Innovaid: Interactive rehabilitation

More than one billion people in the world today have a disability. Luckily, fast paced technology innovations – such as those of Martin Hjort, Danish engineer and owner of InnovAid – are rapidly improving the array of rehabilitation methods, helping persons with disabilities to become more independent.  

Martin has a son with cerebral palsy, a form of brain injury that may result in muscle tone-, coordination- or speech impairments. He accompanied his son to physical therapy and started to become interested in developing a more efficient workout to improve his son's quality of life.

Martin developed an innovative system, the Happy Rehab, combining specially designed interactive computer games with a dynamic stander frame. The cognitive and motoric exercises activate certain parts of the brain that lead to increased balance and mobility over time.

Following the success of his first product, Martin designed other training systems for rehabilitation including TREAX, the multi-coloured pads that help persons recover in a more playful way, for example after a stroke.

Innovaid has been selling its products primarily in Denmark and Norway while interest has also been growing from abroad. However, funds were not easy to raise for international expansion given the lack of sufficient collateral.

Turning toward Vaekstfonden, an EIF financial intermediary, Martin obtained an EU-supported loan under the InnovFin programme that provides access to finance at more favourable conditions for innovative SMEs. 

“The InnovFin loan enabled me to increase the production capacity and hire more staff. I am confident that the international expansion of my business will result in a doubling of sales over the next two years”, says Martin Hjort.

Company: InnovAid (Denmark)

Type of business: Interactive rehabilitation assistance

EIF financing: InnovFin SMEG

Financial intermediary: Vaekstfonden

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Denmark, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/dk