Contact: Kristin Palm
Date: March 30, 2017
Phone: (313) 483-1326
Email: kpalm@wayne.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MedHealth Challenge awards more than $15,000 to three local companies
The MedHealth Regional Innovation Cluster has awarded more than $15,000 plus pro-bono services packages to three early-stage Southeast Michigan digital health and medical device companies. The awards were presented following the MedHealth Challenge pitch competition at the first annual MedHealth Summit, held February 14 at TechTown Detroit.
Participants in the MedHealth Challenge presented innovative medical device and digital health solutions designed to help consumers, caregivers, providers and supporting institutions know more about their health, driving appropriate utilization and improved healthcare options. The Challenge offered two tracks for healthcare start-ups: early-stage companies, who competed for cash and in-kind services in the pitch competition, and market-ready companies, who were matched with companies during the summit and are now presenting their concepts to payers and providers with the goal of launching pilot projects.
Early-stage MedHealth Challenge winners all received cash awards as well as pro bono service packages, which include services from the Michigan Small Business Development Center, Harness Dickey law firm, FedEx Small Business Services, Three Leaf Ventures and In2Being, a Saline-based medical device and product development firm. New Enterprise Forum will provide pitch coaching. The early-stage MedHealth Challenge winners are:
SteriDev (1st PRIZE $10,000 cash + $10,000 in services)
SteriDev (steridev.com) is the developer of CleanCase, a single-use sterile case and method of transfer that safely places mobile devices in the sterile field. CleanCase is differentiated from current offerings on the market by providing technically advanced, device-specific, fully functional cases. The company is led by Rob Zondervan, a PhD and medical student studying at Michigan State University. SteriDev’s headquarters are located in Lansing, Michigan.
Melius Outcomes (2nd PRIZE $5,000 cash + $5,000 in services)
Melius Outcomes (meliusoutcomes.com) has developed a solution to capture and cleanse data from a hospital’s Electronic Health Record, display it intuitively to highlight quality issues and then provide actionable recommendations and associated training modules. Melius Outcomes is based in Ann Arbor and is led by AkkeNeel Talsma, PhD, RN, FAAN
Find Your Ditto (3rd PRIZE $2,500 cash + $2,500 in services)
Find Your Ditto (http://findyourditto.com) is a mobile platform that matches people who share chronic conditions for on-demand, in-person peer support. Find Your Ditto is based in Ann Arbor and is led by Brianna Wolin.
“With some of the nation’s leading health care organizations and a long legacy of innovation, the cross-border region of Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario is well poised to foster bold, innovative solutions that disrupt current healthcare models, reduce costs and improve overall patient care,” said Paul Riser, managing director for technology-based entrepreneurship at TechTown, a founding member of the MedHealth Cluster. “The MedHealth Regional Innovation Cluster is excited to be nurturing some of the promising solutions to some of our region’s and nation’s most pressing health care needs.”
The MedHealth Summit and MedHealth Challenge are projects of the MedHealth Regional Innovation Cluster, comprised of numerous health care providers, universities, private sector firms, entrepreneurial service providers and economic development organizations in Southeast Michigan and Southwest Ontario.
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TechTown is Detroit’s most established business accelerator and incubator, offering a full suite of entrepreneurial services for both tech and neighborhood enterprises. We help startup and established businesses develop, launch and grow, while strengthening and diversifying the local economy.