Konica Minolta has invested in the med-tech start up Clevertar which creates digital agents or avatars in the healthcare industry. With applications available via iOS and Android, Clevertar's products have the potential to democratise health care and are already being used to improve patient outcomes in the diabetes and aged care spaces. 

Konica Minolta supports local innovation through its Asia-Pacific Business Innovation Centre (BIC), first launched in January 2014. The BIC manages the entire lifecycle of service development and incubation activities, from ideation, proof-of-concepts and pilot programs to business development and actual business deployment activities. The Australian-based Innovation and Healthcare team furthers the work of the BIC in Australia by assisting with local investments, and developing the market for overseas-made innovations and investments.

Most recently, the BIC invested in Clevertar. Clevertar is a spin-out of Flinders University in South Australia. Founded in 2012, it builds and deploys avatars or digital agents into resource intensive markets such as chronic illness and aged care.

Anna Cares is a cloud-based solution that allows aged and disability service providers to keep in contact with clients in their homes and check that they are taking their medications and taking part in daily activities.

It uses a relational agent or clever avatar called Anna who appears on an iPad provided to the client. Anna guides the client through their daily activities, reminds them to take their medications and any appointment they may have, asks them about their wellbeing and delivers messages by voice from the person's family or service provider.

Martin Keetels, business development manager, Konica Minolta Asia-Pacific BIC, said, “Konica Minolta welcomes the government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. We believe this is a statement of intent to transition Australia away from being a resource reliant economy to one that supports and values the entrepreneurial endeavours of its citizens.

“Konica Minolta is pro-innovation and pro-Australian start-up. We have made, and will continue to make, seed investments in local start-ups. We have found innovation investment to be a win-win for us, and the investee alike. We win by being exposed to small, agile teams that are creatively solving the problems of their customers. The start-up wins by having the opportunity to interact with, and take advantage of our company’s expertise. They can gain access to capital, sophistication around business development and customer relationships, and mature systems and processes.

“Our own innovation focus is already closely aligned with the key pillars of the National Innovation and Science Agenda including culture and capital, collaboration, and talent and skills.”

The Asia-Pacific BIC works with customers and partners to develop new services for the region. Konica Minolta’s collaboration partners range from solution providers, start-ups, and research institutions, to crowdsourcing channels to develop and incubate new services.

Martin Keetels said, “All of our investments are contingent upon an ongoing supportive relationship with the receiving company. Through collaboration, Konica Minolta receives access to new markets and services, and the start-up can tap into expertise at Konica Minolta such as sales and marketing.

“Further, as the start-ups develop and the investments mature, the global network of BICs will offer a valuable channel to market for those businesses looking to expand regionally and globally. Konica Minolta has an innovation footprint that each of our investments can leverage.”