About MATTER
MATTER is a global healthcare startup incubator, community nexus and corporate innovation accelerator headquartered in Chicago. Together, we are mobilizing a community of entrepreneurs, industry innovators, scientists and clinicians committed to improving health and care for every patient.
Our story
Incubated by the City of Chicago and initially funded by the State of Illinois and area businesses, MATTER opened in February 2015 with 30 startup companies and a few programs, and has since grown to include hundreds of startup and growth stage companies from around the world, dozens of corporate partners and a diverse array of programs supporting healthcare entrepreneurship and innovation.
Today, our startups range from those that are barely more than ideas, to companies with millions of dollars in revenue and dozens of employees. Our partners represent every sector of healthcare.
We believe collaboration between entrepreneurs and industry leaders is the fastest, most effective way to accelerate innovation, advance care and improve lives.
With MATTER’s non-profit and no-equity model as the foundation, our community is a neutral platform where healthcare entrepreneurs can come together with industry leaders, scientists and clinicians from across the globe to collaborate on developing next-generation healthcare and life sciences technologies.
Do something that matters
MATTER’s name was inspired by interviews with dozens of entrepreneurs. We found that, like all entrepreneurs, those in healthcare want to change the world, be their own bosses and participate in the economic upside that can come with entrepreneurship.
But unlike other entrepreneurs, those in healthcare tend to be in this field for very specific reasons. They have familial connections to the healthcare industry or have been touched in deeply personal ways by situations that have drawn them to think deeply about health and healthcare.
They didn’t stumble into healthcare but rather were drawn to it. They are incredibly passionate not just about building businesses, but about building businesses that will make the world healthier. Most will not be satisfied building companies in other industries. They are passionate about health and healthcare, and about doing something that matters.
MATTER’s commitment to diversity
Cultivating an innovation community that improves healthcare for all
At MATTER, our mission is to accelerate the pace of change of healthcare — and we firmly believe that mission is only truly fulfilled when we ensure that we’re advancing care and improving lives for all people.
We will achieve this by consciously cultivating and embracing a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion that permeates everything we do — from the perspectives shared on the MATTER stage to our network of entrepreneurs, industry partners and community innovators.
MATTER is committed to supporting diversity in all forms, encompassing but not limited to age, disability status, economic circumstance, ethnicity, gender, race, religion or sexual orientation.
As we continue our work to increase the diversity of the MATTER community, our ultimate goal is to contribute to making diversity a core and abiding strength of the healthcare and entrepreneurial sectors.