“The most important thing is to know that we are developing something that is really making an impact” - Nuria Pastor, co-founder of HumanITcare with Unai Sánchez

Nuria Pastor, a graduate in Psychology with a master's degree in Neuroscience, and Unai Sánchez, a computer engineer with a master's degree in Advanced Computing, are the founders of the startup HumanITcare. This is a telemedicine platform for chronic and infectious disease patients based on artificial intelligence that improves medical monitoring, optimises health services provided to citizens 24 hours a day, avoids unnecessary travel and reduces healthcare costs by up to 40%, among other benefits. 

For this reason, HumanITcare was one of the 20 winning entrepreneurship projects of the Santander X Tomorrow Challenge, a global challenge launched by Banco Santander in 2020 to promote innovative solutions to address the problems caused by the COVID-19 crisis. Nuria and Unai won the prize in the Re-Launch category, which included 550 other projects that were also aimed at boosting the reopening and readjustment of businesses in the context of the pandemic and promoting new opportunities and market demands. 

The jury's choice is not surprising because, thanks to the innovative system implemented by these entrepreneurs, HumanITcare provides real-time data to health professionals through a range of devices (blood pressure or heart rate monitors, pulse oximeters, smart scales, wearables, etc.).  At the same time, it makes it easier for patients to access remote medical care at a time when telematic healthcare makes more sense than ever. 

With this entrepreneurial purpose in mind, she started looking for a software expert interested in contributing to the welfare of the population. She found Unai, who was waiting for an innovation proposal that appealed to him. This is how HumanITcare was created, a project driven by a passion to make a positive impact on society. 

An altruistic gesture that says a lot about these entrepreneurs; especially when their early days were not easy. 

Those who supported the project include: Xavier Verdaguer, CEO of the Imagining Creativity Center, who showed them how to network; the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a European Union institution that allowed them to validate the product in hospitals, and Banco Santander, which awarded them in the Santander X Tomorrow Challenge 2020 with a financial prize that helped them to launch their business project. In addition to the prize, they also received mentoring, a roadshow to access more funding and media coverage of their proposal. 

Although HumanITcare is already consolidated, Nuria and Unai continue to dedicate all their potential to improving and expanding their services, which have the backing of prestigious institutions such as the European Institute of Technology and the European Commission.

As a result, their major achievement is that, in less than two years, they have managed to bring 15 employees into the company, serve more than 3,000 users and work with more than 30 hospitals in Europe. Through their initiative, they demonstrate that social commitment and economic profit are not incompatible and they invite other entrepreneurs to contribute to the creation of a better society in any field.

Following the success of the Santander X Tomorrow Challenge 2020, with more than 2,250 projects registered, Banco Santander is now launching, in collaboration with the Oxentia Foundation, the Santander X Environmental Challenge, a global challenge aimed at entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to build a more sustainable future. 

With prizes worth 120,000 euros, mentoring programmes and campaigns to publicise the winning proposals, Santander X Environmental Challenge aims to highlight solutions that fight climate change and have a positive impact on the environment. Projects or companies wishing to take part in this new challenge can sign up for one of these two categories:

• Be Sustainable: promote green finance and investment. How does your solution attract sustainable investment and financing from people and investors who want to support economic activities with a positive environmental impact? How does your solution help investors or financial institutions to help companies take the lead in the transition to a low-carbon economy?

• Be Mindful: raise awareness of the importance of reducing the environmental footprint. How can your solution help individuals and companies, including their supply chain, to measure their environmental footprint? How can you help them with solutions that enhance the reinvention of business and industry to reduce their environmental impact and promote biodiversity?

Are you an entrepreneur with solutions that fight climate change and have a positive impact on the environment? Sign up for the global Santander X Environmental Challenge and seize the opportunity!