NoHarm.ai has joined Casa do Impacto, a Lisbon innovation hub supporting entrepreneur
Photo: Personal archive
NoHarm.ai has impacted more than 100,000 lives in Brazil. But now the startup is preparing for a new moment in life: it has just landed in Lisbon to integrate Casa do Impacto, an innovation hub that helps entrepreneurs who believe in sustainable business models. Internationalization is on the horizon of NoHarm.ai, whose initial steps were taken at PUCRS while still in the School of Technology’s graduate program, and now is in the Science and Technology Park of PUCRS (Tecnopuc).
The operation in Portugal resulted from a trip Henrique Dias, the startup founder, took to the Web Summit, one of the largest innovation events in the world. The trip was supported by UolEdtech, a company that is partners with Tecnopuc’s Startup Development Programs. The technology of NoHarm.ai, conceived by Dias, can have an impact not only nationally but also internationally. According to Henrique, “having the support of Casa de Impacto in Lisbon is essential for NoHarm to expand in Portugal and later in Europe”.
The startup was born out of a research project Henrique developed in the research group in Artificial Intelligence in Health in the Graduate Program in Computer Science of PUCRS, along with Ana Helena Ulbrich, a pharmacist at Grupo Hospitalar Conceição. NoHarm.ai’s artificial intelligence can bring more agility and security in the decision-making of the hospital’s pharmaceutical companies.
Noharm.ai developed two algorithms for automating pharmaceutical screening. While one of them prioritizes non-standard prescriptions, the other identifies critical patients. The system indicates the location of potential prescription errors, and so, increases the quality of assistance and hospital efficiency. The platform helps the hospitals’ pharmacies in decision making through Artificial Intelligence. So far, the system has already impacted more than 120,000 lives. It is currently being used in 35 hospitals, including 500 beds at PUCRS’ São Lucas Hospital. At Santa Casa Hospital, NoHarm.ai has already generated savings of more than R$ 2 million for the institution, impacting more than 30,000 lives.
When Henrique and Ana Helena conceived the startup, they joined seven other volunteers to finish the system’s development and put the research into practice. Mãe de Deus and Santa Casa Hospitals, both in Porto Alegre, embraced the project and decided to implement the system in the everyday clinical pharmacy practice.
