PatchAi EXPERIENCES THE DIGITAL GARDEN, A PATH OF GROWTH AND ACCELERATION

The verdict on our selection for the 2nd edition of the Digital Garden, powered by Almirall, acceleration program came at a crucial juncture in our journey as a start-up. When we were selected, we were only a 2-year-old organization, but we had already made major strides in gaining visibility on a global level. Using our virtual companion solution to engage patients in clinical trials and Patient Support Program, we had launched two commercial projects. Concurrently, we accrued many accolades at start-up challenges and competitions globally and we now realize that it was the right time to focus on scalability and keep up the momentum.

For us, the unique appeal of the Digital Garden program comes from the fact that we are being mentored by esteemed Almirall executives. This offers us the opportunity to have open and transparent discussions with our mentors, as opposed to previous instances where we approached pharma companies to discuss primarily commercial collaborations. During our first few sessions, this became quite clear as our mentors encouraged us to voice our opinions as openly as possible. They were also willing to sit down with us and collectively refine our overall go-to market strategy with a hands-on approach.

In the constantly evolving market of clinical research and standard care, we realized that our solution was heading in a direction that needed a refinement of the go-to market strategy which, in turn, would have a major impact on sales and marketing activities. The mentors understood our needs immediately and helped validate our efforts of strategy mapping by organizing one-on-one meetings with other team members from Almirall to conduct in-depth interviews to understand the real pain points within clinical research and Patient Support Program. In fact, this fortuitously resulted in helping us identify a possible Patient Support Program within Almirall in which we could possibly play a role!

This acceleration and mentoring program has resulted in the creation of an internal network for PatchAi at Almirall, creating an open communication channel across different departments which, as a start-up, we deeply appreciate. As we have engaged in more discussions, we are only encouraged by the vote of confidence that the Almirall team places in our solution and potential, trying to understand additional ways in which we can disrupt the digital health space. Beyond the strategic support, the Digital Garden team also helped us kickstart our rebranding activities through one of their network partners, who has been doing a fantastic job so far in translating our vision into what will definitely be a unique take on healthcare branding.

Overall, PatchAi has really used the experience of being part of the 2nd Harvest of the Digital Garden program so far to build on the company’s strategy in a multi-faceted way, and we hope to continue to bloom and grow together for the remainder of the journey.