Patient Innovation
Patient Innovation is a Lisbon-based nonprofit running a free, multilingual web platform where patients, caregivers, and collaborators worldwide share innovative solutions to cope with diseases, complemented by awards, bootcamps, and outreach programs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersLisbon, Portugal
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Patient Innovation does
Patient Innovation (legal name Associação Patient Innovation) is a Lisbon-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014 that operates a free, multilingual, international web platform and social network where patients, caregivers, and collaborators share innovative solutions — including treatments, devices, behaviors, apps, and low-cost alternatives — developed to cope with health conditions. Solutions are organized by disease, type, purpose, activity, medical specialty, and geography, and the platform supports English, Portuguese, German, and Chinese. The platform sits at the center of a broader program ecosystem that includes the annual PI Awards (in its 5th edition), the Patient Innovation Bootcamp for innovator support, the European Tour / Beyond the Lab outreach initiative, the Help Ukraine relief initiative, a dedicated COVID-19 solutions hub, Dar a Mão, and quarterly newsletters. Content is contributed by users globally, with documented submissions from at least 20+ countries.
The underlying technology is a standard multilingual web platform hosted on Platform.sh and operated under Portuguese Data Protection Act (Law 58/2019) and GDPR. The organization is hosted at Nova Medical School (NMS Research, Yellow Building) in Lisbon and works in close collaboration with academic partners including Católica-Lisbon (founding partner), Nova Medical School, Nova School of Business and Economics, Copenhagen Business School, MIT (Prof. Eric von Hippel), Harvard, and the University of Minnesota (MILI). Patient associations across Australia, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain, Serbia, Croatia, and the UK serve as distribution and content partners.
Revenue mechanics are nonprofit by design: the platform is free for all users, and operations are financed through institutional research grants — principally from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and historically the CMU-Portugal Program and Shuttleworth Foundation — supplemented by donations. The core team is small (1–10 employees, with Pedro Oliveira as Project Leader and Principal Investigator, Tomás Fidelis as Managing Director, Helena Canhão as Chief Medical Officer, Leid Zejnilovic as Research and Operations Officer, Pierre Gein as Fundraising and Finance Officer, and Charles Buchanan as Counselor). The go-to-market is community-led: partnerships with patient associations, conference presence (Harvard Health Acceleration Challenge, Patient Innovation Forum), newsletters, and organic social channels drive awareness and contributions.
Patient Innovation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Patient Innovation
- Legal name
- Associação Patient Innovation
- Website
- https://patient-innovation.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Patient Innovation is a Lisbon-based nonprofit running a free, multilingual web platform where patients, caregivers, and collaborators worldwide share innovative solutions to cope with diseases, complemented by awards, bootcamps, and outreach programs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Patient Innovation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Health Innovation Community Platform
- NAICS
- Social Assistance (624), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
- SIC
- Services-Health Services (8000)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Patient Community, Peer Support & Social Engagement (HLACAEAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Patient Education, Content & Personalized Journey Orchestration (HLACAEAE)
Keywords
Where Patient Innovation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lisbon
- HQ country
- Portugal
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Patient Innovation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Donations and Research Grants: Patient Innovation operates as a nonprofit organization. The platform is free for all users. Development was funded by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) and CMU-Portugal Program. Continued operations rely on donations and potentially grants.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free access for all users |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels8 records
Patient Innovation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Patient Innovation operates a free, international, multilingual online platform and social network where patients, caregivers, and collaborators share innovative treatments, medical devices, behaviors, strategies, and low-cost alternatives they have developed to cope with health conditions. Users can post solutions, search and browse solutions shared by others, and provide feedback to the community. The platform is complemented by recognition programs, entrepreneurship support, and outreach initiatives.
Product overview
Patient Innovation operates as a unified platform combining a social network for health solution sharing with supporting programs. The core Patient Innovation Platform enables patients and caregivers to post, browse, and share innovative solutions across categories including disease, solution type, purpose, activity, medical specialty, and geographical location. The platform is complemented by the PI Awards (annual recognition program), the Bootcamp (entrepreneurship support), the European Tour/Beyond the Lab (promotional initiative), Help Ukraine (emergency relief), COVID-19 Solutions, Dar a Mão, and quarterly Newsletters—creating a comprehensive ecosystem supporting patient-driven healthcare innovation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PI Awards: Patient Innovation Awards - a program to recognize innovative solutions developed by patients, caregivers, and collaborators.
- Bootcamp
Products and services
- Patient Innovation Platform International, multilingual, free-of-charge platform and social network that enables patients, caregivers, and collaborators of any disease to share innovative solutions, treatments, medical devices, strategies, and low-cost alternatives they have developed to cope with health conditions, and to browse and provide feedback on solutions shared by others.
- PI Awards (Patient Innovation Awards) Annual awards program (now in its 5th edition) recognizing innovative solutions developed by patients, non-professional caregivers, and collaborators across three categories, with winners announced publicly to raise awareness of patient innovation.
- Patient Innovation Bootcamp Entrepreneurship support program designed to train and help patient innovators develop and scale their innovative healthcare solutions into viable products or services.
- European Tour / Beyond the Lab European outreach initiative promoting Patient Innovation and patient-developed solutions across European locations by bringing together patient-innovators, social network pioneers, and strategic decision makers from the healthcare industry.
- Help Ukraine Initiative Emergency relief section of the platform that aggregates and shares DIY solutions for people affected by the war in Ukraine, including survival projects and mental health support.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 1,000 solutions shared on the platform as of milestone announcement
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Patient Innovation
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Patient Innovation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Patient Innovation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- MIT (Prof. Eric von Hippel)coreResearch collaboration with Prof. Eric von Hippel from MIT. Advisory board member and academic collaborator on user innovation research.
- Nova Medical School - Faculdade de Ciências MédicascoreAcademic partner providing medical research expertise and hosting the organization at their facilities (NMS Research Yellow Building).
- Copenhagen Business SchoolcoreAcademic partner in the Patient Innovation research and educational ecosystem.
- Nova School of Business and EconomicscoreAcademic partner contributing management and economics expertise to the platform.
- Católica Lisbon School of Business and EconomicscoreHost institution and founding academic partner. The platform was launched at Católica-Lisbon. Project Leader Pedro Oliveira is Associate Professor there.
- EIT HealthcoreEuropean health innovation partner supporting the platform's mission.
- Fundação Calouste GulbenkiancorePortuguese foundation supporting innovation in health.
- Carnegie Mellon Portugal ProgramcoreFunded initial platform development (Project CMU PT / OUT / 0014/2009). Provides ongoing research collaboration.
- Harvard Business School / Harvard Medical SchoolminorParticipated in Harvard's Health Acceleration Challenge, a competitive program for health innovation.
- Medical Industry Leadership Institute (MILI), University of MinnesotaminorHosted Patient Innovation Forum in Minneapolis, bringing together patient innovators and industry leaders.
- MIT Media LabminorJoi Ito, Director of MIT Media Lab, is a project supporter.
- Association of Genetic Support of Australasia (AGSA)minorPatient association partner in Australia helping promote patient innovation.
- Australian Patients Association (APA)minorPatient association partner in Australia.
- Raríssimas - National Association of Mental and Rare DiseasesminorPortuguese rare disease association partner, founded by Paula Brito e Costa.
- Rede PositivominorCommunity of seropositive patients and friends of Portuguese-speaking countries.
- Diabetes UKminorUK-based diabetes patient association partner.
- Ljubav na Djelu (Croatia)minorPatient association partner in Croatia.
- Malaysian Rare Disorders SocietyminorPatient association partner in Malaysia.
- NORBS - National Organization for Rare Diseases of SerbiaminorRare disease association partner in Serbia.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Patient Innovation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Strengths4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Patient Innovation social profiles
Digital presencePatient Innovation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Patient Innovation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Patient Innovation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Patient Innovation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Patient Innovation
What does Patient Innovation do?
Patient Innovation operates a free, international, multilingual online platform and social network where patients, caregivers, and collaborators share innovative treatments, medical devices, behaviors, strategies, and low-cost alternatives they have developed to cope with health conditions. Users can post solutions, search and browse solutions shared by others, and provide feedback to the community. The platform is complemented by recognition programs, entrepreneurship support, and outreach initiatives.
Is Patient Innovation a public or private company?
Patient Innovation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Patient Innovation founded?
Patient Innovation was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Patient Innovation based?
Patient Innovation is headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, in the Europe region.
How does Patient Innovation make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations and Research Grants.
Does Patient Innovation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Patient Innovation.
What industry is Patient Innovation in?
Patient Innovation's product category is Health Innovation Community Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLACAEAK, Patient Community, Peer Support & Social Engagement, with a secondary code of HLACAEAE, Patient Education, Content & Personalized Journey Orchestration. Its NAICS code is 624 and its SIC code is 8000.