The winners of INVEST Pitch Perfect are…..

The INVEST Pitch Perfect contest at the INVEST conference April 19-23 cast a spotlight on healthcare startups across biopharma, diagnostics, health IT, health services and medical devices.

Judges scored the finalists from each track based on the following criteria:

Here are the winners who had the highest points in each category:

Care.coach’s  digital avatars coach complex, high risk patients (typically elderly) – 5% of the US population who account for 50% of all healthcare costs — to take better care of themselves and to reduce cost of care for our health insurer customers. Its human-in-the-loop design allows us to surpass the limitations of AI, while training machine learning models to automate and scale human touch in ways that other companies do not have the data for.

Presenter: Victor Wang, Founder and CEO

Judges:

Systems Oncology is an AI powered, data-driven biopharmaceutical company. We use a proprietary artificial intelligence-based platform that drives discovery and development of cancer therapies. Systems Oncology uses its Expansive.AI™ computational platform for mining genomic evolution and multi-target discovery. Systems Oncology has successfully out-licensed multiple programs to Pharma, and we currently have 35 wholly-owned projects in oncology indications, with 4 programs ready for out-licensing in 2021. One program in particular, MyxSO, has compelling data that we are very excited about. For some background, MyxSO is a pan cancer, pre-clinic dual armed oncolytic virus IO therapy that has tremendous market potential. Dr. Dan Von Hoff, our Chief Clinical Strategist, has designed a very efficient clinical trial strategy that should lead to rapid regulatory approval. The company is looking to form a collaboration or joint venture to partner the MyxSO program and drive its development into the clinic.

Presenter: Spyro Mousses, CEO

Precision Microwaveis developing the next generation of precision, energy-based, medical devices capable of delivering fast, low-cost, safe, and effective minimally invasive treatment for patients with cancer and other chronic medical conditions. Our current focus is commercialization of our patent-ending directional microwave ablation (DMWA) applicator technology, which we have extensively developed through the support of National Science Foundation SBIR/STTR Phase I & II grants. We are currently heavily involved in coordinating activities with clinical expert advisors, OEMs, regulatory and quality consultants, engineering design firms, academic research partners, sales and marketing consultants, and patent attorneys to bring to market a complete, FDA-cleared, modern MWA system capable of disrupting the minimally invasive treatment market.

Presenter: Austin Pfannenstiel, PhD, Founder and President

Judges:

• Paul McCreadie, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Arboretum Ventures
• Amrinder Singh, Director, Venture Capital, Medtronic
• Rob Barmann, Partner, Endeavor Vision

GRIP Molecular’s single-use biosensor and mobile app provides consumers highly accurate and comprehensive medical diagnostic information in minutes, anytime and anywhere. The patented, graphene-enabled solid-state electronic platform technology is easy to use and does not require chemical reagents or a separate reader. GRIP’s underlying technology can simultaneously detect the presence of infectious disease pathogens and characterize the host response, including the immune response, to enable information-enabled diagnosis and the rapid application of appropriate therapy. The first product will simultaneously provide diagnostic information for COVID-19, Influenza A/B and other common upper respiratory infections. Proof of concept has been completed and development is underway with initial product launch anticipated in 2023.

Presenter: Ed Gillen, CEO and CCO

• Ryan Kole, Partner with VCapital
• Akhil Saklecha, M.D. Managing Director, Cleveland Clinic Ventures
• Liz Todia, Senior Associate, Mutual Capital Partners

Oshi Health is a virtual clinic that diagnoses and provide whole person treatment for gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. The company redesigned GI care from the ground up to be patient-centered, telehealth-first and value-based. Our integrated, GI-specialized care team includes physicians, NPs, dietitians, psychologists and health coaches to help patients implement a personalized care plan to get control of symptoms, improve quality of life and workplace productivity and reduce overall healthcare costs.

Presenter: Sam Holliday, CEO

Judges:

• Cheryl Chang, General Partner, BlueRun Ventures
• Keith Figlioli, General Partner, LRVHealth
• Steve Tolle, Partner, HLM Venture Partners

Photo: Oat_Phawat, Getty Images