August 26, 2015

An Israeli startup changing the way cardiograms (ultrasound exams of the heart) are decoded has won the final round of the Shengjing Global Innovation Awards 2015, a global startup competition held in China. DiACardio, which developed a revolutionary software to decode echocardiograms, triumphed over 21 startups from around the world.

“We are thrilled and proud to have won first place. It was a fascinating and empowering experience,” said Hila Goldman-Aslan, the company’s CEO. “The competition proves that Israel is home to promising technological initiatives. The competition opens up investment opportunities by Chinese investors, and we believe that winning it will advance the recognition of the ground-breaking technology that we have developed at DiACardio.”

The Israeli company Wayerz, which developed a platform for inter-bank charges (billing) while providing management, commands and control of inter-bank processes in real time, came in fifth place.

Chairman of DiACardio Arnon Toussia-Cohen and  Hila Goldman-Aslan, CEO of DiACardio accept first prize. Photo: courtesy
Chairman of DiACardio Arnon Toussia-Cohen and Hila Goldman-Aslan, CEO of DiACardio, accept first prize. Photo: courtesy

The top five startups will share $1 million in cash prizes, each receiving $200,000‎.

Israel was represented in the competition by Israel’s ambassador to China, Matan Vilnai, JVP partner Yoav Tzruya, and Dr. Orna Berry, Corporate Vice President Growth and Innovation EMC Centers of Excellence EMEA and the US.  ‎

The winners were selected on the basis of rankings by 13 judges from around the world and real-time rankings of the startup companies by an audience of over 1000 people.

The competition was initiated by Chinese consulting firm Shengjing360. The finals in Beijing are part of the five-day Zhongguancun International Entrepreneur Festival, attracting entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world.

The Israeli segment of the competition was launched in February 2015. Nine startups, out of the 180 ventures from across the Israeli high tech spectrum, reached the semi-finals. Three Israeli startups were then chosen to represent Israel in the global finals in Beijing.

“‎Innovation is still one of the Israeli economy’s main competitive advantages, and we are pleased to see Israeli ventures receive such global recognition,” said Tzruya.

The finalists will now embark on a road show and series of meetings with Chinese internet giants Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, JD.com, and Xiaomi.

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