Startups

Health Wildcatters portfolio company scores exit with Nike acquisition

The Invertex deal marks the second acquisition for Health Wildcatters, a Dallas-based health tech and life science accelerator in its fifth year.

 

In a win for Dallas-based accelerator Health Wildcatters, Nike has snapped up portfolio company Invertex, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based technology business that seeks to disrupt the footwear industry through 3D body scanning. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Nike Chief Digital Officer Adam Sussman said in a company news release that Invertex would fit into Nike’s Consumer Direct Offense strategy.

“The acquisition of Invertex will deepen our bench of digital talent and further our capabilities in computer vision and artificial intelligence as we create the most compelling Nike Consumer Experience at every touchpoint.”

Invertex took part in Health Wildcatter’s 2014 class, a year after the accelerator’s launch. Although it had initially developed the scanning technology for people with diabetes at risk for developing foot ulcers due to the loss of sensation in extremities, a complication of the chronic condition that can lead to amputation, Invertex later pivoted away from healthcare.

Invertex’s technology enables users to scan their feet one of two ways — in a shoe store or using their smartphone’s photo sensor.

The deal marks the second acquisition for Health Wildcatters following Nexeon MedSystems’s acquisition of patents from neuromodulation business Neurotek.

Health Wildcatters Executive Director Hubert Zajicek expressed his enthusiasm for the deal in a phone interview.

“It’s a fantastic exit…I love the fact that a well-known consumer products company has seen value in one of our portfolio companies. I think it bodes well for innovation.”

He added: “I am definitely a sucker for personalization — I think it is huge when companies can personalize items to customers. The consumerization of healthcare is all about giving people the option of making decisions for themselves.”

Last fall, Amazon acquired 3D body scanning startup Body Labs in a deal estimated to be at least $50 million. The company’s technology, which harnesses  AI and computer vision, has the potential to serve a few different business-to-business applications beyond the fashion industry such as avatars for computer games and 3D modeling for health and fitness tracking.

Photo: Getty Images

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