EPILOG has become MONIKIT. New name, larger team, full-time job: These guys did not spend their time idly since the MedTech Summer School 2015 has come to an end. Kevin Klett is one of the founders. In our interview he talks about the latest news and the next milestones.
Enter the market in 2017
When Kevin Klett and Florian Lutz started the accelerator programme of the MedTech Summer School 2015 their goal was set: They wanted to build a wristband – the first lifestyle-designed wearable for daily monitoring of epileptic seizures. Interesting: Despite tons of new learnings this goal didn’t change a bit…. but everything else as it seems.
Kevin, what have you and your team been doing since we have seen you the last time in October 2015?
A lot of things have changed since October last year. At the beginning our project was called “epilog” but we thought the name was quite stigmatizing. So the first thing we have done was renaming our product. Now it’s called “monikit” for “monitoring kit”. This is more convenient for people with epilepsy, it doesn’t stigmatize them.
Moreover, our team has extended to seven members and a medical student monitoring epileptic seizures. Last year we started out with three people. Now we hired a sensor engineer and an algorithm developer. Also, we intensified the cooperation with our two medical doctors Yvonne Weber and Henner Koch. They help us anytime and anywhere. And last but not least we also changed rooms. We now have our own office in the Hertie Institute where we can work on our product in full-time.
“Full-time” is an important keyword.
Yes, we are now working full-time on our project because we want to enter the market in 2017. There is a lot of work to do until then. Yet, we don’t only have to work full-time, we most of all want to do it!
So what are your plans for the near future?
This week we want to start our clinical trials. That’s why we built our first real prototypes for the patients. After the clinical trials we want to raise more funding. We need to build 1000 products in order to enter the market in 2017 and for this we need more funding. Also, we want to start marketing and PR measures after testing our prototypes on patients. These are our big milestones for the next months.
Speaking of milestones: Last month you won the Elevator Pitch BW. What does that mean to you?
The Elevator Pitch BW was our first real competition. It was very interesting to take part in it! It was a regional competition and we received option money amounting to 500 euros. That’s not a lot of money but for us it was important to spread the word of monikit. It was really cool because after the competition lots of newspapers, banks and governmental institutions contacted us. They were interested in funding our project and helping us to do some promotion. The promotional effect was super! It was also great to speak to an audience of 200 people without any technical slides or media. I had to get used to it but it was fun!
Read more about MONIKIT at Südwest Presse and Techtag!
Congratulations on that! Do you plan more pitches like that for the future? When is the next time we can see you in public?
The regional cup was only the first part of the whole competition. In June the finals will be in Stuttgart. So we will be pitching against all the other winners of the regional cups. That’s going to be quite interesting for us. In April we will have another pitch in front of the German Accelerator in Berlin. We applied for the accelerator because it offers the chance to go to San Francisco for three months. Over there we could work together with American startups and get to know the American market. So that will be our next pitch. And, of course, if we want to get more funding, we’ll have to pitch in front of investors like the High-Tech Gründerfonds.
Monikit pitching at the Elevator Pitch BW
We keep our fingers crossed for your future but also want to have a look back at the roots of monikit: You started the whole thing off with the MedTech Startup School last year. Which course did it set for you?
We took a lot from it! I think the most important part of the Summer School was to get to know new people, especially from the MedTech area. Last week, for example, we talked to Dinah Murad whom we met at the Summer School. She offered us a meeting and is willing to help us figure out what to do with monikit. Another important thing of the Startup School was the development of a detailed business plan. When you are talking to investors or to other stake holders you have to have a well thought out business concept.
What would you recommend to people who think about joining the Startup School in 2016?
I think it is most important for them to go there and to be aware that they have to learn a lot. No one should go to an accelerator programme with the mindset of knowing everything. Just go there and know that you don’t know anything. Being open minded is the most important part because only this way you can approve yourself. Moreover, I think the MedTech Startup School offers a good network of new people but you have to go and talk to them. They won’t come to you, you’ll have to go to them.
Thank you for the advice and for the interview!
Kevin Klett/Monikit: Founder, Marketing & Sales
© Juliane Pohl / Eva Oswald