– Nieuws, September 2025 – 

We are happy to announce the winner of the Responsible AI in Health Care startup competition! Deep Breath did a great job pitching their innovative solution that makes ventilation safer through real-time, AI supported decision-making with the aim to reduce ICU mortality. They were also found most convincing in how they integrated good practices for Responsible Development of AI. The competition was co-organized by Rotterdam Square and the Convergence Centre for Responsible AI in Health Care. Rotterdam Square connects the Life Sciences & Health ecosystem in the Rotterdam region and sponsored the 10.000,- euro prize money.

The competition was part of the Convergence conference on Responsible AI in Health Care, in which important voices to realize responsible AI for health care were brought together. Medical specialists, academics from various disciplines, R&D teams, designers, and start-ups joined the debate on the question of how to shape this transition in a responsible way. The competition not only provided insights into new AI innovations but also sparked interdisciplinary discussions to ensure safe and fair usage for providers and patients.

“The mix of the jury makes it’s really refreshing.”, says Daria Kozlova, Co – founder & CMO of Deep Breath. Daria feels inspired to be surrounded by like-minded people and finds the connections made during the conference very valuable. With regards to the responsible use of AI, she wonders if clinicians in general want startups to go deeper into explaining their AI models and technology, or if they prefer a simpler approach.

The conference centered around 6 main topics: Collection and sharing of healthcare data for AI (data projects); The (value-sensitive) development of AI systems and their fit with work floor demands; Interactions between AI, healthcare professionals, and/or patients; Implementation and operationalization of AI systems; Evaluation and accountability of (socio-technical systems including) AI in healthcare and Governance and regulation for AI in healthcare.

Six finalists were pre-selected out of the sixteen submissions.  Leven vision, Juvoly, Deep Breath, Ameretat Health, PAVA and MyClusters got a chance to present in front of a jury of top-tier industry peers, investors, clinicians and academics. The startups and their innovations brought fruitful discussions between and among the start-ups and academics. The selection was based on the following criteria: Problem urgency, Solution & Value Proposition, Market Potential & Business Model, Societal Impact & Equity, Responsible by Design, Ethical & Regulatory readiness, Stakeholder Engagement, Implementation Readiness & Scalability, Team, Quality of Submission & Investment need.

The jury was chaired by Ellen Smit – Managing Director Rotterdam Square – and furthermore consisted of Douwe Jippes – Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Healthy.Capital, Jan Willem Scheijgrond – Vice-president and global head of Government & public affairs Philips, Maaike Harbers – Lector Artificial Intelligence & Society, Hogeschool Rotterdam, and Denise Hilling – Assistant Professor Surgery, Erasmus Medical Center.