Network Healthcare Shapers Becomes New Mentoring Partner of hei_INNOVATION
June 20, 2026
published by hei_INNOVATION
hei_INNOVATION has gained a new mentoring partner, Healthcare Shapers, to provide start-up support in the healthcare sector. This international network of experienced consultants from the life sciences industry will now be involved in the start-up support program run by Heidelberg University’s Transfer Agency. The goal of the collaboration is to transform scientific innovations from Heidelberg into marketable solutions for the healthcare sector more quickly and effectively.
At the mentor kick-off event on May 20, experienced advisors from Healthcare Shapers, mentors from the Heidelberg Alumni International (HAI) network, and members of the university’s innovation community met for the first time with start-up teams and the start-up advisory team from hei_INNOVATION. Going forward, the focus will be on early-stage collaboration between academia and the market—a crucial lever for developing innovative projects stemming from research into viable ventures.
Drawing on their expertise in the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medtech markets, the mentors will support start-up teams from Heidelberg University—particularly in validating market demand, business models, and regulatory requirements within a highly complex market environment. At the same time, they will provide access to established networks of industry partners, investors, and funding initiatives—resources that are often difficult for research-based start-up teams to access.
For hei_INNOVATION, this collaboration specifically strengthens the innovation ecosystem surrounding Heidelberg University: “With the Healthcare Shapers, we are gaining individuals who bring entrepreneurial experience, industry knowledge, and practical insights to the table. This inspires researchers interested in starting a business and improves the conditions for sustainable technology transfer success,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Katja Patzel-Mattern, Vice Rector for Innovation and Technology Transfer at Heidelberg University.
“In the healthcare market in particular, future success is determined very early on—by the question of which real-world problem is being solved and whether there is a viable business model behind it. That’s why engaging with experienced business mentors is of great value to start-up teams coming from academia,” explains Dr. Michael Gerards, a member of the start-up consulting and support team at hei_INNOVATION.
This new partnership thus joins hei_INNOVATION’s growing network of regional, national, and international innovation and start-up initiatives and specifically strengthens the mentoring and advisory services available to start-up teams in the healthcare sector. In the healthcare and life sciences sector, these include, among others, Startup Factory NXTGN, the Health+Life Science Alliance, the Life Science Accelerator Baden-Württemberg, and the bioRN cluster. As a university of excellence, Heidelberg is also firmly anchored in the Heidelberg-Mannheim innovation hub through its medical faculties and institutions such as the DKFZ, the MPI, and the EMBL. The collaboration with Healthcare Shapers thus helps to translate excellent research from Heidelberg University into practical applications more quickly and sustainably.
