The EU’s program for innovation and research, EU Horizon, has chosen to support the pioneering health technology company HoloCare with more than 8.9 million euros. – This is the largest funding support that has been made to a small company in the Nordics for many years. It is a great recognition for HoloCare and a milestone for the team after many years of research and development, says Sergio Ferreira, EU advisor in the health cluster Norway Health Tech.

The cluster has supported Holocare for several years with its strategy and approach to EU funding, culminating in this important breakthrough.

HoloCare AS develops 3D technology based on AI machine learning that transforms how clinicians see and interact with medical images.

– With the help of intuitive holograms, clinicians can get a better understanding of the patient’s anatomy and thus make it easier to communicate about and plan surgeries. The result is reduced time spent, better patient safety and a lower probability of surgical complications, says Alison Sundset, the CEO of HoloCare.

HoloCare started as a project with Sopra Steria in collaboration with clinicians at Oslo University Hospital, and with advisory and financial support from the Research Council, Innovayt, Norway Health Tech and ALEAP. Sopra Steria invested in HoloCare to bring the holographic technology to market. In 2019, HoloCare was established as a limited company with Sopra Steria as the main shareholder, together with Invent2.

The award from the EU enables HoloCare to invest in the development of the solution and take it to the next level, which will make it more dynamic and enable the surgeons to use it in real time during operations. The EU Grant funds the HoloSurge Project starting on the 1st of January 2024 and running for 4 years.

Solfrid Skilbrigt is HR and strategy director at Sopra Steria Norge and chairman of the board at HoloCare AS. She says that the funds allocated to HoloCare by the EU Horizon project mean that the company can now carry out the clinical studies that are necessary to take the solution all the way into the operating room and speed up the further development of more solutions.

– This will speed up the time it takes to bring the solution into the operating theater globally, as an approved commercial medical equipment, she says.

Skilbrigt says that HoloCare also has got the CE marking for its first product – which is proof that the product meets the necessary EU requirements:

– A crucial milestone in HoloCare’s journey is to obtain the CE marking for the surgery planning tool which ensures compliance with European health, safety and environmental standards. Many European hospitals look forward to start using the solution, she says.

Also part of the project with important contributions are Norway Health Tech members SINTEF and Oslo University Hospital , giving weight to the quality of research and innovation in Norway.

Factbox: HoloCare

• Develops digital holograms that enable collaboration between clinicians
• Started in 2016 as a research project collaboration between Sopra Steria and Oslo University Hospital (OUS)
• Was established as a separate AS in 2019
• Received EU Horizon funding in 2023, enabling further development of the solution to allow surgeons to collaborate in real time, clinical trials and commercialization
• Partners in the project have been Inven2 (OUS’s commercialization unit), Innovayt, Norway Health Tech and the health incubator Aleap