Digital Health Innovation Day: French Startups Meet Clinicians in Monastir
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Digital Health Innovation Day: French Startups Meet Clinicians in Monastir
Four French HealthTech startups spent the morning of 26 March 2026 with clinicians and researchers in Monastir. The session ran from 09:00 to 12:30 at the Faculty of Medicine. It formed the academic leg of E-HealthNAx, the Euro-Mediterranean programme run by HealthCare Innovation.
HealthCare Innovation is the HealthTech cluster based in Monastir, Tunisia. The startups came through BioValley France, the health innovation cluster based in Strasbourg.
Where this day sits in the wider mission
E-HealthNAx ran from 24 to 28 March 2026 across Tunis and Monastir. The Tunis leg opened the week with an institutional session and more than 100 business meetings. We cover it in E-HealthNAx 2026 launch day in Tunis .
Monastir did something different. Tunis put companies in front of buyers. Monastir put them in front of clinicians and researchers, which is a harder audience and a more useful one.
HealthCare Innovation runs the programme with BioValley France and MedSilesia Cluster. The Faculty of Medicine of Monastir and Smart Lab FMM hosted the day. The European Union funds it through Euromed Clusters Forward . ANIMA Investment Network, Berytech, Business France and Proovlab take part.
What the morning covered
The programme had four parts. Startup presentations. A discussion on artificial intelligence and the French HealthTech ecosystem. Meetings with healthcare professionals and researchers. Networking around the stands.
HCI named several participants. Sandra Chalhoub, Carine Remetter, Mohamed Ibn Alkadi, Rania Jebri, Damien Forest, Aleksandra Szczerbak-Ruta, Noemie Jordy, Aziz Frikha, Mohamed Azaouzi, Sana Boujaafar and Charfeddine Amri. InSimo also took part. It builds surgical simulation software.
One detail is worth recording. The announcement of 12 March mentioned five French startups. The reports published on 2 and 7 April mention four. No source explains the difference. We keep the figure from the reports.
« A clinician will find the gap in your product in ten minutes. That is worth more to a startup than a month of market research, and it is the reason we hold one leg of every mission inside a faculty. » Dr Haroun Ouanes, Director, HealthCare Innovation
Why a clinician audience changes the product
A startup that pitches to investors is selling a story. A startup that pitches to a practising physician is defending a workflow. The questions differ, and so do the answers a founder walks away with.
The difference has a regulatory side too. The Global strategy on digital health of the World Health Organization names governance, interoperability and workforce skills as pillars of safe digital health systems. None of the three can be tested in a demo room.
Proof requirements move the same way. The NICE framework on evidence standards for digital health grades the proof required against the risk a tool carries. In the United States, the FDA issued a final guidance on 18 December 2025 on real-world data for medical devices . It replaces the 2017 text and now allows aggregated, de-identified data.
Read together, those two moves say something practical. Data collected in real settings counts. A Tunisian hospital that tests a French tool is producing evidence, not just giving feedback.
What the visitors took home
Three things came out of the morning for the European side.
- A care pathway in Tunisia does not match the French one. Volumes, referral habits and payment routes differ. A product built for one has to be reworked for the other.
- Regulatory status travels badly. A CE mark opens a conversation in Tunis, it does not close one. We set out what applies locally in Software as a Medical Device: Tunisia’s regulatory blind spot
- Faculties are entry points. A researcher who tests a tool becomes its first local reference. In a market where distributors rely on clinical reputation, that counts.
Firms preparing a North African entry can start with our Pharma and medical device services . Faculties and research teams that want to host a session can reach us through the Community page .
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: When and where did the Digital Health Innovation Day take place?
A: On Thursday 26 March 2026, from 09:00 to 12:30, in the ceremonial auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine of Monastir.
Q: How many French startups attended?
A: Four, according to the reports published in April 2026. The announcement of 12 March had mentioned five. No source explains the difference.
Q: Which programme was this part of?
A: E-HealthNAx. HealthCare Innovation runs it with BioValley France and MedSilesia Cluster. The European Union funds it under Euromed Clusters Forward.
Q: Who hosted the day?
A: The Faculty of Medicine of Monastir and Smart Lab FMM.
Q: How can a French or Polish company join a future mission?
A: Through its national cluster, or by contacting HealthCare Innovation directly.
HCI Resources
Accelerating Innovation in HealthTech
Pharma & Medical Device Regulatory Services
External Citations
World Health Organization – Global strategy on digital health 2020-2025
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – Evidence standards framework for digital health technologies
Federal Register – Use of Real-World Evidence To Support Regulatory Decision-Making for Medical Devices (2025)
ANIMA Investment Network – Euromed Clusters Forward
