With the selection of four contenders, the regional preliminary round of the National Healthcare Innovation Award 2026 has officially begun. Floow.ai is one of the four, in the running for this prize for the most innovative scale-up in the field of care and welfare.
The Zorg2040 partners, organisers of the regional round in January at the Beurs van Berlage, put these healthcare innovations in the spotlight. Elise Spaan, founder of Floow.ai, was asked how the idea came about, which obstacles they had to overcome, and what they hope to gain from taking part.
In care and welfare, many capable people miss out on opportunities because they don't have the right papers to officially perform all the required procedures. With the Floow.ai app they can validate their competencies better in practice and up- or re-skill in a tailored way, says founder Elise Spaan.
How did the idea for your product come about?
“Eighty percent of all employees worldwide don't work behind a desk, and have specific educational needs. We were already active in vocational (MBO) education for practical professions such as security guards and maritime training. There we saw big gaps between the theory of education and the demand from practice. We fill those gaps with information and guidance via the smartphone. Two years ago we got a question from a care institution and a partnering vocational college — could we help with the training of care professionals? That was the seed for Floow.ai.”
Which obstacles did you encounter and how did you solve them?
“The biggest obstacle was developing a system that truly matches practice and the target group. In practical training the work supervisor is crucial — they assess and validate every procedure, which is enormously time-consuming. With our app, learners can capture procedures more easily with photos, videos and audio. A practical supervisor validates these and is relieved of administration. With AI we create personalised learning paths that match a student's experience. All assignments and skills are stored automatically and clearly in their personal wallet.”
What is your motivation for taking part in this competition?
“Alongside our current clients, we're currently running pilots on talent-oriented working with education and care institutions. Above all we want to create awareness and reach a wider audience. We have cases and examples showing that it can be done differently. The National Healthcare Innovation Award is a wonderful national platform to show this.”
What makes your product a contender?
“Many solutions in care focus on the care process itself, to save a few minutes per week. But ultimately it's the human being who makes the difference. Our claim is that we can improve labour productivity in care by at least 25 percent. In this way we offer a structural solution to the staff shortage in care.”
What do you need to scale up further?
“We're currently working hard to establish this new standard: a personal learning-navigation system that significantly increases the development opportunities for every care professional. Until now we've paid for everything out of our own pocket, but the growth is exponential. Concretely, we therefore need partners in care and education with nerve, who dare to invest in the future of care — and of course financial and development partners.”
Original text: Amsterdam Economic Board.