The Data Security Platform for Health Application Developers

Project Information

Chino.io

Grant agreement ID: 822995

DOI

10.3030/822995

Project closed

EC signature date 23 July 2018

Start date 1 September 2018

End date 30 April 2021

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 1 436 250,00

EU contribution

€ 1 005 375,00

Coordinated by

CHINO SRL
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - Chino.io (The Data Security Platform for Health Application Developers)

Reporting period: 2019-11-01 to 2021-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The digital health sector is growing rapidly, with some estimates predicting the global digital health market will reach $500Bn by 2025 (CAGR 27.7%). However, healthcare is a highly regulated market, and companies developing digital health solutions have to comply with numerous regulations, standards and laws. These cover things like protection of sensitive personal data (e.g. GDPR & HIPAA), cybersecurity (ISO 27001) and regulations like the new MDR. Correctly implementing the required data security and data protection measures is expensive, time-consuming and risky. If you get it wrong you can face penalties including significant fines and even prison sentences.

Despite the conservative nature of the healthcare market, digital health services rely heavily on cloud technologies. The problem is, many digital health companies mistakenly believe that their cloud provider and legal policies ensure they are compliant with all the regulations. In fact, there is a significant compliance gap.

The Chino.io Platform is designed to close this gap and ensure compliance. The Platform simplifies data security and data protection compliance for digital health companies. Our secure API makes it quick and easy to store sensitive health data in a compliant and secure manner. The API is designed to be easy to integrate, offering developers a familiar RESTful interface and multiple SDKs. Our service is the only medical-grade platform for health data and is certified ISO 13485, ISO 9001 and ISO 27001. This makes it suitable for companies needing to be certified under the new EU MDR (medical device regulation).

The Chino.io API is available through a cloud-based “as a Service” delivery model. This makes the Platform affordable for startups, SMEs and large companies. At the same time this approach gives to Chino.io the possibility to assist companies from an early stage and to grow together over time. We also offer a standalone version of the platform that can be installed in the customer’s own premises or cloud. Overall, the aim of this project is to take the Chino.io Platform from TRL6 through to TRL9, ready for commercial release. The Platform will act as an enabler for open innovation in this key market and will help promote best practice for data security and protection globally.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The Chino project has focussed on commercialising Chino.io our data privacy and compliance platform for digital health. The platform was originally developed working with the Vertical.vc accelerator. Following that, we received a Phase 1 SMEi award that allowed us to create a beta version of the platform and create a detailed business plan and strategy. As stated in Annex 1, the core objectives of this project were technological scaling up, preparing the company for full commercialisation and providing suitable management and human resources to ensure the success of the project.

Over the course of the project, we have met and exceeded all our core objectives. Specifically:
- The Chino.io platform is now at TRL9 and is built on a high-availability architecture. We have worked on ensuring its stability, improved the usability and have incorporated features to meet future customer needs.
- On the dissemination side, we have built an extremely strong brand for our business. We are now widely recognised as the European thought leaders for data privacy within the digital health space. Our CEO is regularly invited to participate in events as a speaker and panellist. Over the past year, we have also made key progress with SEO, and now rank on the first page of Google for many search terms. As a result, over 60,000 people have visited our website and some 10,000 of those have engaged with us in some fashion.
- On the commercial front, we have finalised our future business plan. This included verifying our product-market fit, refining our go-to-market strategy and creating a detailed product roadmap for the next 5 years. Additionally, we have started the process to secure the strategic investment necessary to scale up over the next 18 months. Following that, we will seek a significant 7 figure Series A investment round.
- During the project, we were able to significantly expand our team. We also developed a much better understanding of where we need to grow in future. Over the coming 6 months, we plan to make 6 strategic hires to expand the existing team and ensure we are well placed for a large Series A investment.

All of this was supported by advisors from the EC coaching scheme and our own lean startup advisory board.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Chino.io is the only Platform available "as a Service" that helps digital health companies in the EU and US to comply with the complex data protection legislation in these jurisdictions.
The "as a Service" model makes Chino.io extremely affordable to small companies, helping them to grow and innovate the healthcare system. As a result, companies are able to deliver faster to the EU market secure, trusted, and high quality digital health products. In return, the companies reduce their risks, save time and cut the costs of compliance.

The main outcome of the SMEi Phase II project is to bring the Chino.io Platform to industrial readiness and prepare for its wide market penetration. This will bring key benefits to our stakeholders and will position us as the clear leader in the European market for digital health data security and protection.

The project has allowed us to gain significant customer traction and retention. We are now well positioned to sell our platform faster and with lower costs. This will make us a key enabler for digital health innovation in Europe. This is demonstrated by the number of large digital health startup accelerators we already work with. This progress will allow the company to generate 60 new high-qualified jobs in Europe and expand to new sectors from 2022.

From the start, we have believed that everyone’s health data should be safe. Overall, we help achieve this by significantly improving the security and privacy of digital health products, educating the market and providing affordable solutions to these complex problems.

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