Koen HARMS has a heavy background in Private Equity and digital transformation in the healthcare sector. He is the Director of Strategy and Business Development of the PHILIPS Group investment fund: : Philips Ventures.
Koen was at the START-UP GOLF CHALLENGE to listen to the MY PITCH IS GOOD Pitchers and exchange with entrepreneurs and innovation actors..
Here is his Interview :
Introduction
Koen HARMS :
Thank you for inviting me, I’m Koen Harms, I work at Philips, at Philips Ventures.
We are the investment arm of Philips Healthcare Technology, a technology group.
What is the Mission of PHILIPS VENTURES ?
Koen HARMS :
For Philips it is important to collaborate and invest in start-ups.
We believe in their power of innovation, and we think it’s important to leverage this power of innovation within our solutions that we offer worldwide.
That’s why we invest in start-ups. We work with them, and if we invest in startups, we make sure that we have a full, dedicated development for those startups to grow and develop.
Most of the investments we make are usually in Series A. We also invest in Seed but it has to be very close to the Strategy we want to follow and we don’t have the knowledge or the capabilities internally.
So it’s always interesting to get in touch with innovative solutions in Healthcare.
What is the Investment Thesis of PHILIPS VENTURES ?
Koen HARMS :
There are different types of start-ups that we invest in. The main target we have today is digital. So … Platforms, AI (Artificial Intelligence) …
…and other digital solutions that create communication like interoperability.
For these, I would say that they must have a finalized product and they must be customer oriented so with a Product – Market fit.
If we look more at the companies we invest in that develop devices. It’s important that we have medical validity of the finalized product.
So most of the time we don’t invest in the first stage where the product still needs to be developed, etc.
But if we look at the devices, they don’t need customers yet, so there we can help them on that.
“PHILIPS VENTURES, We work with innovators and invest in projects that make the future in healthcare”
Relationship – Startup and Philips Ventures activities
What is the relationship between Philips Group and the Start-up ?
Koen HARMS :
The healthcare sector is a very interesting but also very complex business. I strongly believe that the combination of a corporate and a start-up must have two things to work successfully in healthcare.
The first: The speed and agility that a startup has to become innovative.
The second: The power and also the means that they can have to open doors and distribute worldwide and that’s what Philips can offer. So I strongly believe in the collaboration between the Startup and the Group, and we would be happy to discuss this with you and see how we can help you!
Interview made at the START-UP GOLF CHALLENGE of Paris by Fabrice Clément at golf de l’Isle Adam
For more information : PHILIPS VENTURES
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