The enthusiasm of young people in tackling health challenges is truly remarkable. Three student teams from various nationalities and specialties, combined their knowledge, produced work and presented their business models and products to the public during the Beyond Pre-Accelerator Demo Day, held on Thursday, 11 March 2025 at the ASBIS TECH CLUSTER in Limassol.

Students, academics and representatives of the business world attended the teams’ presentations, engaging with the teams to discuss their products or services in detail and observe them in practice, as most teams created their product in its simplest commercial form (MVP). The students' ideas are crucial to enhancing the value provided to healthcare, patients, and the health system.

During the event, the three finalist student companies had the opportunity to present their innovative business ideas and were evaluated through interviews by the Jury committee. The jury committee consisted of Kyriakos Fialogiannos (Gravity Ventures Incubator, Investment Portfolio Manager), Loukia Samata (Novartis, Access & Partnership Head, Cyprus & Malta), Michalis Strouthos (Cocoon Creations, Co-founder and CEO) and Marina Hadjicharalambous-Ryder (Theramir, Molecular Pharmacologist).

The winning team of the Beyond Pre-Accelerator 2025 was the idea of the pHera team. pHera is a groundbreaking medical innovation that improves the safety and efficacy of nasogastric (NG) tube placement. Their complete solution features a built-in pH sensor for instant confirmation of correct positioning, reducing risks and making it easier for healthcare professionals in hospitals and home care worldwide.

pHera team will have the opportunity to attend and present their idea at the JA Bulgaria National Competition on March 27th. The Cypriot team will be represented by Karthikayini Gomathinayagam, Ron Poon, Alma Sato and Loukia Hadjilazarou.

Briefly the descriptions of the products/services of the remaining 2 groups:

• AutiRealm is an innovative virtual reality game that helps children with autism adapt to the real world. Through realistic scenarios, it offers safe practice in social interactions and life skills, with AI and real-time feedback for personalized guidance.

• Care Tag is a revolutionary device that connects medical databases between hospitals and institutions. It provides fast, simple and efficient access to patient medical records, anywhere, anytime. Saving lives is just a touch away.

Junior Achievement Cyprus with the sponsorship of Novartis Pharma Services Inc. Cyprus and the support of 10 partners/organizations: Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Cocoon Creations, CYENS Centre of Excellence, Cyprus Federation of Patient Associations (OSAC), Cyprus Oncology Society, Cyprus Seeds, Gravity Ventures, Idea Innovation Centre, Karaiskakio Foundation, Kinisis Ventures, implemented the Beyond Pre-Accelerator programme for the third time in Cyprus. This programme aims to encourage students and young people to propose solutions for Prevention, Early Diagnosis and Treatment, Psychosocial support, Reintegration and Palliative Care, Case Recording and Health Research.

The Beyond Pre-Accelerator programme is a bridge between entrepreneurship training programmes implemented at universities or by other institutions and specialized Incubators and Accelerators (Business Idea Incubators and Startup Accelerators). Essentially, students of all levels (Bachelor, Master, PhD) are guided through the programme to develop their own business ideas in the health sector, going as far as creating a product in its simplest commercial form (Minimum Viable Product).

Junior Achievement Cyprus is a member of the global non-profit organization JA Worldwide and specializes in entrepreneurship, financial literacy and labor market education.  More information can be found on www.jacyprus.org website.

Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational, innovative pharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis Pharma Services Inc. Cyprus is the local representative and has been operating in the country since 2009. Our purpose is to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people's lives. We use innovative science and technology to address some of society's most challenging healthcare issues. We discover and develop breakthrough treatments and find new ways to deliver them to as many people as possible.  In 2024, our medicines reached 296 million patients around the world.  More information can be found at https://www.novartis.com/, or the local Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/NovartisCyprus.