Healthcare entrepreneurs loved the highlight within the Pitch Excellent contest at our annual INVEST convention(Opens in a brand new window) in Chicago this week. The 24 finalists competed within the occasion and had been judged by teams of buyers. The tracks included: biopharma; gadgets and diagnostics; well being tech aimed toward shoppers and self-insured employers; and well being tech aimed toward payers and suppliers.
The winners are:
Biopharma: Infectious illnesses
Yaso Therapeutics(Opens in a brand new window) is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical firm creating anti-infective drug merchandise in addition to a contraceptive. Its mission is to develop cutting-edge remedy and prevention merchandise based mostly on a broadly appearing polyanion with a core effort centered on ladies’s well being.
Mary Weitzel, Yaso Therapeutics CEO and co-founder, defined in her pitch that Yaso is pioneering the following technology of non-hormonal contraceptives and antimicrobials. Amongst its targets are drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea.
Gadgets/Diagnostics: Continual illnesses
Micro-Leads Medical(Opens in a brand new window) seeks to assist individuals with power ache, diabetic neuropathy, sleep apnea, urological issues, and migraines by its sensible implant expertise. Micro-Leads has developed “sensible programmable electrodes” to unlock a brand new class of implants. It makes use of airtight electronics inside every electrode array. Form-memory sensible implant electrodes are self-expanding and supply minimally invasive and injectable supply paradigms by unlocking remedy to a 3x-5x bigger therapeutic space, in response to its web site.
Chad Andresen, VP Enterprise Growth, offered the corporate’s pitch.
Well being Tech, Payer/Supplier: Synthetic Intelligence
Pear Suite(Opens in a brand new window) Though well being plans want to contract with neighborhood well being staff (CHWs) to shut care gaps and handle the social drivers of well being, CHWs usually lack the instruments and experience to turn into in-network suppliers, safely share healthcare information, and submit claims, stopping these partnerships. Pear Suite sees a necessity for turnkey options to accomplice with CHWs. By way of Pear Suite’s all-in-one platform, neighborhood organizations can assist members with social determinants of well being (SDoH) screenings, well being training, navigation, and useful resource referrals in a sustainable, person-centered manner. Its supplier community helps well being plans construct community capability whereas addressing care gaps at scale.
Colby Takeda, CEO and co-founder, delivered the corporate’s pitch.
Well being Tech, Shopper/Employer: Care navigation and coordination
DUOS(Opens in a brand new window) focuses on serving to older adults. It addresses vital gaps in healthcare by taking a holistic method to well being and wellness. It seeks to enhance entry to packages to scale back meals insecurity. It additionally needs to make it simpler for seniors to maintain their medical appointments, and join customers to untapped monetary assets.
CEO and Co-founder Karl Ulfers, who offered the corporate’s pitch, needs to make use of AI to assist older adults navigate advanced healthcare selections. This imaginative and prescient extends past expertise, reshaping the healthcare panorama to make sure older adults and their caregivers can entry the assist they want.
