Participated · Equity · Jul 2023

Wavely Diagnostics builds a smartphone-based diagnostic app that turns a phone into an acoustic tool to detect fluid in a child’s ear, enabling data-driven virtual pediatric ear infection care. The process is non-invasive, requires no additional hardware or special training, and is designed to give parents and providers reliable answers from home. The platform completed a phase I pilot and is currently in a phase II pilot with a leading U.S. health system. Wavely plans a broad public app store launch in late 2023 and intends to expand its diagnostics to enable nearly 70% of acute pediatric visits to shift to virtual care. Financially, the company has secured investor and grant funding totaling $6.35M to date, including a $1.8M Phase II SBIR grant for remote diagnostics awarded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The company is currently offering the app to healthcare systems for pilots while preparing for wide-scale commercialization. Wavely Diagnostics is building smartphone-based digital diagnostics that turn a phone plus a paper funnel into a non-invasive acoustic tool for pediatric assessment, starting with ear infections. Its first product helps parents determine signs of possible ear infection and connects families to virtual physicians who can prescribe treatment. The app is designed to be user-friendly and requires no special hardware beyond a simple paper funnel. Wavely intends to expand the telehealth-integrated platform to offer additional virtual pediatric care solutions beyond ear infections. The company is preparing a commercial launch in spring 2022 and aims first at parents and at-home consumers, then at healthcare partners. Financially, Wavely has raised seed capital and received non-dilutive grant funding to advance product development.

Led · Seed · Jun 2023

FoodHealth Company, formerly bitewell, offers a nutrition intelligence platform centered on its FoodHealth Score, a 1–100 rating that evaluates nutrient density and ingredient quality. The Score was developed by data scientists and dietitians and is FoodMed Certified to drive positive health outcomes. The company embeds the Score across retail channels—already live across The Kroger Co. banners including Ralphs, Harris Teeter, and King Soopers—and plans further rollouts to additional major retail chains. FoodHealth Co. aims to license its scoring system across the food ecosystem and bring the Score to supermarkets, restaurant menus, and school cafeterias. The rebrand and a new headquarters in San Francisco reflect a shift toward being the backbone of the food-as-health movement and positioning at the intersection of health systems, retail innovation, and tech. With over $20 million raised to date, the company is scaling its product and commercial partnerships to accelerate adoption. bitewell operates a healthy food marketplace that works directly with employers to deliver food health benefits aimed at reducing insurance premiums and improving users' health. The platform uses a FoodHealth Score (0–10, with a grey/red/yellow/green system) that scores every food purchase and aggregates purchases to show whether a user's diet is net-accretive or net-dilutive to health. The company was co-founded by Samantha Citro Alexander and Chris Fanucchi and is headquartered in Denver, CO. bitewell raised USD4M in Seed funding to support its growth. The company plans to use the proceeds to hire executive leadership, nationally scale its sales division, fund research with academic institutions, and build out more advanced technology and data infrastructure for the brand. No operating metrics (revenue/users) were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2022

De Oro’s core product, the NexStride, is a self-contained, attachable gadget that provides two external cues — a metronome-like ding and a laser-projected line — to trigger alternate neural pathways and reduce freezing in people with Parkinson’s. The unit mounts to a walker or cane with a stretchy loop and includes a corded controller and hardware dials to set volume, tempo, and laser position. The company chose a manual operation model after user and clinician feedback, and customer polls and clinical referrals indicate improved confidence and mobility among users. NexStride competes with devices like the U-Step but differentiates on portability and the ability to attach to users’ preferred mobility aids; De Oro keeps manufacturing in the U.S., which raises costs. The retail price is $500 and is not yet broadly covered by insurance, though veterans can obtain units through the VA and the Parkinson’s Wellness Fund may cover partial or full costs for some buyers. De Oro plans to use recent funding to scale operations and expand distribution so more people can access the device.

Participated · Series B · Aug 2019

MyHealthTeams operates online social networks that connect people diagnosed with chronic health conditions to peers and objective information about managing their health. Led by cofounder and CEO Eric Peacock, the company currently runs 33 engaged communities across a wide range of conditions. Its networks are available in 13 countries and the company partners with nine of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies plus 19 other biopharma and healthcare firms. MyHealthTeams plans to use new funding to accelerate growth, expand existing communities, and launch additional condition-specific networks. Financially, the company raised $9.44M in a Series B that brought total funding to $26.84M. MyHealthTeams operates 24 patient communities that connect patients with each other and with biotech and pharma companies to inform clinical trial design, patient education and recruitment. The platform aggregates patient-reported experiences and real-world evidence, and its targeted, condition-relevant messaging aims to improve engagement and open rates. The company works with roughly 12 biotech and pharma partners and has expanded into rare-disease groups such as hemophilia. MyHealthTeams reports about 1 million registered users across eight countries and highlights high monthly activity among patients and caregivers. It has run research collaborations with firms such as Biogen (and the predecessor to Bioverativ) to surface outcomes that matter to patients. The company also positions its platform as a channel for clinical trial recruitment. Management says proceeds will be used to continue diversifying and growing its patient communities beyond its current registered-user base. MyHealthTeams creates dedicated social networks for chronic condition communities, connecting patients who share diagnoses, treatments and symptoms. The company operates 13 condition-specific social networks with over 300,000 members across eight countries. It recently launched networks for Diabetes and Parkinson’s disease and plans to launch networks for hemophilia and Alzheimer’s disease this year. Co-founded by CEO Eric Peacock and Mary Ray, the startup is based in San Francisco, CA. Financially, the company reported a Series B raise that increases its total capital raised to $10.14M and intends to use the proceeds to expand beyond its initial 13 networks and reach a larger audience. MyHealthTeams builds niche, condition-specific social networks and mobile apps to connect patients and caregivers. The company currently operates three networks (MyAutismTeam, MyBCTeam and MyMSTeam) and offers iOS and Android apps for each. Since launching in 2011 it has attracted 52,000 members. The company plans to accelerate the launch of new networks — ultimately aiming for 100 — and will use new funding to expand its team and speed rollout. MyHealthTeams has begun partnering with industry players (it signed a deal last December with “a leader in the MS space”) to help recruit users for clinical trials while emphasizing it will not share users’ personal data. Leadership says aggregated user-shared experiences could later be used to describe likely treatment paths and predict outcomes to improve patient health and lower costs. MyHealthTeams builds condition-specific social and local networks to help people living with—or caring for—those with chronic health conditions connect and find local resources. Its flagship community, MyAutismTeam, launched in private beta in June last year and claims more than 27,000 registered parents across the U.S. The company recently released an iOS app for MyAutismTeam with Facebook-meets-Yelp features such as post sharing, local provider referrals, Q&A, and photo posting. MyHealthTeams monetizes in part by helping members find referrals to local providers and businesses suited to their needs. The startup raised a $1.75M seed round to help scale and expand the team and plans to replicate the same community-based strategy across other chronic conditions and diseases.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2019

MemoryWell is a Washington, DC-based digital data platform that promotes person-centered care through life storytelling. Led by founder Newton-Small, the company has partnered with more than 40 care providers since 2017 across Alzheimer’s and dementia care, senior living, home care, Medicare Advantage plans, hospice and palliative care. This quarter MemoryWell is launching large-scale pilots with Prospero Health and PCH Mutual Insurance. The company plans to scale its platform and continue building its predictive social determinants of health AI rating system. MemoryWell raised $2.5M in seed funding to support those efforts. MemoryWell operates a network of professional journalists who interview seniors and their families and publish brief, intimate life stories via a mobile-responsive web platform. The platform hosts stories along with photos, music and video and is used by families, senior living communities and home care providers. Launched in 2016 by Jay Newton-Small and based in Washington, D.C., the company aims to replace burdensome intake questionnaires with narratives that improve empathy between caregivers and elders. MemoryWell has raised a $1 million seed round led by Dagmar Dolby with participation from George Vradenburg, HealthTechCapital and S&R Fund. The company plans to use the investment to improve its artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, expand its team with customer success specialists, and enhance its core product and services.