19-02-2026
News
On 18 November 2025, VR Health Champions took part in Horizon4Poland’25 in Warsaw – one of the country’s key events connecting science, business and public stakeholders. The atmosphere was intense, discussions were focused, and the day centred on building real, actionable collaborations.
A key highlight of our presence was the VR Health Champions booth, where three of our five flagship SMEs presented their solutions and demonstrated how extended reality is already reshaping healthcare and medical education.
- MedApp showcased CarnaLife Holo, an FDA-approved XR platform for surgical planning, now evolving into CarnaLife Holo MedNav — a next-generation solution enabling real-time surgical tool tracking to improve intraoperative navigation.
- Metaskills presented its Soft Skills System — an advanced VR and GenAI-powered platform designed to train healthcare professionals and managers through 3D avatars, realistic scenarios and instant feedback.
- Virtuleap demonstrated its expertise in cognitive assessment and training through Cogniclear VR, a virtual reality solution based on neuropsychologically validated tests, enabling immersive cognitive assessment, training and monitoring in a VR environment.
The event proved highly valuable in terms of networking, with hands-on demonstrations and in-depth conversations keeping the stand busy throughout the day and attracting strong interest from attendees. Participation in Horizon4Poland’25 also played a key role in promoting the ongoing VR Health Champions Open Call 2026, providing an excellent platform to engage directly with innovative SMEs and research-driven teams seeking to strengthen their solutions, fill critical gaps in their value chain and scale their impact on the European healthcare market.
A particularly noteworthy moment was the panel discussion featuring Cristiana Costa, Project Coordinator of VR Health Champions. Addressing the audience, she challenged the common belief that funding is the main barrier for start-ups, highlighting instead the crucial role of partnerships, expertise and ecosystem support.
As she emphasised “VR Health Champions is not just about funding. It is about building the right partnerships across the entire value chain – from clinical validation and regulatory readiness to real market entry. Through our VR Health Champions Open Call, we connect innovators with the expertise and support they truly need to scale.”
Her contribution reinforced the strategic role of VR Health Champions in bridging the gap between emerging technologies and real-world healthcare implementation, while offering a realistic yet hopeful perspective on the future of European healthtech innovation.
