Nanshan Life and BE Health Collaborate with Startups to Implement HealthTech Applications
Anue News | Reporter: Chen Yu-ching, Taipei May 16, 2024, 16:46
Nanshan Life’s “Health Prototyping Circle” has expanded into the bio-medical startup sector by partnering with the accelerator under BE Health. Together, they participated in the “Digital Health Tech Implementation Pilot Program,” supported by the Startup Terrace Kaohsiung (Yawan) under the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Through a 6-to-12-month training program, the initiative assisted five shortlisted startup teams in accelerating the commercial implementation of their services. Simultaneously, Nanshan Life has integrated these startup services into its “Heart-Warming Service” for policyholders. By combining financial insurance with startup innovation, Nanshan aims to provide premium health management services and continuously drive the innovative development of medical technology in Taiwan.
Nanshan Life recently held a “Demo Day” to showcase the highlight achievements of the startup teams. (Photo provided by Nanshan Life)
“Taiwan is facing a severe aging society and declining birthrate. Many elderly people lack children to care for them. How to continue assisting policyholders after insurance payouts is a direction Nanshan has been diligently exploring,” stated Nanshan Life. As a leader in health insurance, Nanshan Life embraces the responsibility of caring for an aging society and is committed to accelerating the transformation of insurance services. In 2020, Nanshan collaborated with the healthcare industry to create the “Health Prototyping Circle,” where partners provide diverse health management services to policyholders. This collaboration with BE Health leverages insurance industry insights to offer startups business model suggestions, nurturing MedTech development and applying it to Nanshan’s service system.
BE Health encompasses both Venture Capital and Accelerator systems. Among them, BE Accelerator, established in 2018, has fostered over 140 startup teams with total fundraising reaching $200 million. BE Health actively invests resources in healthcare startups, assisting enterprises in collaborating with startups through innovative thinking to cross-industry and market boundaries.
In this startup nurturing program, several department heads from Nanshan Life provided mentorship. They offered market insights from an insurance perspective, diagnosing market environments, target audiences, and service processes to accelerate “Proof of Concept” (PoC) and “Proof of Business” (PoB). These efforts ensure that startup solutions align more closely with market demands and user pain points.
Beyond Nanshan’s cross-departmental mentors, BE Health held over 20 one-on-one co-creation meetings with the five shortlisted startups, focusing on the innovation of medical insurance ecosystems and comprehensive insurance products.
The five participating startups include:
-
Chierbao (Qi-er-bao): AI-powered customized language therapy and developmental support for toddlers.
-
Dentall (Taiwan Dental e-Port): A digital transformation solution for dentistry, including cloud-based clinic management and AI-assisted diagnostic software.
-
Couchspace (Lian-shuo Technology): Taiwan’s largest mindfulness meditation app, combining online psychological counseling and modern EAP (Employee Assistance Programs).
-
Wengia (Net-Jia Medical Tech): A “Virtual Sleep Center” (SaaS) that detects sleep apnea and treats comorbidities such as diabetes and sleep disorders.
-
Lu-Ji Technology: Wearable accessories for seniors featuring GPS positioning, fall detection, and phone protection.
To provide comprehensive care, Nanshan Life has integrated two of these services into its policyholder service system. First, partnering with Dentall to provide home dental services for policyholders with mobility issues. Second, collaborating with Chierbao to offer remote AI-customized home-based early intervention training for children during their golden treatment period.
Nanshan Life stated that insurance companies have evolved beyond providing only financial compensation. Nanshan has transitioned from “Nanshan for Good Insurance” to “Nanshan for Good Health.” By fostering MedTech startups with BE Health, Nanshan hopes to drive Taiwan’s medical technology forward and apply innovative tech within financial insurance scenarios to help policyholders live healthier lives.
