Six finalists advance to accelerator phase of Cigna diabetes innovation challenge

Global cohort focuses on refining solutions to advance diabetes care

MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub, and Cigna, a global health service company, have selected six finalists to move from the incubator to the accelerator phase of the 2021 Cigna Innovation Challenge. The challenge sources solutions focused on empowering more people living with diabetes to reach their optimal health through supported lifestyle choices while navigating external influences.

“Cigna is dedicated to finding partners that bring new solutions for our customers, and this innovation challenge provides an opportunity for us to collaborate with startups who are rapidly transforming the way care can be provided,” said Mimi Bright, product strategy principal on the care management solutions team at Evernorth, a Cigna company. “The accelerator phase of this program allows us to work hand-in-hand with emerging companies to identify new approaches to healthcare delivery that may resonate more than traditional solutions to produce greater outcomes and stakeholder satisfaction.”

“Providing mentorship to these companies is one way that Cigna can help to rapidly advance new ideas in the diabetes space,” said Dr. Jeffrey Klein, a medical executive at Cigna and an innovation challenge mentor. “As a physician, I recognize many of the factors affecting diabetes, especially how social and behavioral health drivers contribute to how people manage their care. It’s exciting to work with entrepreneurs looking to make positive changes in this arena.”

Starting in early November, the following startups will participate in a six-week accelerator program consisting of dedicated mentorship and curriculum developed by MATTER. The accelerator is aimed at outlining a pilot opportunity with Cigna and will be followed by a finalist presentation day in December.

Meet the finalists

GlucosePATH — Celebration, Florida
GlucosePATH was developed based on a common interest between a physician and a computer scientist to help patients find affordable and effective treatments for Type 2 Diabetes. Through this process, they have leveraged the powerful computational tools from the travel and finance industries to help clinicians and patients sort through the thousands of treatment pathways for individualized solutions.

Klinio (part of Kilo Health) — Vilnius, Lithuania
Created by qualified nutritionists and fitness professionals, Klinio is a personalized diabetes tracker and management app that helps people living with diabetes improve their physical health, lose weight and track their diabetes. The app provides meal plans, counts carbs and shares healthy recipes to easily manage and monitor their weight and glucose levels.

Neap — Cornwall, United Kingdom
Neap is a mindful diabetes management platform that uses psychologist-approved techniques to help with diabetes-related stress. Through guided meditation, people living with diabetes can reduce stress associated with diabetes and feel more in control of their lives. Neap is also a thriving peer-to-peer support community, providing connections to other people living with diabetes.

Pack Health — Birmingham, Alabama
Pack Health is an evidence-based patient engagement platform that changes health behaviors to close gaps in care and improve outcomes like addressing chronic conditions, comorbidities and social determinants. It’s the proven patient engagement solution that provides member-first care, reduces costs and is designed to scale.

SNAQ — Zurich, Switzerland
SNAQ helps people living with diabetes take the guesswork out of mealtime decisions. The award-winning app helps count the carbs, protein and fat content of meals by snapping a photo and supports learning how to keep glucose levels in target range after meals. SNAQ connects to popular glucose sensors and diabetes apps like Dexcom, Abbott, Medtronic, mySugr, Sugarmate, Tidepool and more.

Viora Health — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Viora Health’s HIPAA-compliant solution leverages data, behavioral science and community-based resources to proactively address health inequities perpetuated by social and behavioral determinants before they result in disease progression and episodic costs. Their solution improves the patient experience and access to care and while reducing episodic costs of care for health plans and integrated health systems.

The final showcase will take place in December, where startup teams will present their solution roadmaps to a group of Cigna executives.

About MATTER

At MATTER, we believe collaboration is the best way to improve healthcare. The MATTER collaborative includes more than 200 cutting-edge startups from around the world, working together with dozens of hospitals and health systems, universities and industry-leading companies to build the future of healthcare. Together we are accelerating innovation, advancing care and improving lives. For more information, visit matter.health and follow @MATTERhealth.