Woman holding phone
Jan 30, 2024

Presenting Health Incubator Helsinki batch 4 companies:

AuxCuro’s virtual health assistance to equip nurses with AI for comprehensive care

AuxCuro addresses challenges such as nurse burnout, medical errors, and communication gaps in hospitals between personnel. The platform offers decision support, better communication between healthcare professionals, and enhances patient safety. AuxCuro has been selected into the Health Incubator Helsinki 2023 programme.

AuxCuro’s uniqueness lies in its understanding of nursing workflows. Unlike traditional dashboards with a list of tasks, the AuxCuro platform focuses on providing relevant information for decision-making, leveraging AI to aggregate data. For example, when a nurse is instructed to administer a drug by the doctor, the system may provide a list of prerequisites that should be met to maximise patient safety.

“Here the patient’s potassium is shown as 2.9, which is already low. Giving the correct prescribed diuretic in the wrong situation will only worsen the patient’s condition,” CEO Steven Calver explains while presenting the product on his computer.

“Therefore, the potassium levels should be increased before administering this drug to maximise patient safety.”

Even with decades of experience, the sheer amount of diseases and drugs is too much for each individual nurse to memorise and integrate with each patient’s medical history.

A nurse knows what a nurse needs

AuxCuro Inc. was founded by Steven, a nursing and management leadership professional with over 30 years of experience. The company’s inception was driven by Steven’s observation of the challenges in nursing, where nurses lacked the means to innovate their workflow.

Faced with the diverse strengths and weaknesses of nurses in handling different medical cases, Steven aimed to create a platform that could aggregate information, providing decision support to nurses and standardising their approach to patient care.

In practice this means that a nurse who is excellent in treating cancer patients can get more support when working with something more unfamiliar like sepsis patients.

AuxCuro Fast Facts

Name: AuxCuro Inc.

Tech in one sentence: Equip nursing with AI technology

Target product: Online platform that supplements nurses dashboard with patient-specific recommendations 

Target market launch: 2025

Founded: 2022

Team size: 3

Funding raised (by 10/2023): Bootstrapped 200,000 USD

Innovators are inspired by other innovators

The AuxCuro team joined the Health Incubator Helsinki (HIH) program all the way from San Jose, California following a TED TALK given by a nurse located in Finland on the importance of bridging the gap between health tech innovations and nurses. After reaching out to the speaker and discussing the nurse-tech climate, Calver felt that the uniform healthcare record system in Finland may make it easier to get the AuxCuro platform up and running.

Although the logistics should be more straightforward, it is unclear how the healthcare professionals will respond to treatment recommendations from a virtual assistant.

“The biggest barrier I have right now is to get the users to try this virtual assistant in practice because it’s just too new” Calver speculates. 

Health Incubator Helsinki connections crucial across borders

AuxCuro stands to gain substantial advantages from the Health Incubator Helsinki program, despite its founder being based in the United States. The tailored coaching and mentoring services offered by Health Incubator Helsinki would be instrumental in guiding AuxCuro through the Finnish healthcare market and understanding potential regulatory challenges, contributing to the development of an effective international expansion strategy.

The extensive networking opportunities with investors, healthcare industry experts, entrepreneurs, and advisors would be particularly beneficial for establishing connections and partnerships remotely. The program’s focuses, including regulatory compliance and market assessments align well with AuxCuro’s objectives, providing valuable insights into market validation.

Moreover, the regular one-on-one discussions, virtual workshops, founder talks, online get-together meetings, and virtual demo days would play a pivotal role in enhancing AuxCuro’s growth, fostering exposure to potential investors, and facilitating engagement within the health sector and startup ecosystem, especially as the company is based in U.S.

To get involved, contact the AuxCuro team directly using the information below. 

Text: Rita Turpin, Giuliano Didio

Header: Unsplash