Tag Archives: Health Moonshots

Salvo Health: Travelocity and Foursquare Exec Jeff Glueck Has Raised $10.5M to Disrupt the GI Health Market



In health innovation – which is the world we inhabit at StartUp Health – there are certain issues that get the lion’s share of attention. Think wearables for tracking daily activity or new mental health solutions. A lot of attention is going towards interventions for seniors and addressing issues of loneliness and isolation. These are wonderful areas of development. But there are other areas of health that have huge implications across society, yet have a way of flying under the radar. There’s stigma – like our hesitance to talk about mental health struggles – and then there’s society’s reaction to gastrointestinal conditions. GI problems. Irritable bowel syndrome or IBS. Celiac disease. The list goes on. Each year, 62 million Americans are diagnosed with a digestive disorder. Another 30 million go undiagnosed. They’re often too embarrassed to even talk to their primary care provider about it, so they suffer in silence, and it has negative ripple effects across their entire life.

Well, all that seems to be about to change. The virtual healthcare revolution has reached the GI market with the launch of Salvo Health, a company that’s using virtual care to bring the best gut health tools and therapies to millions of people.

Heading up the effort is CEO and Co-founder Jeff Glueck, who is our guest on today’s episode. Jeff is a tech industry veteran, having been Chief Marketing Officer at Travelocity during their meteoric rise, and the CEO of the social app Foursquare. He’s leveraging that experience to disrupt an old school industry and bring relief to millions. The company, which joined StartUp Health last year, has just announced a $10.5M Seed raise to bring Salvo out of stealth mode and start to scale in earnest.

How’s Jeff going to use his experience at Travelocity and Foursquare to disrupt the GI health market? We’ll let him explain in the interview.


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.
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Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Former Dexcom Exec Claudia Graham Joins StartUp Health’s New T1D Moonshot Impact Board



“The more you know, the better you’ll do living with diabetes,” says Claudia Graham. “There’s nothing more important in diabetes than empowering patients.”

If you follow StartUp Health at all, you have seen headlines about our new Type 1 Diabetes Moonshot. To recap, we’ve launched an initiative designed to speed up innovation around Type 1 diabetes by bringing together a cross-disciplinary team of investors, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, researchers, and other industry experts. At the heart of the effort is an Impact Board – basically our T1D dream team – which brings together the top minds in the field for collaborative working sessions. We wanted to take some time on this podcast to introduce you to some of the inspiring folks on this Impact Board and invite you to get involved in the effort.

On this episode you’ll meet Claudia Graham, former executive at Dexcom, the company that revolutionized the continuous glucose monitor. She served as VP of Marketing and SVP of Global Access. Now she’s putting her decades of experience at Dexcom – and as someone living with Type 1 diabetes – to work as an advisor and investor. We caught up with Claudia over zoom at her home in Idaho to learn about the opportunities and challenges she sees in the Type 1 Diabetes Moonshot, how StartUp Health helps get away from institutional thinking to break down barriers and empower patients, and how she thinks about leaving a legacy for the next generation.


Entrepreneurs, are you working on a T1D solution? We want to hear from you.
Investors, want to back an impact-driven fund laser focused on T1D? Contact us.

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.

 


Dr. Tracy Dennis-Tiwary of Wise Therapeutics Shares How to Use Your Anxiety to Thrive



Our guest this week, Tracy Dennis-Tiwary, PhD, doesn’t pull any punches. She’s the co-founder of Wise Therapeutics, which joined StartUp Health last year, and author of the new book Why Anxiety is Good for You (Even Though it Feels Bad).

As you’ll hear in the interview, Dr. Dennis-Tiwary is on a bold mission to change how society thinks about anxiety, so that millions of people can thrive in the face of adversity rather than settling for being comfortably numb. She’ll also explain how her work in digital therapeutics uses simple mobile games to help people rewire their brains. Wise Therapeutics’ research-backed app – called Personal Zen – trains users to make more positive subconscious choices, one swipe at a time.

Learn more and connect with the team at Wise Therapeutics.

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.

Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

Living the Moonshot Mindset, with Lee Shapiro of 7wireVentures



This week we bring you a conversation between Unity Stoakes, President & Co-founder of StartUp Health, and a very special guest, long-time StartUp Health investor, collaborator, and friend Lee Shapiro. Lee is the Managing Partner at 7wireVentures, a leading health tech investment firm, but that’s just one of the many hats he’s worn in recent years.

The “beachside chat,” which was held live at the 2022 StartUp Health Festival @ ViVE in Miami Beach, covers a range of topics, from what 7wireVentures looks for in a startup to how healthcare can learn from adjacent industries, like gaming and banking.

Lee Shapiro is one of those rare voices in the industry that combines hard-earned operational experience with the health moonshot wisdom of a philosopher. He embodies the characteristics of tenacity and humility that he looks for in a startup founder, and he’s always a pleasure to talk to. Enjoy the conversation.

 


 

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.

 


With Particle Health’s API, Troy Bannister Is Making Health Data Interoperability a Reality



A 2021 report in Bloomberg Law stated that though “Health IT pros and federal regulators dream of a healthcare system in which the flow of information happens seamlessly through a simple mouse-click, at least 70% of healthcare providers still exchange medical information by fax.”

In the world of health innovation, we know what can be unlocked when patient data can move safely and quickly from point A to point B. We know it because we saw it in the world of personal finance. Interoperable financial data empowered normal people to take charge of their finances, sending and receiving money, investing with a click of a button. It also empowered a new generation of apps like Venmo and Robin Hood.

This week we bring you a conversation with Troy Bannister, CEO and Co-founder of Particle Health, a StartUp Health portfolio company that is working to bring to healthcare the same level of data interoperability that we’ve experienced in personal finance. Their API framework is a foundation for healthcare innovators to build upon, so really we’re just at the very beginning of seeing what’s possible.

Troy explains what they’ve built, and what’s coming next in health data interoperability in this conversation with Katya Hancock, partner at StartUp Health. The chat was held in front of a live audience at the StartUp Health Festival @ ViVE in Miami Beach in March.



Learn more and connect with the team at Particle Health.

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.


Luis Santiago on How a Recent Team Tragedy Brought PEGASI’s Health Moonshot Into Focus



Every company in the StartUp Health portfolio can draw a line between their business objectives and a very real human impact. Even companies working on highly technical, administrative solutions are doing so, at the end of the day, in order to help people get the care they need faster or better. Our stance is that no database integration, supply chain management tool, or insurance platform should exist apart from its ability to improve lives. In other words, health innovation is personal.

For some founders, like our guest today, the human face of healthcare technology is startlingly clear. Our guest is Luis Santiago, the CEO and Co-founder of PEGASI, which StartUp Health backed in 2020. PEGASI is in the business of digitizing health information systems in Latin America, and they’re currently focused on upgrading those systems within oncology so that cancer patients can get diagnosed and treated sooner. That mission gained a tragic level of clarity this year as PEGASI’s CTO Janper Garbi went through a devastating battle with cancer. Luis Santiago shares that personal story, and how it could have ended differently had the hospital been using a digital platform to speed up diagnosis and treatment.

This isn’t just a story about what could have been, but how a tragedy becomes fuel for a health moonshot that could improve the lives of millions.

Learn more and connect with the team a PEGASI.

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.


Live From the Conflict Zone: How David Sarabia of inRecovery Is Supporting His Team in Ukraine



This week, we talk with David Sarabia, the CEO and Founder of inRecovery, a StartUp Health-backed company that brings digital health tools to the addiction recovery market.

David was on vacation in Mexico when he saw the headlines: Ukraine was under attack and Russian forces were moving in on the capital. After the initial shock of the news wore off, David snapped into action. He’d spent a good deal of time in Ukraine, cultivating a development team there for his startup. And now his team was in trouble. So instead of taking his flight back to California, he booked a ticket to Poland. He had no plan and few connections, just a desire to help.

David has been on the ground in Krakow now for more than month, organizing supply runs into Ukraine while still running his company. When we heard about the important work he was doing we tracked him down for an interview. Exhausted but encouraged by the strength of the Ukrainian people, he shares a bit about the work he’s doing and how others can help.

Connect with the team at inRecovery via email.

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 Lazurite Scored Rapid FDA Approval for Their Wireless Surgical Camera



In health innovation, sometimes the eureka moment that sparks a business is subtle. Maybe you’re a physician clicking away on an electronic health record and it dawns on you that you could do the same thing with fewer clicks. An idea is born.

At other times, inspiration smacks you in the face. Or, as in the case of Eugene Malinskiy, the CEO & Co-founder of Lazurite (a StartUp Health company since 2017), smacks someone else. In this podcast, we’ll hear how a fateful day in the operating room set Malinskiy on a multi-year journey of creating the world’s first wireless minimally invasive camera system for use in the OR. The big challenge, as he’ll explain, was getting a powerful enough light system into the unit. This month, Malinskiy and his team celebrated the milestone of receiving FDA clearance for their ArthroFree camera, so we caught up with them to hear the latest.

We also hit Malinskiy up for some practical advice on navigating the FDA process. One tip? Find and invest in an experienced regulatory partner early in the process.

Learn more and connect with the team at Lazurite.

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.


Health Transformers Live: Gray Oncology Solutions, Gennev, AvoMD, Valera Health



This week we wanted to break from our typical format and introduce you to four inspiring founders from the StartUp Health portfolio.

This episode is excerpted from an on-stage Health Transformer discussion that was held at the StartUp Health Festival @ ViVE in Miami Beach in March. You’ll hear from André Diamant, PhD, CEO & Founder of Gray Oncology Solutions, about how they’re improving efficiency in cancer care. Jill Angelo, CEO & Founder of Gennev, talks about how they’re improving women’s health in their post-reproductive years. Yair Saperstein, MD, CEO & Co-founder of AvoMD, explains how they’re crowdsourcing knowledge in order to put the best decision support tools in the palm of the physician’s hand. And finally, Tom Tsang, MD, CEO & Co-founder of Valera Health, explains how his company is bringing comprehensive mental health services to the virtual healthcare ecosystem.

The session was hosted by Lauren Schafer from StartUp Health. In addition to sharing the moonshot missions of each of their companies, they talk about changes seen in health innovation due to COVID’s impact, their biggest messages for partners and investors, and more.


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.


Transcarent’s Glen Tullman on Building the Next Healthcare Ecosystem



This week is another StartUp Health Festival @ ViVE special, as we bring you a main stage conversation between Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent, and Unity Stoakes, the President and Co-founder of StartUp Health.

In the conversation, held in front of a live audience, Tullman pulls back the curtain on what he’s building at Transcarent, and how it builds on the success he saw at Livongo. Tullman explains why healthcare is entering the era of “Big Customer” not “Big Tech” and why, if we want to make healthcare efficient and affordable, we have to completely rethink the process, not just make the current system work a little more smoothly.

Stick around for the end of the interview, where Tullman gives some practical wisdom to entrepreneurs and innovators who are early in the journey.


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.