Empowering Healthcare: Data, Wearables, and Prevention

Sara Fedele, Lead, PR and Communications at Kickstart Innovation

As part of our Open Innovation Program, we showcase the journeys of our participants and Alumni. Today, we’re highlighting Thryve, a pioneering health tech company dedicated to transforming preventive healthcare through wearable technology.

In 2024, global digital health funding hit $10.1 billion across 497 deals, with AI-powered solutions accounting for 42% of total investments. The average deal size climbed to $17.8 million, highlighting a growing investor focus on scaling and late-stage startups.

While global markets faced fluctuations, Europe’s digital health sector remained resilient and adaptive. European digital health ventures secured $1.5 billion in funding during the first half of 2024, with AI-driven companies accounting for an impressive 65% of this investment, a clear sign of where innovation is headed.

Wearable technology continues to play a central role in this transformation. According to recent studies, in the coming year more than 200 million Europeans are expected to be using wearable devices, primarily for health and wellness monitoring.

Born as a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research, Thryve specializes in integrating wearable health data to deliver personalized and proactive healthcare solutions. Built on a strong foundation of AI, advanced data analytics, and privacy-first principles, Thryve today powers major Swiss insurers like MSD, Sanitas, CSS, and Helsana, while also supporting leading digital therapeutics initiatives across Europe.

In this "Interview with the Founder" with Paul Burggraf, Co-Founder of Thryve, we explore the story behind its creation, discuss the healthcare trends that excite them most, and learn how they are helping to build a future where remote patient monitoring and preventive healthcare are accessible, personalized, and sustainable.

Can you share the journey behind the founding of Thryve? What motivated you to create a platform focused on integrating health data from wearables?

Thryve originated as a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD), one of the pioneers in sensor-based activity recognition. Before joining Fraunhofer to lead the spin-off, the CEO Friedrich Lämmel worked on building large e-commerce systems for multinational companies, while I specialized in corporate foresight as a strategy consultant. The CTO John Trimpop instead, served as a leading AI engineer at Fraunhofer, focusing on sensor fusion. A shared experience managing health conditions within our families brought us together with a common mission: to improve healthcare by enabling better access to remote monitoring data.

From left to right: Friedrich Lämmel John Trimpop Paul Burggraf

You contribute to sustainable healthcare innovations. In your opinion, how can wearable tech drive meaningful change in preventive health and wellness?

Health outcomes are profoundly influenced by our daily habits, how we eat, sleep, train, and move, often more so than the quality of clinical care itself. We believe that accessing continuous, real-world data on these lifestyle factors forms the foundation for creating meaningful, personalized, and long-lasting engagement between patients and healthcare providers.

Data privacy is a major concern in digital health. How does Thryve ensure compliance with evolving regulations like GDPR while maintaining data security?

At Thryve, data privacy is non-negotiable. We operate on the principle of use-case-specific informed consent: no data processing occurs without the user’s explicit agreement. GDPR supports this approach, empowering end-users to control their own data. All our processes adhere to ISO 27001 standards, ensuring the highest levels of data security and privacy.

Could you share an example of a healthcare or research partnership where Thryve’s platform has been integral in generating significant health outcomes?

Thryve powers Germany’s largest health insurance company, TKK, with its Mental Health Score, the first mental health screening based on passively collected sensor data. This solution has been validated through multiple clinical studies and has been live since summer 2023. Another notable partnership is with Zanadio, Europe’s leader in digital therapeutics for weight management, which uses Thryve’s platform to enhance patient adherence, achieving the highest re-prescription rate in its category.

With wearable technology advancing rapidly, how do you envision Thryve evolving in the next few years? What trends in digital health are you most excited about?

We are investing heavily in advanced data analytics and AI. Our goal is to detect critical health events and trigger points within the massive volumes of patient-generated data, creating even greater value for patients and healthcare systems. We’re particularly excited about the trend toward proactive, data-driven healthcare interventions that can improve outcomes before patients even reach the clinic.

As Thryve expands globally, what have been some of the key challenges in scaling the platform across different markets, particularly when navigating healthcare regulations?

Healthcare regulations vary significantly across countries, especially regarding what insurers are allowed to do and what they aim to achieve. Differences in reimbursement models, risk-balancing schemes, and healthcare roles make it challenging to directly transfer learnings from one market to another. Success requires a deep understanding of each local healthcare system and its unique needs.

How did Thryve enter the Swiss market, and what has your experience been so far? Were there any specific challenges or opportunities unique to this market?

We entered the Swiss market in 2018 by providing data infrastructure for research projects. Today, we process health data for major insurers like Sanitas, CSS, and Helsana. Compared to Germany, we found the Swiss innovation ecosystem to be more collaborative—stakeholders are more willing to work together and move quickly to unblock innovations and bring solutions live.

The Thryve and MSD Switzerland teams at the Kickstart Innovation Closing Ceremony 2024

How is Thryve establishing meaningful relationships with ecosystem players, and Swiss corporates? Are you generating commercial deals, and how are you approaching potential clients or collaborators?

At Thryve, building strong personal networks has been fundamental to our growth strategy. We are especially grateful to partners like Kickstart Innovation, who play a crucial role in connecting us with key decision-makers and fostering valuable collaborations. Thanks to these networks, we have been able to establish commercial agreements, strengthen our presence in the Swiss market, and accelerate ecosystem engagement. With MSD Switzerland for example, we are in discussions to identify methods to enable earlier and faster diagnosis of patients in Switzerland with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare condition that often goes undiagnosed for extended periods, leading to significant burdens on patients.

Our approach is relationship-driven: we prioritize trust, transparency, and long-term value creation in every interaction with potential clients and partners.

What advice would you give to other innovators and entrepreneurs looking to make an impact in the health tech space?

Start by deeply understanding the regulatory and market entry requirements of your target sectors—this will save you time and resources down the road. Don’t shy away from engaging with critical thinkers, even when they highlight potential obstacles. Their insights are essential for refining your strategy and preparing for real-world challenges. Success in health tech isn’t just about having a great product—it’s about navigating complexity with agility, resilience, and a willingness to learn from every conversation.

About Thryve

Thryve connects healthcare organizations with people’s data and provides actionable insights on individuals’ health status. By providing access to health-related data from smartphones, wearables & connected medical products, Thryve helps to improve adherence, effect, and outcome measurability of therapies. We continuously expand our connections to sensors and health data providers – ensuring that Thryve offers the best health insights, at any time.

About Paul Burggraf, Co-founder

Paul Burggraf has a diverse work experience. Paul co-founded and served as the COO of mHealth Pioneers GmbH since October 2016. Paul was also a Gastdozent at ZHAW Life Sciences und Facility Management from March 2013 to March 2018. Paul was involved in the spin-off Digital Health Companion at Fraunhofer IGD from October 2015 to March 2017. Prior to that, they worked as a Foresight Consultant at Z_punkt The Foresight Company from October 2011 to September 2015. Paul also had a brief role as a Foresight Analyst at the same company from October 2009 to March 2010.