Category Archives: Healthcare

Brand Newland Is Fighting Opioid Overprescribing by Improving and Standardizing the Surgery Experience

November 24, 2020HealthcareAccess to care, Addiction, Cost to Zero, Logan PlasterStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:43 — 34.0MB)

Established with the goal of improving recovery time and bettering outcomes for patients undergoing surgical procedures, the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols have revolutionized that experience. Unfortunately, variations in surgical practices do not allow every patient to benefit. Brand Newland, CEO and Co-founder of Goldfinch Health, hopes to change that. Through Goldfinch, Newland is making sure that employers are able to provide their patients with the best surgery options available; An opportunity for patients to recover faster, employers pay less in sick leave, insurance companies pay for fewer complications and setbacks. Finally, and perhaps most importantly at this moment in history, faster recovery times mean less reliance on opioids. And Newland sees his work at Goldfinch as a critical upstream component to fighting the opioid crisis.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots healthmoonshots.com

Want more content like this? You can subscribe to the podcast as well as other health innovation updates at startuphealth.com/content. Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.

How LifeBio Is Using the Power of Storytelling to Improve Mental Health for Seniors

November 10, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, StartupsBeth Sanders, coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19, elder care, Healthy Longevity, LifeBio, Logan Plaster, Loneliness, Longevity, memory care, mental health, Pandemic Response, senior, StartUp HealthStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:52 — 42.4MB)

In 2020, the coronavirus caused a societal lock-down like this generation has never seen before. Many who were already isolated and lonely — like seniors – were put into a desperate situation. Beth Sanders, CEO and Co-founder of LifeBio, a startup that’s been with StartUp Health since 2014, has always had a heart for isolated and lonely seniors. She’d worked with them for years, helping them to tell their stories, using what’s called reminiscence therapy. But COVID-19 put LifeBio and this important work into overdrive. Not only was the work needed more than ever, but LifeBio was able to connect the dots between fighting loneliness and improving health outcomes. Turns out a phone call with a trained conversationalist can fight depression, anxiety and keep you mentally nimble. Their findings got the attention of health systems, insurance companies, and even won them a coveted SBIR grant. Logan Plaster, Media Director at StartUp Health, caught up with Sanders to learn more about how LifeBio works and the critical role of storytelling in healthcare in a post-COVID world.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots healthmoonshots.com

New VC Funds Put Women’s Health Moonshot Front and Center

November 4, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, StartupsBlack Female Entrepreneurs, Covid 19, female entrepreneurs, health innovation, investing, investment, Katya Hancock, Maria Velissaris, StartUp Health, SteelSky Ventures, VC firm, Venture, womens healthStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:47 — 62.9MB)

In today’s venture capital world, the vast majority of decisions are made by male investors – by one recent estimate, 87% of partners at digital health venture funds are men. This imbalance has resulted in an overall lack of investment in women’s health innovations, and in female founders. That’s shifting thanks in part to investors like Maria Velissaris, our guest on this week’s episode. Maria was a successful entrepreneur and business development maven before she became a managing Partner at SteelSky Ventures. SteelSky is a VC firm with a laser focus on women’s health, and a desire to see women-run startups get the funding they deserve. Today’s conversation has been pulled from an expert office hour held by StartUp Health and attended by entrepreneurs from the StartUp Health portfolio. So in addition to Maria’s insights – on investment trends, how to pitch, and how COVID-19 has changed the game – you’ll get to hear real-life questions from founders who are working in the trenches. The session was moderated by Katya Hancock, StartUp Health’s Investor Network Director. Enjoy.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots healthmoonshots.com

Venus Williams Gets Candid About Entrepreneurship, Wellness and Bouncing Back From COVID-19

October 27, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, StartupsAlison Harmelin, Covid 19, COVID19, entrepreneurship, Health, health innovation, invest, investing, Logan Plaster, Longevity, massage, Startup, StartUp Health, Tennis, Venus Williams, ZeelStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:23 — 28.0MB)

Tennis icon and Olympian Venus Williams has built on her success on the court to become a savvy and successful investor, advisor and entrepreneur. Now she’s making her mark on health innovation. Venus Williams has partnered with Zeel, the wellness company that invented the idea of massage-on-demand. Now, Zeel has expanded to a tech-platform that offers a range of wellness on the go services. Recently, Zeel Co-founder Alison Harmelin sat down with the iconic tennis star to get her candid thoughts about health, entrepreneurship, and how startups can bounce back from COVID-19 even stronger than they started.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots healthmoonshots.com

RxRevu Is Bringing Drug Price Transparency to Doctors at the Bedside

October 13, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, StartupsCarm Huntress, Cost to Zero, Cure Disease, Logan Plaster, RxRevu, StartUp HealthStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:38 — 43.4MB)

With the recent IPO of GoodRx, drug price transparency – at least on the consumer side – is having a moment. But what about at the patient’s bedside? In this week’s podcast, we sit down with Carm Huntress, CEO of RxRevu, a StartUp Health company that for seven years has been bringing drug price data to doctors at the point of care so they can make smarter decisions for their patients.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Surviving the Pivot: How Two Founders Re-Shaped Their Business to Thrive in a Post-COVID World

July 28, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, StartupsAccess to care, jennifer meller, kavita mangal, Logan Plaster, NavimizeStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:02 — 35.1MB)

When the pandemic first hit, Dr. Jennifer Meller, CEO & Founder of Navimize, and CTO Kavita Mangal knew they were going to have to work fast. How could the duo utilize their existing platform, but adapt to the new conditions brought forth by COVID-19? To do this, says Meller, the team had to shift focus and channel their platform solely around the needs of their customers. In this StartUp Health NOW episode, Dr. Meller and Mangal share what held the company together at the start of the pandemic, and how they’ve repurposed their technology for the “new normal.”

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Dr. Sandro Galea: Changing the Conversation Around Health

June 30, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, StartupsBoston University, Cure Disease, Digital Health, future of health, health equity, health innovation, Healthcare, Nicole Clark, sandro galeaStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:04 — 29.4MB)

To improve health, not just healthcare, we have to do the hard work of building a healthier world. And that, says Sandro Galea, MD, dean of the Boston University School of Public Health, starts with investing in preventative care infrastructures, not just in treatments. In this episode of StartUp Health NOW, Galea shares the inspiration for his book Well: What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Health and urges us to think more deeply about the interconnected forces around us—from money and power to love and hate, compassion, fairness, and justice—and how they can lead to sustainable health.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Cityblock Scales Up to Meet the Needs of NYC’s Hardest Hit During COVID-19

June 2, 2020HealthcareAccess to care, Nicole Clark, Pandemic ResponseStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:51 — 26.4MB)

When the pandemic first hit, Toyin Ajayi, MD, Chief Health Officer & Co-founder of Cityblock, says her team knew, instinctively, that the patients Cityblock serves would be some of the hardest hit. Their patients are people without a financial or social safety net who live in communities where, because of poverty and racial health inequities, they experience poorer outcomes from the virus. “We want people to know that it is both possible and necessary that we serve these populations and that we do it well.” In an interview for StartUp Health NOW, Ajayi shares how Cityblock adapted and scaled their community-based health services to meet covid-specific needs, from on-demand in-home visits that follow COVID-19 safety guidelines, to one-on-one outreach to their most vulnerable members through culturally-competent telehealth visits and SMS communication.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

Hiring in Health: Aequitas Partners Launch the Health Talent Exchange

May 15, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, Startupsc-suite, Covid 19, entrepreneurship, executive search firm, health innovation, hiring, Nicole ClarkStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:49 — 33.7MB)

Executive search firm Aequitas Partners has been building teams for high growth health innovation companies since 2014. Now, with their Health Talent Exchange they’re helping top candidates and companies accelerate the hiring process during COVID-19.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com

The Health Transformer Making EMS COVID-Ready

May 13, 2020Business, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, StartupsAccess to care, Addiction, coronavirus, Cost to Zero, Covid 19, Emergency Medical Services, EMS, EMS Communication, entrepreneurship, health innovation, Innovation, Nicole Clark, Pandemic Response, StartupStartUp Health

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 17:41 — 16.2MB)

One day after the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic, Beyond Lucid Technologies announced that it would be appending its EMS health information exchange platform, adding the ability to receive and sort fire and EMS encounters involving patients suspected of suffering from, or being exposed to, the deadly coronavirus. In this fireside chat with the company’s CEO & Co-founder Jonathon Feit, he shares how his platform is transforming EMS in over half of the United States.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health https://www.startuphealth.com/
Investors: How to invest in StartUp Health Moonshots http://www.healthmoonshots.com