Amplifon, the world leader in hearing care services and solutions, and Plug and Play Italy, the Milan office of the international open innovation platform, announce a new partnership aimed at connecting and collaborating with start-ups globally.

“Open Innovation plays a fundamental role in healthcare, facilitating access to external expertise and accelerating technological development. It fosters the secure exchange of health data, reduces research and development costs, and promotes a dynamic innovation ecosystem. The agreement with Amplifon was born out of these premises and marks the first step for Plug and Play in Italy towards a new division dedicated to health” states Tommaso Maschera, Plug and Play Italy Director.

“Amplifon is always at the forefront of innovation, continuing the journey which began almost three years ago with AmplifonX, the division dedicated to the development of new digital solutions, which acts as an internal research and development center. We are always looking for new technologies to provide our customers with an increasingly personalized service and improve their quality of life. To this end, we are developing new partnerships with innovative global companies in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The new partnership with Plug and Play will help us on this path” explains Antonio Curci, AmplifonX Global Director.

Amplifon operates with over 20,000 people and nearly 10,000 shops in 26 countries on five continents around the world. Founded in Milan in 1950, the company is a world leader in its field. Thanks to its in-house startup, AmplifonX, the company develops new digital solutions to enable its hearing care professionals to offer an increasingly personalized service to their customers, both inside and outside the shops.

Since 2015, Plug and Play has already accelerated over 300 startups in partnership with more than 30 companies and finalized over 80 investments in the sector. 

Plug and Play's health programs focus on five thematic areas: TechBio, for AI-powered software that facilitates the development of pharmaceutical assets and diagnostic assays, or enables the analysis and processing of biological data; Health Tech, for AI-powered diagnostic and decision analysis software that is or can be integrated with medical devices; Healthcare IT, for SaaS powered by artificial intelligence that support healthcare infrastructure along the patient journey and value chain; Digital Therapeutics, for clinically validated patient-facing applications that enable treatment or diagnosis; and Digital Care Provision, for clinically validated digital systems that support the entire patient journey.