Innov8 health tech startups pitch | EnterChange

When Dawn Sheanshang suddenly found herself caring for her sick father, she became overwhelmed by a regiment of seven medications.

Seven new businesses were presented Thursday at an Innov8 for Health Showcase at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

An Internet search yielded no good option for organizing the pills and then checking to be sure that she delivered and he took the right ones at the right time.

Sheanshang, a pharmaceutical sales rep, thought she could leverage iPads and mobile devices to better identify and track pills. She shared her idea with the year-old nonprofit Innov8 for Health, which enrolled her in this summer?s healthcare IT accelerator program and matched her with serial entrepreneur Jeffrey Shepard.

Working tirelessly in the Corryville accelerator since June, the pair has developed the Virtual Pillbox, a web and mobile technology that allows caretakers and patients to match pills in their box with high quality images on a screen. It provides detailed instructions from the Food & Drug Administration, doctor or pharmacist, and sends notifications and reminders to take and refill prescriptions.

The pair has partnerships pending with Walgreens, CVS, Kroger and VRI, a Franklin-based provider of in-home medical monitoring. Now, they need $250,000 to get the product ready for those customers and to sell to even more.

Twelve entrepreneurs behind seven new businesses presented on Thursday afternoon at the Cincinnati Museum Center cutting-edge technologies that could change the way healthcare is administered today. They are the first to graduate from Innov8 for Health, a year-old organization formed by the region?s foremost corporations and healthcare institutions to make Cincinnati a national hub of healthcare technology innovation and job creation.

A key goal of the inaugural effort was to help the most promising new businesses raise money from investors to build and launch their products. The companies pitched Thursday?s crowd of investors and potential customers to raise a combined $2.3 million to turn their inventions into technologies that change lives and long-established health care practices.

?We have to get these companies follow-on funding,? said Sunnie Southern, an Innov8 founder and lead volunteer. ?That?s the last phase of Innov8. That?s how we know we were successful.?

Innov8 kicked off last December with an event for college students and entrepreneurs to pitch their health care-related business ideas and win prizes and help from experienced health care and business professionals. A business concept expo in April let them, and others with health care ideas, share again. The nonprofit chose the most promising companies to receive $20,000, three months of office space and support and mentorship from hundreds local healthcare, venture capital and small business executives.

Investors were impressed Thursday that most companies had products built and potential customers testing and proving them.

?I suspect a number of the companies will have no difficulty raising money,? said Dov Rosenberg, a partner with Allos Ventures, a local venture capital firm. ?They are taking on big problems. To the extent they are able to solve them, they should have real promising companies.?

The technologies include:

Virtual Pillbox, created by Sheanshang and Shepard?s new company MedaCheck LLC.

Betterpointment, a mobile application that lets patients make appointments with doctors and report their symptoms and pain in advance of a visit. Founder Richard Weisberger bills his product as a technology that saves doctors time and gives patients better outcomes. He hasn?t determined a financial need yet.

MyFearZapper, a mobile and web game that helps kids overcome fears that range from bugs and monsters to abuse, building up confidence in kids and reducing the chance of mental health issues. Founders Andrea Brady, a former Procter & Gamble brand manager, and Tracy Ruberg, a sales executive at Dell, have partnered with top mental health doctors to test the product. They need $300,000 to continue development and sell to customers.

eProvizion, the first of several software programs built by Satec Health Solutions LLC. It helps human resources and information technology managers at hospitals, nursing homes and physician?s offices maintain HIPAA compliance. St. Elizabeth?s Hospital has already used the product for three years, and partners Phil and Emily Stinson hope to secure a $250,000 investment to market it to other customers.

I Feel Great Apps, a series of applications that give patients control over their health. Founder Steve Deal, who owns Deal Corporation in Dayton, has already created one application that lets patients keep a searchable journal of their doctors appointments and health records, to reference in case of a concern or an insurance dispute. Deal plans to raise $750,000 fo hire developers to complete the product and build others, and begin selling to doctors and insurers.

Caring Ties, a mobile and web application that lets a family of caregivers communicate with each other and physicians about a loved one?s care and treatment. Founders Bill Nadler and Jerry Felix already operate CCM Link, an IT firm that?builds software for?healthcare providers. They?ve spent $650,000 to create the product and plan to raise another $500,000 to market it to healthcare providers, the families they serve and companies that provide insurance benefits to employees.

My Healthy Tale, an interactive storybook that uses characters to teach kids with diseases like diabetes how to care for themselves. Created by 20-year-old Xavier University student Anthony Breen, in partnership with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the technology reduces fear and anxiety associated with a disease and motivates children to live a healthy lifestyle over a lifetime. Breen will distribute the application through the iPhone app store. He hopes to raise $250,000 to continue to develop books to help kids.

Source: http://enterchange.cincinnati.com/2012/08/31/innov8-health-tech-startups-launch/

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