The Innovation Series is Brought to you by Care Innovations, a joint venture between Intel Corporation and GE, committed to creating technology-based solutions that give people confidence to live independently, wherever they are. With GE’s expertise in healthcare and Intel’s expertise in technology – we’re innovating to change the way care and solutions are delivered.
Too often in senior living, daily operations are governed by the status quo. When you’ve been doing something for decades, even a minor change can seem monumental. But where no progress is made, stagnancy lurks.
That’s where innovators come in—disruptive types who dream up the ‘next big thing’ and plot ways to revolutionize ‘the way it’s always been.’ And accelerating those innovators are incubator programs that pull together a vast and valuable network of mentors comprised of industry experts, stakeholders, investors, and fellow entrepreneurs who provide support—and often capital—to help visionaries translate their ideas into products.
Read on for the five incubators every healthcare techie should know about:
1. Blueprint Health – New York City
This intensive, three-month accelerator program is geared toward healthcare companies seeking both customers and capital. This New York-based program is Charter Member of the Global Accelerator Network, founded by TechStars, and selects companies in early to late stages of product development.
Participants can benefit from a network of more than 150 healthcare entrepreneurs, investors, and industry executives and will also get $20,000 in cash, office space in Blueprint Health’s SoHo location, and other capital- and network-related perks in exchange for a 6% equity stake.
Blueprint Health accepts nearly every type of health company, with the exception of drug development and medical device companies.
Senior living industry-focused alum include StaffInsight, which helps hospitals and long-term care facilities manage labor productivity, and GeriJoy, aimed at providing families with a tablet-based communication and companion platform for elderly loved ones.
2. Rock Health – San Francisco
Rock Health is a full-service seed fund that helps early-stage startups build innovative technologies with the capability of transforming healthcare.
This program differs from many others because it allows start-ups to choose between an elective $100,000 convertible note or $10,000-20,000 in grants, with no equity required in exchange.
Participants have access to Rock Health’s extensive network of partners, encompassing industry leaders, technology experts, venture capitalists, and alumni. During the five-month program, start-ups work closely with Rock Health’s team—including office hours and hands-on support—to get help with fundraising, business/customer development, strategy, operating model, marketing and product launch, and more.
Rock Health’s portfolio companies with senior care applications include Care at Hand, a mobile care management platform geared toward home health aides, and Wellframe, which combines mobile technology and artificial intelligence to manage care transitions from the hospital to the home.
3. HealthBox – Chicago, Nashville, and Florida
With three United States locations in addition to one in Europe, Healthbox’s 16-week accelerator program gives its entrepreneurial participants customized support designed to address challenges unique to starting a business in the healthcare space.
The program is specifically looking for companies with capital-efficient business models that can make meaningful progress after going through the program, but could be in various stages of development from an idea to a prototype that has already undergone some initial user-testing.
Each startup receives $50,000 to fund their development through the course of the program in exchange for 7% equity. Healthbox supplies companies with mentorship, user research, and office space with access to its network of investors, mentors, and program alum.
HealthBox’s Chicago program includes senior care-focused alum such as CaraHealth, a modeling system that can predict when an elderly patient is at risk of a hospitalization or rehospitalization; HomeTouch, a multi-platform technology that fosters engagement and monitors the activity of older people and their carers, and Gweepi, which offers Smart Aide, a premier mobile point of care documentation system.
4. Health Wildcatters – Dallas
This 12-week accelerator program began in August 2013 in Dallas, Texas and focuses on early-stage healthcare startups covering a variety of niches, including senior care.
Its 15-company inaugural class included Cariloop, a senior care referral site modeled after Expedia and eHarmony, and CareStarter, which uses tech to deliver improved continuity of care to families who have just received a chronic illness diagnosis by providing access to information for finding the best-suited healthcare providers.
Health Wildcatters provides an initial seed investment of up to $35,000 and mentorship for start-ups that are in the early stages of fundraising and development. Because of the business accelerators’ network of early stage investors in Dallas, it’s expected that start-ups will be able to pick up funds from that local network immediately after graduating from the program.
5. The Aging2.0 GENerator – San Francisco
More than just a business accelerator, the GENerator is a newly launched founders program aimed at supporting what Aging2.0 has deemed the most promising entrepreneurs who are working to enhance the lives of older adults and improve long-term care.
It is the only program that specifically focuses on the 50-plus population and provides advice and access to mentors to each early-stage, high-potential company. The program’s co-founders selected the first cohort of 11 companies after hearing around 1,000 pitches from companies at 30 events held around the world.
Based in the Institute on Aging in San Francisco, Calif., the GENerator offers participants piloting and research opportunities across the care continuum and with key stakeholders, customized curriculum, brokered introductions to investors, distributors, and other valuable contacts, and other benefits in exchange for up to 2% equity in each company.
The six-month program’s inaugural class began in Fall 2013 and includes MyGrove, a multimedia marketplace and social engagement platform tailored for active adult communities, and CareLinx, a professional in-home caregiver online marketplace that helps people find, screen, hire and pay caregivers who match their specific needs and budget.
Written by Alyssa Gerace