CDL-Berlin Health

For founders developing solutions to the macro-healthcare challenges facing the European Union in human disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment

The Health Stream at CDL-Berlin supports early-stage founders building science- and technology-driven ventures at the intersection of healthcare, life sciences, and deep tech. The stream focuses on translating cutting-edge academic and clinical research into scalable companies capable of addressing Europe’s most pressing health challenges.

The mission of the Health Stream at CDL-Berlin is to bridge Europe’s long-standing commercialisation gap between scientific excellence and entrepreneurial execution. Our goal is to enable the creation of massively scalable ventures that leverage deep technologies to tackle the most challenging human diseases and contribute to improved healthspan and longevity.

CDL achieves this by providing structured mentorship from a global network of serial entrepreneurs, experienced operators, scientists, technologists, and investors who have played critical roles in building leading health and life science companies. Participating startups work closely with these mentors to refine objectives, prioritise time and resources, validate technical and commercial assumptions, raise capital, and engage with experts operating at the forefront of research and innovation.

Startups participate in five in-person objective-setting sessions held between October and June. CDL is a non-profit organisation: there are no participation fees, and CDL does not take equity. Learn more about the CDL program.

Who Should Apply?

The Health Stream is best suited to ventures or projects developing novel solutions in three main areas: therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. This stream is tailored towards early-stage companies (early venture or growth) or even projects (pre-incorporation); however, startups at all levels of maturity will be considered.

Example Innovation Areas

Therapeutics: Biotechnology solutions addressing multiple stages of the therapeutics value chain, including research and development of diverse therapeutic modalities and advanced drug delivery systems. These solutions are expected to demonstrate strong potential to address the most significant unmet medical needs.
Diagnostics: Innovative diagnostic solutions that leverage emerging technologies to address substantial unmet needs across the healthcare sector. This includes enabling technology platforms for clinical decision support, non-invasive diagnostic approaches, biomarker-based methods for early disease detection, cancer screening platforms, and predictive analytics.
Medical Devices: Technologies designed to complement and enhance existing therapeutic and biotechnological solutions while improving patient quality of life. This category includes next-generation implants, minimally invasive intervention technologies, surgical robotics, and non-pharmacological disease interventions.

The list above is not exhaustive. Contact giovanni.rolandino@creativedestructionlab.com to discuss the program and your venture with someone from the Health Stream.

Our Mentors

CDL mentors include accomplished entrepreneurs, experienced operators, active angel and venture investors, world-leading scientists, engineers, and economists. Mentors and founders meet every eight weeks across Germany to help founders set objectives over the program’s six-month duration.