Innovating in the world of healthcare is a “massive” challenge. Launched last summer, Hive Services aims to strengthen the health innovation ecosystem, in Luxembourg and across Europe. Co-founder and CEO Benjamin Tillier explains.
Hive, which stands for Health Innovation and Ventures Enabler, was created in 2024 and aims to strengthen the country’s health innovation ecosystem. Its CEO and co-founder, Benjamin Tillier, has founded several companies in the healthcare sector, has been an angel investor and is a partner at the venture capital investment boutique Dedicated, making him the ideal leader for the newly launched organisation.
“I was able to understand from the entrepreneurial perspective and from the investor perspective, how difficult it is to succeed, innovating in the healthcare industry. It’s a massive challenge, more than in any other industry,” he says. “You have all these steps: research and development, clinical validation, which are unique to the healthcare industry, as well as compliance, regulation, and safety. This requires a lot of funding and takes a lot of time, adding a number of challenges and obstacles.”
It’s a long journey, says Tillier, and most innovation projects die along the way. “There are very few that succeed. But what I’ve been able to see is that the few that succeed are those that were able to meet the right partners at every step of their development.” These “partners” are not just investors, he adds, but also include hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, labs and regulatory experts. And innovators have to meet them in a timely manner.
“I personally believe that it makes a big difference whether you grow in a strong ecosystem or not, in an ecosystem that can facilitate these connections and encourage collaboration,” says Tillier. That’s where Hive, which aims to enable cooperation, share knowledge and provide support, comes in.
Making meaningful connections
Hive is a private service company that works together with public agencies, continues Tillier. Backed by the HE:AL Campus and Catalpa Ventures, Hive is based on four pillars. The first is a “large-scale mapping of all players involved in health innovation across Europe,” he explains. This includes entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, pharmaceutical companies, expert service providers and more. There are an estimated 100,000 players, and Hive has already connected with 1,000 of them. “It’s the beginning of the journey,” he adds, “but we’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far.” The goal is to build bridges, to really understand “who’s who” and “who’s doing what,” and to create meaningful connections.
The second pillar centres on knowledge-sharing and communication; the third pillar revolves around organising events to provide networking opportunities for the community.
Hive’s fourth pillar involves active, hands-on support for companies. “For startups and spinoffs, for example, we can help them with strategic connections,” says Tillier. This can include introductions to investors, pharma companies or medical laboratories, for instance. Hive also works with large organisations, providing tailored support and services like strategic market analysis or identifying relevant innovations.
Big companies often struggle with internal innovation and moving quickly. “For them, staying connected with entrepreneurs, innovators, startups, spinoffs and so on is essential,” says Tillier. “But how can they identify what’s interesting for them? That’s the challenge. They’re not equipped for that. And Hive is an ideal partner.”
Who’s in
Organisations that have already joined the network include Bionext, Foyer Global Health, DKV and Innovative Medicines for Luxembourg (IML), explains Tillier, who also serves as the “entrepreneur-in-residence” at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH).
Hive has already provided concrete support to its members. Hale-X, which leverages AI to build digital twins, has benefited from Hive’s support by gaining better visibility and access to a summer school programme, as well as assistance with their pitch deck. The California-based Omios Biologics is developing an oncolytic virus therapy to treat tumours, and they’ve approached Hive regarding their potential expansion into Europe. A third example is the Kyiv-founded Progalit, which is working on an AI-powered digital health platform to help treat kidney stones. “They’re very interested in Luxembourg as a gateway to Europe,” says Tillier. Hive has helped them get a better understanding of the digital medical device landscape and provided support with their pitch deck as they prepare to raise funds.
Gaps in the market remain. In the future, Hive plans to tackle these as well. One underserved area concerns digital medical devices and the development of their reimbursement frameworks, says Tillier. The upcoming European Health Data Space poses another challenge that will require expert support, “and Hive might also be interested in developing expertise to support players.”
