Back in August, we wrote about the launch of a startup non-profit organization called Watsi, which offers anyone and everyone the opportunity to fund “low-cost, high impact treatment” for those who lack access to necessary care. Again, considering the fact that there are more than one billion people who are unable to afford adequate medical services (or don’t have access to them), Watsi’s mission… → Read More
Apple has been dabbling in wearable tech, at least when it comes to the U.S. Patent Office, and a new application uncovered Thursday by AppleInsider adds to that growing category. Apple has filed for a patent covering so-called “smart shoe” systems which feature sensors that can track wear and usage and tell you when you need to replace them, charting your progress on a companion app for a mobile… → Read More
Founded in late 2011, 100Plus set out to tap into the growing popularity of the Quantified Self movement to create a personalized, mobile health prediction platform to help Average Joes like you and me stay active and get healthy. Like some of today’s better known activity and health trackers, like Fitbit, Jawbone’s Up and RunKeeper, 100Plus wants to leverage our ever-present mobile devices to… → Read More
Founded at Stanford University in 2008, Syapse has been on a mission to help disrupt healthcare by incorporating “omics” (or the study of fields within biology typically ending in “-omics,” like genomics, proteomics or metabolomics, for example) data into standard medical use. Simply put, Syapse is developing a suite of cloud-based applications that brings next-gen genomic sequencing to… → Read More
The standard electronic medical record is a confusing, text-heavy computer read-out. But the winners of Designer Fund and the White House’s Health Design Challenge have created beautiful, comprehensible, mobile versions. Soon, a combination of the best of the submissions will be open-sourced and implemented as the record format for the Veterans Affair Administration and its six million… → Read More
Back in September, Glooko announced the release of a new version of its iOS app, a digital logbook which helps people with diabetes track their blood glucose levels from their smartphone. The new app brought support for six additional glucose meters, meaning that Glooko is now compatible with more than 17 different devices — a sign of the headway the startup has made in its march toward meter… → Read More
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it one bajillion times. If you’re going to start a business accelerator, don’t clone Y Combinator or TechStars, find a niche. With the glut of new accelerators today, the most successful are building vertical-specific approaches that bring together seed capital with meaningful industry partnerships to create real business (and learning) opportunities for their… → Read More
General Electric built what is today a $219 billion multinational industrial behemoth by continuously investing in innovation, technology and computing. As the maker of airplane engines, trains, power plant turbines and medical equipment, GE’s business generally falls outside the virtual walls of the consumer Web. However, as the New York Times reports, GE has recently renewed its commitment to… → Read More
As CES 2013 gets underway, it finds the Quantified Self movement to be a far more crowded market than a year ago, but as Matt Burns pointed out recently, the market is still hungry for smarter devices and “plenty of room” remains for startups for startups to push the envelope with innovation and press beyond movement and weight.
With digital health data proliferating, wearable health-tracking… → Read More
Quantified Self enthusiasts are getting their fair share of excitement at CES this week. Basis first unveiled its intriguing health-tracking watch at the event last year, but after hiccups and lawsuits, the company finally launched its product on the market in November. At launch, however, the band looked great and the entire package was very promising. → Read More
Big news from the world of advancing health technology today, as athenahealth, the 15-year-old electronic health records giant, announced that it has acquired Epocrates, maker of popular mobile health apps for physicians. The deal is worth $293 million, and athenahealth has agreed to fork over $11.75 per share in cash — about 15 percent of the company’s current share price. → Read More
The holidays wreak havoc on our bodies, with their mandatory over-indulgence in food as well as family and reminiscences. As we reflect on the year past — its victories and losses — we also begin looking ahead to the next, and in big ways or small, making plans to keep our momentum going.
For many, this involves taking health more seriously, whether it’s losing a few pounds, training for that… → Read More
Earlier today, after nearly a year in development, Omada Health launched to bring diabetes prevention online in an effort to help fight obesity in the U.S. NatureBox wants to do its part, too, and is now announcing that it has closed $2 million in seed funding to accelerate its business and help anyone and everyone discover healthier eating options. → Read More
Last December, Omada Health raised $800K in seed funding from a host of angel and venture investors, including NEA, Aberdare, Kapor Capital, TriplePoint Ventures and Esther Dyson — to name a few. A graduate of Rock Health’s first batch, the startup started out on a mission to take on diabetes (and prediabetes) by leveraging the latest research, design, behavioral science and digital… → Read More
While accelerators may be in a bubble, they’re also beginning to have a measurable, positive impact on the ecosystem. The real opportunity, though, is not in creating another Y Combinator, but in building vertical-specific accelerators that bring together industry partnerships to create learning and business opportunities for their startups. In healthtech, there’s Rock Health, Blueprint, … → Read More
The next time your doctor says, “I have an app for that,” try not to punch them in their stethoscope. Why? Because they just might be using AliveCor. For those unfamiliar, the San Francisco-based company is the maker of a low-cost, clinical-grade mobile heart monitor (fondly known as an electrocardiogram, or ECG, monitor) that fits over the back of your iPhone. → Read More
For Quantified Self devotees, data hounds and fitness enthusiasts, it’s a good time to be alive. Recent improvements in sensor technology, battery life and connectivity (and lower costs) have given rise to a slew of wearable gadgets and apps that make it easy to track and make sense of our health data. Yet, as the space heats up and gets noisier, some have begun to ask: Do we really need another… → Read More
Instead of anxiously searching Google or WebMD, people would rather turn to a real human being for answers to their pressing health questions — preferably one who’s been to school for 10 years. The problem is, of course, that visits to the doctor’s office cost money. Plus, you need an appointment and you’ll probably sit in a waiting room. Wellsphere’s Ron Gutman founded HealthTap in 2010 to give… → Read More
After nearly a year in development, Lift launched its first mobile product in August behind an ambitious goal: Boost human potential by helping people achieve their goals. It almost sounds New Age-y, but co-founders Tony Stubblebine and Jon Crosby are serious about doing their part to change the world and support personal achievement.
The founders aren’t alone. From the get-go, Lift has been… → Read More
If you’ve spent any time taking care of children, aging parents or those with special needs, you know it’s is hard work. Staying on top of and organizing files, contacts and medications, while coordinating with caregivers and trying to keep all that information secure and private is challenging to say the least. This is where CareZone comes into play. Since launching in February of this year, the… → Read More
Healthcare has long been a technology paradox. There have been few places further out on the cutting edge of technology than biotech and medical devices. In contrast, healthIT has been in a time warp (see Why It’s Good News HealthIT is So Bad). Nearly 20 years after the advent of the web, the dominant healthIT vendors have thrived on a business model and technology architecture that harkens back… → Read More
Thanks to MapMyFitness, RunKeeper, Nike and many more, apps that keep track of your exercise and push you to drop those extra pounds are by no means novel. Nonetheless, bootstrapped European startup Runtastic is still managing to carve out a name for itself in a crowded space by offering a simple user experience, while still offering the deeper functionality of higher-end products.
Continuing… → Read More
QuantiaMD, one of a growing number of companies attempting to build the LinkedIn for the medical community, today announced that it has raised $12 million in venture financing from Fuse Capital. The expansion round is the company’s largest raise to date and brings its total outside investment to $27 million. → Read More
Rock Health, the seed accelerator for startups focused on the health space, landed a big, new partner back in August: The well-known Silicon Valley venture firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The result of the new partnership? The promise of a considerably larger seed investment for its next batch of startups, as Kleiner joined Rock Health’s existing partners in offering $100K in seed… → Read More
If you don’t know about Startup Health and you’re a healthtech investor or entrepreneur (or at all interested in the space,) you need to rectify that. After all, as evidenced by the launch of another solid, differentiated health-focused startup accelerator last week, there is a lot of public, private and entrepreneurial attention shifting to the industry. → Read More
Founded in 2010, Boston-based Healthrageous has developed a platform that helps individuals, employers, health providers and everyone in between, to prevent and manage chronic health conditions. The startup’s platform collects biometric data from users various health-tracking devices, which it combines with information on their personal preferences to assist in setting goals, action plans and to… → Read More
Accelerators and incubators have been popping up left and right over the last few years, becoming, as Peter Relan recently put it, “an industry segment in their own right.” And while that industry segment has become more and more crowded, the family of accelerators focused exclusively on healthtech and digital health has remained small — in spite of huge opportunity.
But for early-stage… → Read More
Today, Morgenthaler Ventures and Health 2.0 concluded its “DC to VC” startup showcase, a nationwide contest that aims to find the most promising and “fund-able” young businesses in health IT looking for funding. From hundreds of applicants, twelve finalists were chosen to pitch their ideas on stage at the Health 2.0 Conference in San Francisco in front of a crowd of 400+ VCs, angel investors and… → Read More
As digital health data grows, wearable health-tracking devices mature, tools used in remote diagnosis and treatment improve and with healthcare providers soon to be prescribing mobile health apps, there’s a lot to be excited about at the intersection of health and technology. As Michelle Snyder of InterWest recently pointed out, thanks to the quickening pace of innovation in the space, it may not… → Read More
It’s a good time to be a healthy geek — and to start becoming one. Of late, we’ve seen an exponential increase in digital health data thanks to growing popularity of a new generation of smart, wearable devices that help us track and stay on top of our health. These Quantified Self devices scratch our geeky itch for data and allow us to take doctors and fitness instructors home with us — or out… → Read More
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