Hestia: from corona test site to safe events

Director Xander Schurink summarises their strengths: “We are adept at business development, we know what to do to get the market moving. We are pragmatic, too. We are able to develop a concept, develop the IT and start the communication in just a few weeks. We keep our time-to-market short. This means we are often the ‘first mover’ instead of the ‘smart follower’.”

Hestia combines knowledge of healthcare and its processes with IT. They have developed a system that simplifies thrombosis care, for example. “We are always looking for improvements”, says Xander. “How can we make healthcare safer, more efficient and more patient-friendly, so that the quality goes up and the costs go down? That is the challenge we constantly face in a fairly traditional playing field.”

Xander passed some matrix signs when he was driving on the German motorway earlier this year, and they got him thinking. “The German government put out warnings against the coronavirus and advised to go into quarantine for fourteen days. Austria was already panicking, and this started in the Netherlands two weeks later. We went into quarantine, and worked out the idea of a corona test site with the Hestia team.” They were the first to open a test site. This generated a lot of free publicity, which in turn led to enormous growth. Martin Olde Weghuis from Novel-T visited Hestia on a Friday afternoon thanks to this publicity.

“We were researching and featuring companies for Sportinnovator in the spring”, says business developer Martin Olde Weghuis. “We were looking for companies that could play a role in making sports safe and accessible again during this corona pandemic.” This resulted in a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project; an innovation competition in which the government challenges entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions for social problems. “Hestia was one of the companies that applied, and they came up with a smart and safe innovation. They now get the chance to develop their idea in phase two of the SBIR project and test it in field labs.”

We want to go to sports and other events again safely, together. How do you make sure that everyone there does not have corona? “Our Smart-Access concept is based on negative corona tests that cannot be older than 48 hours”, Xander Schurink explains. The platform does not only process all kinds of data to generate a valid admission ticket; it also tells the consumer what time he is expected at which entrance, for example. “We look at security from all sides. For example, we ask if people feel safe during the match.” 

Hestia will keep working on the platform in the coming weeks. They have asked Close to collaborate with them on SMART-Access’s communication, because of their experience with De Graafschap and Ajax. “The expectation is that we can carry out the first tests in stadiums in January and February. If they go well, it will offer great opportunities for event venues, restaurants, theatres and other places where large audiences gather.”

Xander answers a question on how they stay innovative: “Innovation starts with leadership and vision. I give direction and envision our goals. Our team will then come up with surprising elements that I haven’t thought of, which makes innovation is a real team effort for us.”