EU|BIC IPN embeds an incubator inside a hospital, giving medtech startups the clinical validation they need to reach global markets

A medtech startup needs clinical access to validate their products. Validation brings investment and allows them to apply for regulatory approval. It is the essential step before any foreign market becomes reachable. Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), a certified EU|BIC in Coimbra, tackled this head-on by embedding an incubation space directly within the University Hospital of Coimbra.

In October 2024, IPN signed a formal partnership with ULS Coimbra, the local health unit that runs the University Hospital of Coimbra. The partnership established an incubation space physically inside the hospital, where health startups can work alongside the clinicians to refine technologies based on real-world needs. This integration enables streamlined validation as innovations undergo preliminary testing in controlled clinical settings, which accelerates the path to proof of concept. This collaborative model also creates resource optimisation. The university, the incubator, and the hospital share infrastructure, which reduces the overhead for early-stage medtech development.

The partnership also trains ULS Coimbra staff to run and support incubation activity. Staff develop the capacity to receive and work with startups, rather than treating them as visitors. Together, the agreement makes the hospital a co-builder as well as an end user.

The ROSIA project shows what that proximity can produce. ROSIA is a European Pre-Commercial Procurement initiative with a budget of €5 million involving 12 partners across 5 countries. IPN is one of those partners, and ULS Coimbra is one of three clinical validation sites. The project’s goal is an intelligent platform for remote rehabilitation, built for patients in rural and geographically isolated regions who cannot easily reach specialist care. Two solutions were developed through a competitive process and tested in real clinical settings. By the time the pilot phase completed in 2025, more than 100 patients across the three countries had used the platforms, covering conditions including spinal cord injury, stroke, severe traumatic brain injury and respiratory disease. The Coimbra site, made possible by the relationship IPN had built with ULS, was one of the places that made that validation happen.