MATTER Startup Shoutouts: August 2021
Every day, innovators across the MATTER community are building new solutions that accelerate innovation, advance care and improve lives. Here’s a look into some of the most noteworthy headlines from the startup members in our community over the past few months.
Funding, grants and contract successes
Ready, Set, Food! raises $3.5 million to combat childhood allergies
Ready, Set, Food!, an early allergen introduction system, recently raised $3.5 million in funding led by MATTER partner Edward-Elmhurst Health. Supported by Danone Manifesto Ventures, investor and entrepreneur Mark Cuban and AF Ventures, this new round of funding will help advance Ready, Set, Food!’s mission of giving every baby a chance at a healthier future. Ready, Set, Food! recently launched the third stage of its innovative allergen introduction system. With the launch they are now the only patented, three-stage guided system that starts introducing allergens to babies as early as four months of age.
IntuiTap Medical raises $5.5 million in Series A funding to change the future of the spinal tap
IntuiTap Medical, a cutting edge medical device company, recently raised $5.5 million in Series A funding, led by investments from The Pink Ceiling and Curate Capital. The funds will be used to advance IntuiTap’s novel technology, VerTouch, through final clinical trials. VerTouch provides physicians 2D imaging of a person’s vertebrae allowing needle guidance all in the palm of a physician’s hand eliminating guesswork, reducing patient pain, and minimizing physician frustration.
Alerje awarded National Science Foundation grant to further allergy management technology
Alerje, a food allergy management innovation company, was awarded a Phase I grant through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the National Science Foundation. The grant will be used to develop a platform that will bridge between patients, allergists and pharma through management of relevant data informing oral immunotherapy. The grant builds on Alerje’s recent successes including receiving a patent for a smartphone case that houses an adrenaline auto-injector ensuring that caregivers can quickly access treatment during severe allergy reactions.
Medical device company, Novian Health, raised over $5 million
Novian Health Inc. announced their first closing of a private placement financing, raising over $5 million. Novian Health will utilize the funds to continue to advance the development of image-guided laser therapy for the treatment of benign breast tumors.
PainQx awarded $1.5 million contract with Defense Health Agency
PainQx, a medical device company, is developing a new approach to objective assess chronic pain. They have been awarded a Phase II SBIR contract with the Defense Health Agency to refine and expand the capabilities of their pain assessment technology, the ALGOS System. With the contract, PainQx will conduct a human research study, develop additional pain related algorithms beyond pain intensity and solicit patient and clinician input in preparation for future FDA interactions.
Sense Neuro Diagnostics awarded $2.43 million contract with the Department of Defense
Sense Neuro Diagnostics, a medical technology company has been awarded a $2.43 million contract to advance technology to diagnose and monitor traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a field environment. Sense Neuro Diagnostics is developing non-invasive brain scanners that utilize low-power radio frequency pulse to detect TBI.
Penrose TherapeuTx closes $15.3 million in private funding
Penrose TherapeuTx, a pharmaceutical company, has closed $15.3 million in private funding to focus on developing small-molecule therapies for treatment of advanced cancers. Along with their parent company, Tribar Healthcare Partners, Penrose TherapeuTx will continue the development of novel oncology treatments.
Acquisitions and partnerships
RapidRona was acquired by Diversified Medical Healthcare
RapidRona was recently acquired by Diversified Medical Healthcare, a group of four innovative healthcare companies focused on advancing molecular diagnostics. RapidRona developed a solution to diagnostic test capacity shortages of at-home testing for COVID-19 and received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in December of 2020.
Carrum Health partners with Vizient, Inc. to expand access to affordable care for self-insured
Carrum Health announced a strategic agreement with Vizient, Inc. to expand access to high-quality, affordable care for self-insured employers and their employees. Carrum Health will now be able to accelerate the expansion of its Center of Excellence (COE) marketplace using Vizient’s industry-leading analytics. The marketplace will guide people to top providers for common, costly procedures such as cancer care, joint replacement and spinal and bariatric surgery.
Apervita partners with Holon Solutions to improve real-time data and intelligence at the point of care
Apervita announced a partnership with Holon Solutions, healthcare’s leading precision information delivery company, focused on eliminating fragmented data and streamlining personalized insights delivered to providers. Together, Apervita and Holon Solutions will aim to present insights about evidence-based care in a user-friendly matter through Apervita’s trusted platform for healthcare collaboration.
PharmaCann closes deal with Cronos Group Inc. valued at $110.4 million
Cronos Group Inc., an innovative global cannabinoid company, has purchased an option to acquire a 10.5 percent stake in U.S. cannabis company PharmaCann valued at $110.4 million. PharmaCann is one of the country’s largest vertically integrated cannabis companies focused on increasing sustainable access to cannabis to improve people’s lives.
cilexa partners with American College of Cardiology to launch home health monitoring platform
Denver-based startup, cilexa, and the American College of Cardiology are launching cilexa-Pulse, a home health monitoring platform. The platform allows cardiovascular clinicians to gather information from their patients before and after visits to ensure well-being and deliver individually tailored care plans. As a result, clinicians will be better equipped to track symptoms, medications and daily activity to manage conditions like atrial fibrillation (AFib), hypertension, heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions.
Vynca acquires virtual care provider ResolutionCare
Vynca, a national leader in advanced care planning, announced that they have acquired ResolutionCare, a home-based provider of palliative care and telemedicine. Vynca has the largest advance care planning network across the U.S. and plans to expand ResolutionCare’s comprehensive board-certified, physician-led palliative care model to better support the seriously ill.
wayForward was acquired by DarioHealth
Startup wayForward, a digital behavioral health company, was recently acquired by DarioHealth in hopes to scale their reach and impact. wayForward provides people, based upon their needs, with the right level of behavioral and mental health resources from text-based life coaching to video-based counseling with a trained therapist
HealthBeacon Limited enters into partnership with Hamilton Beach
HealthBeacon Limited, a leading developer of smart tools for at home use, has announced a partnership with Hamilton Beach to provide a smart Injection Care Management System (ICMS.) The system will provide persons with medication reminders, tracks adherence and provides safe and convenient disposal of used materials.
NowPow partners with Humana to address food insecurity, loneliness, social isolation and transportation
NowPow, a personalized community referral platform, is partnering with Humana to better improve the health of communities across Chicago. Humana will leverage NowPow’s platform to screen members for health-related social needs and give personalized lists of referrals to community services based upon a member’s health needs, age, gender, eligibility, location, and language spoken. The goal, to improve health by incorporating community-based care into healthcare across a number of issues such as food insecurity, loneliness, social isolation and transportation.
Patents and approvals
Luxsonic’s VR radiology platform, SieVRt, was approved by Health Canada for use in diagnostic radiology
A pioneer in immersive medicine, Luxsonic, has developed a virtual reality (VR) radiology technology, SieVRt, that has received approval by Health Canada. The VR technology allows radiologists, students and trainees the ability to work from anywhere, anytime and provides advanced medical imaging visualization through a VR headset.
Dimension Inx announces patent for new “Tissue Paper” biomaterial with regenerative applications
Dimension Inx, a regenerative biomaterials company, has announced a U.S. patent covering new biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications. The material, called “Tissue Papers,” contain particles known for their inherent ability to induce new tissue formation and can be applied to repair or regenerate damaged, missing or dysfunctional tissues and organs.
Healthy Amplified was cited for having an FDA cleared 510K device to assess for dementia and Alzheimer’s symptoms
Health Amplified was recently cited in the Wall Street Journal for their FDA cleared device, Cantab Mobile. The device’s assessment of episodic memory, mood and functional status identifies early signs of clinically-relevant memory problems and can differentiate between Alzheimer’s and depression symptoms with 98 percent accuracy.
Wellsheet announces patent for innovative electronic health record application
Wellsheet, a digital workflow platform, recently received a patent for their cloud-based, predictive clinical workflow platform. Wellsheet aims to transform the physician experience with electronic health records. The platform ensures clinicians have the most important clinical data and overtime learns a clinician’s preferences, expediting workflow, and improving physician efficiency and satisfaction while reducing burnout.
Product launches and expansions
Medical video game creator, Level Ex, launches first dermatology video game
Level Ex announced their expansion with the launch of Top Derm, their fifth specialty-specific video game. Top Derm, with the help of over 140 dermatologists, is designed to help keep dermatologists up-to-date on industry techniques, treatments and products through play. Level Ex utilized DeepSkinFX Generator, a digital image generator, to create high-resolution imagery of skin disorders across all regions of the body and different skin tones to make the game realistic.
Ischemia Care announces new program aimed at innovating testing for strokes
Ischemia Care, a pioneer in molecular testing, announced a new program called Clinical Laboratory and Strategic Support to Identify Stroke and Cause of Stroke, or “CLASSICS.” The program commercializes a slate of hospital-based blood tests throughout industry leading laboratory platforms for ischemic stroke and underlying causes, such as atrial fibrillation. The goal of CLASSICS will be to prevent strokes by leveraging existing and clinical data, manage chronic conditions and improve access to care.
Startup ExplORer Surgical expands cloud-based technology into robotic surgery
ExplORer Surgical announced they will be expanding the use of their digital platform, Explorer Live, for robotic surgery. The digital platform will provide surgical teams and medical robotics companies with resources such as images, PDFs and videos about the system, surgical techniques and step-by-step workflow for each individual in the operating room. Surgeons will be able to in real-time to broadcast and provide clinical education and remote collaboration while the platform captures video and procedural data for performance tracking.
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