innovation.”
To date, SUPERELLIPSE has supported companies in the health and medtech sectors across projects involving the development of medical devices, prosthetics, surgical tools, diagnostic or monitoring systems, medical wearables and connected devices, digital health solutions, patient experience, and the organization of care pathways, among others.
From collaboration to complementarity
It is in this context that SUPERELLIPSE connected with the lifetech.brussels cluster.
“We see real added value in our interactions with the cluster,” says Tine Peeters. “The Brussels context and the strong presence of startups in the region make this collaboration particularly relevant. The lifetech cluster is an extremely valuable partner for us, as it provides access to early-stage startups, where innovation is highly present. Supporting them towards greater maturity and market readiness is precisely our mission.
We have already successfully carried out several projects and significantly strengthened our collaboration with the cluster—to the point that it has evolved into a genuinely complementary relationship. We intend to reinforce it even further in the future.”
Concrete and effective support
More broadly, Tine Peeters sees nothing but strengths in the work of the lifetech.brussels cluster.
“We truly appreciate the work of organizations like lifetech, which actively engage with startups and offer them concrete opportunities,” she says. The lifetech cluster creates “spaces for exchange where ideas can emerge and grow. For many still-fragile startups, such moments of interaction are key opportunities to take important steps forward.
Support from the earliest stages of projects is essential. Without this initial backing, many projects would simply never come to life. It helps turn ideas into reality and fosters innovation.
What distinguishes the cluster from other organizations is its approach: it is accessible, locally anchored, and strongly collaboration-driven. It creates a genuine ecosystem in which startups can learn from one another, strengthen each other, and stay informed about technological and regulatory developments. This dynamic is what makes the cluster’s actions particularly valuable: it does not merely provide opportunities, but enables startups to move forward in a concrete and sustainable way.”
website: https://www.superellipse.be/