Tag Archives: Innovation

Unpluq Helps People Get Off Their Screens and Back into Life

May 3, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedDigital Health, Health Moonshots, Health Transformers, Innovation, Logan Plaster, mental health, Mental Health & Happiness, Mental Health and Happiness, mental wellness, Wellbeing, wellnessNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:10 — 22.1MB)

Our StartUp Health NOW guest this week is Caroline Cadwell, the CEO and Co-founder of Unpluq – a Dutch company that joined StartUp Health in 2021.

Unpluq is on a mission to empower people to change their digital habits and improve their wellbeing.

Cadwell and her team have designed a consumer-facing device and platform that helps people regain control and intentionality with their time. They’re pushing back against a world where attention span is eroding, which has contributed to lower feelings of wellbeing and a decline in executive function.

Listen in to hear how they’ve tackled the problem.

Founders: Health Transformer University fuels your health moonshot

Funders: Become a Health Moonshot Champion
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Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.
Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.

How Scan.com Is Using Their Recent Series A Funding to Break into the US Market

March 24, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsAccess to care, Health Moonshots, Health Transformers, Innovation, MoonshotsNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:21 — 26.9MB)

On this week’s StartUp Health NOW podcast episode, we sat down with Charlie Bullock, the CEO and Co-founder of Scan.com, which is, to oversimplify, an online marketplace for diagnostic imaging services. We wanted to dial Charlie up for two reasons. The first is that this StartUp Health company has officially grown from their UK roots to developing a significant beachhead in the United States. We wanted to get a play by play about that process and distill some useful cross-border growth strategies for our listeners. The second reason for the call was that Scan.com just – this week – announced a major fundraise, which is going to put this US expansion into high gear.

In our conversation Charlie shares a bit of his personal journey as an entrepreneur, gets into all the details about their recent raise, and outlines some do’s and don’ts for breaking into the US market.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Investors: Contact us to learn how to invest in Health Moonshots
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.

Prioritizing Health Equity Through Sustained Action and Equitable Innovation

March 3, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsAletha Maybank MD, AMA, American Medical Association, Dr Aletha Maybank, health equity, Health Equity Moonshot, Innovation, KP Yelpaala, Logan PlasterNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:52 — 47.2MB)

Last year StartUp Health launched a Health Equity Moonshot with the goal of creating a guiding equity framework for how we support health startups. That work has been led by our Chief Impact Officer Kaakpema “KP” Yelpaala. One of the first things KP did was to build a cross-disciplinary impact board who could help us guide our policies, and one of the first people he turned to for that task was today’s guest, Aletha Maybank, MD, MPH.

Dr. Maybank is the Chief Health Equity Officer & Senior VP at the American Medical Association. In the world of health equity, that’s a big deal because she guides critical policy decisions for an organization that numbers more than a quarter of a million healthcare professionals.

We wanted to have Dr. Maybank in for a Fireside Chat to get a candid look at the work she’s been doing at the AMA and hear her vision for the future. In the conversation, which was hosted by KP Yelpaala and held in front of a virtual audience of Health Transformers from our portfolio, Dr. Maybank draws a line between intention and outcomes and explains why more institutions need to do the hard internal work of examining inequitable structures.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

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

Inside Healthcare Sales: Building a Revenue Strategy for Your Health Moonshot

February 10, 2023Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsCollin Stewart, Health Tech, Healthcare, Innovation, Jamey Edwards, Logan Plaster, Revenue, StartUp HealthNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:57 — 43.0MB)

Welcome to StartUp Health NOW, the podcast where we celebrate the entrepreneurs and innovators who are transforming health.

As we’ve reported recently, the health tech funding landscape has tightened in the last year. In other words, it’s harder to raise money for your business. But there’s an upside to this cooler market: There’s a heightened emphasis being put on the fundamentals of business like cash flow and profitability. That means less noise being generated around innovations that turn out to be smoke and mirrors and more focused on smart, sustainable business ideas. That’s good news for the right kind of founders, the ones we call Health Transformers.

But, it still isn’t easy. When a startup is facing an ever-shrinking runway and having to show strong revenue numbers, it can be difficult to take the time to formulate a cohesive sales strategy that allows the business not only to survive the long sales cycle in healthcare, but thrive long term as it seeks to achieve its audacious health moonshot.

To help founders tackle this challenge head on, we invited Collin Stewart, the CEO of Predictable Revenue, to join us for a recent Fireside Chat. The conversation was hosted by Jamey Edwards in front of a live virtual audience of founders from the StartUp Health portfolio. They cover themes like being radically open to market feedback and even pull some wisdom from Collin’s days as a professional musician.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

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

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.

How to Partner with Investors to Grow & Scale Your Company w/ Cheryl Cheng, CEO & Founder of Vive Collective

October 11, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, StartupsCheryl Cheng, Digital Health, Health Tech, Innovation, investing, investment, Logan Plaster, mindset, Vive Collective, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 57:34 — 65.9MB)

This week we welcome Cheryl Cheng to the interview chair. Cheryl is the CEO & Founder of Vive Collective. Previously Cheryl was a Partner at BlueRun Ventures, one of the top VC firms in Silicon Valley.

At Vive, she’s taking her 15 years of experience growing startups and putting it specifically into building, funding, and scaling digital health companies.

Cheryl is also an advisor to the Stanford Biodesign program and is on the advisory board for Yale Medical School’s Digital Health and Innovation Center.

We wanted to have Cheryl on one of our Fireside Chats to learn about Vive Collective – since it’s a relatively new kid on the block – and hear what kinds of opportunities she’s seeing in the market. We held this conversation in front of a live virtual audience of Health Transformers from the StartUp Health Portfolio, so you’ll get to hear some of their tactical questions mixed in throughout the session.

The goal for these sessions is to have candid conversations with people who can cut through the corporate speak and investment jargon, and Cheryl Cheng understood the assignment. We hope you enjoy.

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.

Looking to break down health barriers? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our Health Equity Moonshot.

From the Archives: Practical Tips and Wisdom From the Gates Foundation

July 5, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Startups, UncategorizedAnnie Ye, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates Foundation, Health Tech, Innovation, Logan Plaster, Partnerships, StartUp Health, startupsNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:02 — 64.6MB)

One year ago, we chatted with Annie Ye, the Program Manager of Digital Health Innovation at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation during a StartUp Health Fireside Chat in front of an audience of Health Transformers from the StartUp Health portfolio. Ye has experience in technology and analytics strategy and joined the Foundation at the outset of the pandemic to refine and connect a number of technological initiatives and strategy teams. In this episode Ye discusses foundation priorities and best practices for startups seeking to partner on health projects.

Passionate about Type 1 diabetes? If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, contact us to learn how you can join our T1D Moonshot.
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 Health Innovation Startups Can Partner with Anthem

June 7, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsAnthem, Digital Health, Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Health, Innovation, Logan Plaster, Mindsets, Moonshot Mindset, Omid Toloui, StartUp Health, startups, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 23:01 — 26.3MB)

In health innovation, you can have the most amazing idea and a rock-solid business plan, but in order to scale, you might still need to find the right enterprise partner. Topping this list for many entrepreneurs is Anthem, which serves 40 million people and is ranked #57 on the Fortune 500 list. It’s safe to say that if your startup can get distribution through this network, it’s going to put you on a whole new trajectory.

In order to find out how Anthem works with startups, we invited Omid Toloui, Anthem’s Vice President of Innovation, to join us for a chat. Anthem has had a range of programs in recent years aimed at collaborating with nimble, forward-thinking startups, like their Innovation Studio in Atlanta and their Digital Incubator Program. But we wanted Omid to pull back the curtain on exactly how Anthem thinks about innovation, and how startups can partner with them.

This StartUp Health NOW episode was excerpted from a Fireside Chat held in front of a live audience of Health Transformers from the StartUp Health portfolio. Enjoy.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Strategies – From an Australian – on Breaking Into New Global Health Tech Markets

May 24, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsAustralia, Digital Health, Global Health, Health, Innovation, Logan Plaster, Peter Birch, Talking Health TechNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 35:01 — 80.2MB)

This week on the podcast we sat down with Peter Birch, the founder and host of the Talking HealthTech podcast. Peter hails from Australia and over the course of producing some 240 episodes of his podcast, he’s gained a unique perspective on his healthcare ecosystem. He’s seen what works, what doesn’t, and what it takes for a foreign health company to make inroads in the Australian market.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

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

May 17, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, StartupsAccess to care, Access to Care Moonshot, Cancer, End Cancer, health innovation, Health Moonshots, Health Transformer, Health Transformers, Innovation, Oncology, PegasiNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:08 — 110.2MB)

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.

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Learn more and connect with the team a PEGASI.

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Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com

Does Teladoc’s Stock Drop Matter? Jamey Edwards on Achieving Health Moonshots in the Face of Rocky Public Markets

May 3, 2022Business, Health, Innovation, Insights, Startups, UncategorizedDigital Health, Entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, Innovation, Jamey Edwards, Logan Plaster, mindset, Mindsets, StartUp Health, Teledoc, Telehealth, telemedicine, WisdomNicole Kinsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:40 — 26.3MB)

This week’s episode of StartUp Health NOW is a conversation with Jamey Edwards, Chief Operating Officer at StartUp Health. Jamey has been working in the telemedicine space for more than a decade, and his last company, Cloudbreak, went public via SPAC last year. So when we saw the headlines that Teladoc’s stock dropped 40% – alongside other dips in the telemedicine public market – we called him up for a dose of perspective. In this conversation with host Logan Plaster, Edwards breaks down the news from Wall Street and gives startups some health moonshot wisdom. Bottom line: stay focused on the mission because improving global health is a marathon, not a sprint.

Entrepreneurs: How to get investment from StartUp Health startuphealth.com