Welcome to the I.E.C.T. - Fellowship Community: METASYS

We are very much looking forward to the future cooperation with our latest fellowship partner: METASYS located in Rum next to Innsbruck!

METASYS is a prime example of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit from Tyrol. The world has been using amalgam separators from METASYS since 1988, and within a short time the company was able to establish itself as a technology leader. This is also because a major socio-ecological problem and thus a great need was discovered early on: Amalgam is toxic and was not disposed of in an environmentally sound manner until the end of the 1980s. METASYS was one of the first companies to provide reliable, innovative solutions to this problem. This pioneering position is supported by fundamental technological achievements, which are a central brand building block of the company today and in the future.

We talked to Lukas Pregenzer, Division Manager for Research & Development at METASYS. Our conversation was about start-ups, challenges for young entrepreneurs and the future of the dental industry.?

"With METASYS we want to be a part of the I.E.C.T. - Summer School 2022 to open up for innovations, to broaden our view on things and to help promising projects to succeed. We look positively to the future and to Austria's increasingly important and growing startup ecosystem. We are convinced that We can achieve great things if the match fits!"

Viktoria: Hi Lukas, nice to meet you! Please tell us something about your company METASYS.

Lukas: "METASYS" was founded in 1988. We started our product range with an amalgam separator, a device for separating amalgam from dental wastewater. At that time, this was a complete novelty in the dental industry! In the meantime, METASYS employs more than 80 people in Tyrol alone, in addition to the employees in our subsidiaries abroad: France, USA, Asia -- METASYS has been able to expand internationally and strengthen its position as a technology leader in the dental sector! Our business rests on three pillars:?

1. Dental equipment & accessories. They have been our core business since the company was founded in '88. Our separators filter highly toxic mercury compounds and solids from amalgam waste. Everything is combined and reprocessed in Innsbruck. Over the years, the product range has been expanded to include suction, hygiene, disinfection and compressor systems.

2. Chemical development. The development of useful chemical products for the dental sector quickly became our second mainstay. We focus on disinfection & hygiene and with "GREEN&CLEAN" we were able to establish a product range that acts as a comprehensive solution for all hygiene requirements of a dental practice.

3. Disposal & recycling. The disposal and recycling of dental waste requires specialized logistics, especially in compliance with applicable environmental guidelines.?

Viktoria: That sounds important! Your company is a traditional, established company - but is innovative and, above all, open to collaboration with startups. That's not widespread. How do you live innovation??

Lukas: Our ambitions in terms of innovation have always been great and the demands on young entrepreneurs are not getting any smaller! After all, we used to be a "backyard company" as well. Traditionally, the dental industry is rather skeptical about innovations. One of the reasons for this is that it is an extremely regulated sector. The entire medical industry has to deal with high regulations, which not only costs time but also a lot of money. To bring a new product to market in this industry, you can quickly calculate between €70,000 and €100,000 for the "paperwork" alone. This does not make it easy for start-ups to market innovations and many interesting projects fail because of this hurdle. In addition, the dental market is very cautious, and fewer mistakes can be made than elsewhere. So there is much longer testing and trial and error than in other industries, which of course also inhibits the innovative spirit among young entrepreneurs and researchers. Also inhibiting here is the trend toward large investors, since they are less willing to take risks, they don't like new registrations and innovation fails to materialize. All this is happening in a very small industry: Everyone knows everyone - from the boss to the technician, this can also influence decisions and slow down progress. We want to counteract these hurdles, open up new business areas and open ourselves up to new ideas!?

Viktoria: What do you see in the I.E.C.T. - Summer School and the participants? Do you have experience in cooperation with startups and what are you looking for??

Lukas: We want to be a part of the I.E.C.T. - Summer School 2022 with METASYS to open up for innovations, to broaden our view on things and to help promising projects to succeed. We have decided to offer a fellowship in order to find a suitable project from a wide range of start-ups and to be able to support it directly and effectively. We offer these fellowships in the following areas: Synthetic biology, Robotics, Smart sensors, Advanced materials, IoT, 3d printing and Recycling. Our experience with start-ups is limited to loose collaborations, especially in the areas of prototyping or technology development for start-ups. However, we are looking positively into the future and the increasingly important and growing start-up ecosystem in Austria. We are convinced that we can achieve great things if the match fits!??

Viktoria: How do you see the future? Where would you see the most potential for new innovations?

Lukas: We see ourselves as a company in a special position. In our industry, for the reasons mentioned above, innovation is inhibited rather than encouraged. However, it must come at some point, because it is not possible without innovation! We see enormous potential here, especially in the area of digitalization. Two aspects of digitization in particular stand out: telemedicine and, closely linked to this, diagnostics. This potential trend is supported by another development: Many doctors are increasingly settling in large practices, which means centralization, away from the small group practice. Here, larger equipment with more capacity is needed than in a small practice, and the doctor may soon be examining the patient "remotely" and only ordering him into the practice if his digital examination produces appropriate results. However, a lot of research still needs to be done for this, for example on "smart sensors" and software solutions for patient management and diagnostics.?

Viktoria: Lukas, thank you for the interview, good luck and see you soon!?

Lukas: Thanks and all the best to you too, Viktoria!?

More information about the I.E.C.T. - Summer School and about fellowships can be found at our Website or visit us on LinkedIn.