SNAQ wins innovation prize

The Zurich-based start-up SNAQ has won first prize at the bytes4diabetes Awards 2020 in Berlin. The award is presented by the German pharmaceutical company BERLIN-CHEMIE and recognizes innovative digital projects that advance understanding in the field of diabetology.

SNAQ won over the jury with its app for nutritional analysis. Using a photo, the app automatically recognizes food on a plate. Thanks to 3D models, the app is also able to calculate the volume of food and accordingly infer its weight too. A comparison is then made with a nutrition database. In this way, the app can directly produce a nutritional analysis based on photos. The start-up is seeking authorization for its app as a medical product. This would allow diabetes patients, who use the app to photograph their meals, to see their required insulin dose.

“As someone who lives with this condition, I am aware just how arduous it can be to constantly research and tally up bread units. SNAQ can make the everyday lives of people living with diabetes much easier”, commented jury member Lisa Schütte in a press release. The innovative technical concept of SNAQ also impressed the jury.

Overall, a total of 32 start-ups put themselves forward for the bytes4diabetes Awards. BERLIN-CHEMIE is planning to organize the competition in 2021 as well.