Sprint Accelerator Demo Day preview (part II)
June 2, 2015 | Bobby Burch
The second class of the Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator is gearing up for its much-anticipated Demo Day, which serves as a culminating event and is expected to draw a crowd of nearly 2,000 people. Led by Boulder-based Techstars, the Kansas City-based accelerator is now hosting 10 mobile health tech startups from around the world for its three-month, mentor-led program. Startland News caught up with each of the firms to get their thoughts on the program and will release a new part of the series each day ahead of Demo Day, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., June 4 at the Kauffman Center.
Photos by James Allison/Sprint
Ovatemp
Co-Founder and CEO: Ana Mayer
Hometown: Boston
Company bio: Ovatemp created a fertility management platform with a Bluetooth thermometer and personalized coaching app that helps a woman identify her fertile days to get pregnant faster.
Mayer on how the accelerator’s changed Ovatemp …
I can’t even begin to explain how much [our business] has changed. Before we came, we knew what we wanted to do, but we didn’t know how. Actually learning to articulate our mission was one of the most important things that we figured out throughout the program.
Mayer on the accelerator’s impact …
The program was very valuable. I can’t see what we would be doing as of today if we weren’t in the program. We may have found our way but it would have taken longer and become increasingly more expensive. [The Techstars’ mantra] “Do more faster” is so helpful.
Mayer on what’s next for Ovatemp …
Giving birth (to her second child) — we’re staying for at least another month in Kansas City. … We are working right now on building the platform that we want to create long term, keeping up the development of the current product and the thermometer. We’re developing our Android app right now.
Triomi
Founder and CEO: Mike Battaglia; COO, Amanda Zelman
Hometown: New York City
Company bio: Triomi is a portable 12-lead EKG (electrocardiogram) that saves lives, costs and time.
Zelman on how the accelerator’s changed Triomi …
We got so many new perspectives from mentors, people from inside the program and outside the program and the other teams. The focus was to get customers, so we figured out who the customer is and what they want and how to get to them. … We learned how to get traction for our product, how to talk to distributors and how to run a business.
Battaglia on what’s next for Triomi …
We are talking with major medical device distributors, which is validating that we have something really valuable to offer. Beyond that, it’s manufacturing [of the product]. We want to ship first half of 2016.
Battaglia on Kansas City …
We are open [to staying in Kansas City]. We are based in New York, but we are open to different things. It looks like we’ll maintain some kind of presence here in Kansas City. The opportunities surrounding this accelerator are tremendous, so you’ll definitely be seeing us around.
HealthID
Founder and CEO: Angelo Pitassi
Hometown: Providence, R.I.
Company bio: HealthID created a product that helps patients track what’s important to their health, manage their medications and send reminders to help keep their health on track.
Pitassi on how the accelerator’s changed HealthID …
Now that we’ve learned what keeps people engaged, and what they like about HealthID. … We’ve completed our back end addition to provide the pharmacies a portal. We built that here and we’re rolling out pilots. Our first pilot will go out June. Two of (the three pilots) are taking place in Kansas City.
Pitassi on lessons from the accelerator …
The power of this network is incredible. The Techstars and Sprint network – Sprint has been extremely valuable. … There were introductions upon introductions upon introductions. Amazing things have happened over the last 12 weeks because of the power of the network.
Pitassi on Kansas City …
It’s been amazing. It’s going to be difficult for me to go back. … It’s not just the support community around tech and startups here in KC, which has blown my expectations away, but I had no idea that the community was that strong here. We’ve been able to live it for 12 weeks and it was enough time to really see how much support is around the KC startup community, and it’s pretty impressive.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KCRise fund lands $10M to kickoff startup investing
Kansas City-area startups have a new, local fund to boost their investment rounds. The KCRise fund announced Thursday the closing of $10 million that will co-invest with institutional venture capital groups in early-stage companies based in the Kansas City area. Launched in February in conjunction with the KC Rising economic initiative, the fund was created…
Tech leaders: KC is built to be a hub for driverless cars
The Obama administration on Tuesday revealed a set of guidelines for automakers to ensure a safe, efficient rollout of self-driving vehicles in the United States. The rapid development of autonomous vehicle tech, according to the administration, makes it clear that its emergence into American’s everyday life is no longer a question of if — but…
Parallels emerge between Midwest, Belfast entrepreneurs
Belfast, Northern Ireland — Despite the some 4,000 miles between them, entrepreneurs in Northern Ireland and the Midwest have more in common than one may know. During a series of business and social gatherings with members of the Pipeline entrepreneurial fellowship program, Belfast entrepreneurs quickly learned how similar they are to those in America’s “flyover”…
Olathe partnership bears fruit in latest Digital Sandbox cohort
With the buzz of Techweek KC still in the air, Kansas City-based incubator Digital Sandbox reveals the four new startups in their program. Directed by Jeff Shackleford, Digital Sandbox invests up to $25,000 in area companies and provides proof-of-concept resources. Launching in 2013, the incubator has worked with over 300 entrepreneurs and early stage companies…