Nueterra selects 6 companies for Launch Health Accelerator

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – Sept. 11, 2019 – Six innovative technology entrepreneurs – focused on disruptive, yet sustainable solutions to improving patient care and lowering costs – have been selected to join the Launch Health Accelerator powered by Nueterra Capital.

The six businesses include four from the Kansas City region, one from Denver and one from San Francisco. The accelerator is designed to attract the best and brightest entrepreneurs from around the globe to come to Kansas City for further development.

“We all agree that the current healthcare system is not sustainable and is in need of disruption. Through the Health Accelerator, we were seeking companies with fresh ideas that give rise to improving care and lowering costs that can be readily integrated into existing clinical workflows,” said Jeremy Tasset, Nueterra Capital CEO. Leawood, Kansas.

The accelerator, developed in partnership with LaunchKC – a joint initiative of the Downtown Council (DTC) and Economic Development Corp. (EDCKC) of Kansas City, Missouri – is designed for early-stage businesses deemed likely to disrupt and improve the current healthcare system. The goal is to build partnerships with entrepreneurs who have fresh ideas on how to make healthcare more accessible, with more predictable outcomes and transparent costs.

“I am very excited to welcome the first Launch Health Accelerator cohort. These outstanding companies were selected from nearly 200 applications received from all over the world,” said Don Peterson, entrepreneur in residence for the accelerator and a healthcare industry veteran.

“Choosing the best six applications was incredibly difficult due mainly to the amazing quality of so many of the entrepreneurs. Meritocracy won the day.”

The companies will receive equity awards, a 75-day boot camp of collaboration and development with Nueterra Capital and program supporters, and a Demo Day in November.

“They’ll gain valuable training and insight to grow their business through collaboration with Nueterra professionals, as well as exposure and networking opportunities with an experienced network of investors, supporters and clients in Kansas City and around the country,” Tasset said.

The Launch Health Accelerator boot camp – which began on Tuesday – is designed to expand and enhance awareness of the vast healthcare industry as it pertains to each of the selected companies. Weekly sessions with experts will cover an array of topics including legal, regulatory, provider practice constructs, payer preferences and priorities, consumer behavior, social determinants, and a review of successful and unsuccessful disruptions and innovations.

Peterson explained that cohort participants will each have one-on-one sessions covering a variety of topics like technology development, investment strategy, team-building, culture, compliance, sales and marketing, specifically designed to address each company’s unique needs.

“We are excited about the potential of this cohort, as well as the continued growth of the LaunchKC program with our partners at Nueterra Capital,” said Drew Solomon, competition chair of LaunchKC and senior vice president at the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City, MO. “We have strived for the last five years to push Kansas City’s capacity for supporting emerging companies and technology.”

Nueterra Capital and LaunchKC opened the application window in late June in search of entrepreneurs dedicated to making healthcare outcomes more predictable, delivery more accessible, costs more transparent and technology that empowers more patients to be consumers of healthcare.

Companies selected for the 2019 Health Accelerator cohort include:

Healium by Story UP, Columbia, MO, is the world’s first virtual and augmented reality channel powered by brainwaves and heart rate. It allows the user to see their emotions control virtual worlds with their smart watch or brain-sensing headband. In peer-reviewed journals, StoryUP’s patented technology has been shown to reduce anxiety and increase feelings of positivity in as little as four minutes. Healium kits are used worldwide in areas of situational stress.

MedZERO, Kansas City, MO, is a new employee benefit providing instant 0% loans for families throughout the U.S. who are struggling to pay their healthcare bills.  Employees can make payments ranging from $100 to $5,000 for medical, dental, vision, and pharmaceutical needs. MedZERO loans are repaid over 6 to 12 months through payroll deductions, and savings of up to 30% are achieved by maximizing the use of health savings accounts.

Sickweather, Kansas City, MO, knows where sick people are and where they will be up to 15 weeks in advance. It’s like a Doppler radar for illness. Their patented social listening technology detects illness trends in real-time at a hyper local level, in over 120 countries. That data is then modeled into 15-week forecasts and a threat level index called the SickScore.

Spoke Health, Denver, CO, helps healthcare organizations deploy and scale new care and payment models to tackle high cost care episodes from “ouch” to “outcome.” The Spoke technology platform powers a healthcare marketplace for high quality, low cost care that significantly reduces medical and administrative costs, enables cost transparency and improves consumer health, satisfaction and peace of mind.

TheraWe Connect, Kansas City, MO, is a HIPAA compliant platform that bridges the gap between the therapy center and the home. TheraWe Connect reduces stress for families during their pediatric therapy journey by providing two-way messaging and video sharing that improves communication between therapy providers and parents.

WellBrain, San Francisco, CA, enables physicians and hospital systems to use evidence based non-opiate modalities such as mindfulness and other solutions in a B2B2C software-as-a-service model. Providers use iPads for tracking various inputs on patient’s health, movement, depression and anxiety and other factors to provide custom treatments or guided meditations in a physician tracked app for patients to use at home on smartphones.

As the 2019 cohort assembles for the start of the boot camp next week, Peterson was effusive when describing the potential of the program.

“Between now and the Demo Day on November 20th, we will have accomplished our mission if each cohort participant feels better equipped to face the extreme challenges of disrupting the behemoth healthcare space,” Peterson said.

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About Nueterra Capital

Nueterra Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in early and growth-stage healthcare companies. Based in Leawood, Kansas, Nueterra was founded by a team of industry experts and entrepreneurs who are dedicated to transforming healthcare and how we invest in it. The Launch Health Accelerator was established this year.

About LaunchKC

LaunchKC is evolving from a grants competition for tech entrepreneurs (founded 2014) to a tech accelerator platform (beginning 2019) that works in partnership with industry-specific verticals, including the Health Accelerator. LaunchKC, a nonprofit initiative of the DTC and EDCKC, is fueled by the Missouri Technology Corporation, the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and corporate, governmental and philanthropic organizations.

Media Contact Information:

JEREMY TASSET, Nueterra Capital, jtasset@nueterra.com, 913-387-0571

DON PETERSON, Launch Health Accelerator, drpemail@gmail.com, 913-269-4506

MIKE HURD, LaunchKC, mike@downtownkc.org, 816-447-2136