Earlier this year, MassChallenge kicked off a search for startups for an inaugural digital health accelerator as part of a statewide initiative. Three months later, PULSE@MassChallenge has made its selections, a news release said. The 31 companies in the first cohort — the majority of them based in Massachusetts — span cancer diagnostics to the use of virtual reality to support physical therapy.
The PULSE program is geared to later stage companies that are ready to scale, have raised no more than $5 million, and generate under $5 million in revenue. The goal of the program is to hook up selected startups with strategic relationships, resources, mentoring, and community access needed to create an impact in digital health. Unlike the traditional accelerator model (is there such a thing anymore?) PULSE@MassChallenge takes no equity from the companies and one company selected as the best of the cohort will be awarded $100,000 at the end of the program.
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The program participants were whittled down from a pool of 439 applicants responding to pitches from accelerator partners articulating their needs. In some cases, the partners are teaming up to support pilot programs. Nick Dougherty, PULSE Program Director, noted in a phone interview that AARP and Microsoft had teamed up to support a pilot of VR Physio’s virtual reality-enabled physical therapy technology. In another case, Cerner and Boston Children’s Hospital teamed up to work with Herald Health, a startup that developed an alert system which doctors can customize to specify when and how they receive notifications on patients’ results.
In addition to digital health startups, there are also some medtech companies in the mix as well, such as next generation liquid biopsy startup ConquerX.
The startups will embark on a six-month program starting in January and will work out of a Boston-based innovation lab. Dougherty also noted that although PULSE@MassChallenge won’t invest directly in startups, it will work to secure investments for each of the participants.
Here’s a list of the digital health startups selected for the accelerator program:
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