Veronika Schweighart, co-founder of the Munich-based startup Climedo, was honored as the 2020 Thought Leader. This year's initiative, sponsored by Handelsblatt and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), focused on the theme of "Heroes in Crisis." The award honored 29 young professionals in business, politics, and startups who are successfully using their expertise to navigate the coronavirus crisis and seize new opportunities as "thought leaders for the new reality."
"We are in the midst of a new reality. It is essential to master the acute effects of the crisis and lay the foundation for tomorrow's success,"
said Matthias Tauber, Jury Chairman and Germany Head of BCG.
“In spring 2020, we at Climedo Health did not see the new situation with Corona as a single problem, but rather worked directly as a team to develop new, creative solutions,”
explained Veronika Schweighart, Climedo co-founder and COO, When asked how she was shaping the new reality with her thought leadership, Climedo had already made an online platform for medical data collection and symptom diaries for patients available free of charge to practices, clinics, research institutes, and non-profit organizations at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic (we reported).
Schweighart: “Achieving a great deal with courage, optimism and ambition”
This ultimately led to a commission from the Federal Ministry of Health. The solution is now being used in various health authorities throughout Germany; the federal government is covering the costs of the software. The goal is to support health authority employees and enable them to digitally trace contacts and thus contain the coronavirus. Climedo is thus now relieving the burden on numerous health authorities throughout Germany in the context of the so important and often mentioned Contact tracing.
Schweighart continued:
"The pandemic has shown that even a relatively small company can achieve a great deal with the right amount of courage, optimism, and ambition. My plea to all thought leaders and viewers tonight: Continue to be thought leaders, role models, and pioneers to shape the new reality and thereby turn even challenging times into positive ones!"
Schweighart founded Climedo in 2017 to to create social added value with digital technologiesTo this end, the startup developed a platform for data collection and the faster introduction of modern cancer therapies. The solution is already being used in major university hospitals such as the Charité in Berlin.
The award ceremony can here can still be viewed. Further information on the 2020 thought leaders can be found in the Handelsblatt article.
