Health IT, Startups

Jumpstart Foundry reveals investments in 17 healthcare startups from seed fund

Nicotrax, for example, is a startup from North Carolina State University. Led by Kyle Linton, it developed a device and mobile app to track user's cigarette consumption as they take part in customized smoking cessation programs.

unique ideas and innovationFive months after shifting its model from an accelerator to a seed stage innovation fund, Jumpstart Foundry has revealed 17 startups it’s selected for its portfolio.  Nicotrax, for example, is a startup from North Carolina State University. Led by  Kyle Linton, it developed a device and mobile app to track user’s cigarette consumption as they take part in customized smoking cessation programs. Punctil Health developed a healthcare punctuality service to reduce no-shows. Denis Abrams, a former CEO of paint company Benjamin Moore, founded the business, which reflects the push by non healthcare players into digital health.

Another example of its investments is affirmhealth, a business-to-business startup that is taking on the challenge of prescription drug abuse with software to help health providers efficiently and securely comply with state-controlled substance monitoring programs.

In a phone interview with Marcus Whitney, the Co-founder and President of Jumpstart Foundry, he said accelerators were a much more valuable value proposition from 2009-2012, but it’s since seen an explosion of accelerators.

“Some do it for branding and marketing, for some it’s about talent to hire at the end,” said Whitney. “Some are genuinely doing it for a pipeline of innovation. If you got in back in the day as an investor, it became a tough investment model because very few companies will get to the growth stage on a $25,000 or $50,000 investment.”

He added: “There’s so much dilution in strength of programs out there…It was time to move our business to a fund model.”

Whitney said 70 percent of the companies it has invested in the companies generate revenue and represent a mix of business and business (65 percent) to consumer companies (35 percent). They represent a diverse geographic spectrum, despite the fact that Jumpstart Foundry is based in Nashville.

“Our time spent helping to build bridges between industry and the startups,” Whitney said.

Here’s a summary of the rest of the digital health companies, courtesy of Jumpstart Foundry.

AkibaH is focused on harnessing the power of mobile health technology and data science to give people the knowledge and recommended actions to live longer and healthier lives. AkibaH’s first product, GluCase, is an all-in-one smartphone case glucose meter that combines a meter, test strips, lancets, and a Bluetooth Low Energy module; users can view glucose readings and receive group coaching via a mobile app. They can also view their glucose levels in the context of other information (activity, diet, and medications) by syncing data from other devices to the mobile app, enabling the delivery of better preventative care and better outcomes.
Founder:  Fathi Abdelsalam

Amblyotech is a digital therapy company focused on developing
a novel and patented game technology to treat the 3% of the global population
who suffer from Amblyopia, sometimes called “Lazy Eye”.
CEO:  Joseph Koziak

BeckonCall is designed to be a secure, HIPAA compliant mobile platform that
streamlines on-call scheduling and communications for healthcare providers
and administrators, and eliminates the frustration, wasted time and inefficient
message delivery common with traditional paging and live-operator answering
services that cost too much and haven’t adapted to the complex
communication needs of today’s healthcare system. Coupled with secure
messaging, group collaboration and bullet-proof escalation protocols,
BeckonCall is the only mobile solution that meets all of the secure, HIPAA
compliant communication requirements between patients, doctors,
administrators and hospital staff, throughout the care continuum.
CEO: Andrew Steele

BreatheAware has a mission to enhance individual and
population health by reducing day-to-day stress in the home and workplace.
Two-minute daily lessons are targeted at all ages and fitness
levelsthrough its Software as a Service training platform.
Co-Founders:  Peter Hermann and Curt Rosenthal

Calibrater Health makes customer service software for healthcare that combines real-time mobile patient feedback with easy to use issue tracking and reporting tools. Its  algorithms categorize and route patient comments for follow-up and immediate action. Its web-based system is designed to help doctors improve patient satisfaction and their practice.
CEO: Tim Dybvig

CaredFor is a SaaS community engagement platform licensed by
healthcare organizations for their community. The platform
allows healthcare organizations to learn about the patient and visitor
experience, build awareness through targeted calls-to-action, and reach the
community through personalized wellness content.
Co-Founders:  Colin Pollidor and Parker Pollidor

Cognuse enables the continuum of care for neurological and
cardiorespiratory conditions with comprehensive interfaces for everyone in
the care loop. Supporting early mobilization and screening for complications
helps hospitals improve the quality of care and report better outcomes.
CEO:  Andres Mellik

Dose Healthcare is an on-demand urgent care service that treats
patients in their home, office or hotel. In addition to treating individual
consumers, Dose offers an onsite healthcare package to small and medium-sized businesses.
CEO: Cole Hawkins

FitBliss, Inc. Created by millennials, FitBliss is a wellness engagement
platform. It’s built through Salesforce.com’s cloud-based platform and socially connects employees, integrates with fitness apps/wearables, and provides health coaching to improve health and productivity.
CEO: Navid Rastegar

GreenLight Medical is a cloud-based software platform to simplify medical technology procurement within hospitals, offering the only end-to-end solution to connect hospital providers and medical suppliers in one all-inclusive tool. GreenLight enables collective and responsible decision-making throughout hospital procurement, promoting alignment for all parties involved on the cost, quality, and outcomes of new medical technology.
CEO:  Austin Dirks

Healthy Bytes Nutritional counseling is now covered by medical insurance.
It helps dietitians get set up with, and paid by insurance.
CEO: Amy Roberts

Recoup Fitness is an innovative recovery product for professional athletes and the everyday athlete. Creating products used by professionals without the professional price tag.
Founder: Matt Hyder

ScriptDrop, a prescription delivery service, is designed to fit into the
pharmacist’s workflow. Through strategic partnerships, there is now no
need for pharmacists or patients to download an app to request their
prescription to be delivered, it claims.
Founder and CEO:  Nick Potts

Sightbox is designed to be a simple, affordable vision care solution for contact
lens wearers. All Sightbox memberships include a comprehensive annual eye
exam with any licensed U.S. eye doctor. It comes with a one-year supply of disposable contact lenses. It claims to offer all major contact lens brands. It doesn’t charge co-pays or deductibles.
Founder and CEO:  Travis Rush

 

Photo: Flickr user Jblyberg

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