MATTER startup shoutouts: Summer 2024

Every day, innovators across the MATTER community are building new solutions that accelerate innovation, advance care and improve lives. Over the last three months, MATTER startups secured funding, fostered impactful partnerships, received FDA approval and more.

There’s no shortage of good news to celebrate in the MATTER community. Learn more about our collective accomplishments below.

Six MATTER startups secured funds through competitions, challenges, grants and venture capital.

Backpack Healthcare raised a $14 million Series A.
Backpack Healthcare, an online pediatric mental healthcare provider, raised a $14 million Series A funding round. The funds come fresh off their selection as Google for Startups’ first AI accelerator. The investment, led by PACE Healthcare Capital, will help Backpack enhance its technology platform, expand its reach to more communities and develop teletherapy services.

Decimal Code won $75,000 at the 28th Annual Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge.
Decimal Code, a healthcare startup helping providers capture unbilled revenue and eliminate operational waste through automated medical coding, won fourth place and $75,000 at the 28th Annual Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge. The challenge, which is hosted by the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is the signature venture challenge for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Rhaeos won a $50,000 grant from the Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium.
Rhaes, a medical device company, won a $50,000 grant from the Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium. Rhaeos has developed FlowSense®, a noninvasive wireless, wearable skin patch that can assess and monitor fluid flow below the skin surface. The company is initially targeting hydrocephalus, a life-threatening condition caused by an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid.

Emboa Medical won $75,000 at the 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition.
Emboa Medical, a medical device company, won $75,000 at the 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition. Emboa Medical has developed a novel blood clot extraction device that increases efficiency when removing blood clots that cause strokes.

Expect Fitness won $25,000 at the 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition.
Expect Fitness, a pre- and postnatal fitness platform where every workout is OB-GYN-approved, won third place and $25,000 at the 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition.

Zuri Fertility won $5,000 at the 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition.
Zuri Fertility, a patient-centered, hassle-free, digital fertility clinic, won the Community Impact award and $5,000 at the 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition.

Six MATTER startups partnered with leading organizations to further accelerate innovation and advance care.

Carium partnered with CareDirections to launch StrokeCP.
Carium partnered with CareDirections to launch Stroke CP, a clinically and financially validated digital health platform addressing post-acute stroke care. The solution is powered by Carium’s award-winning patient engagement and virtual care management technology.

Clearstep partnered with Ochsner Health.
Clearstep partnered with Oschner Health, the leading not-for-profit healthcare provider in the Gulf South. Oschner Health will leverage Clearstep’s AI technology within their network to address large-scale access and capacity challenges.

GoCheck Kids announced partnerships with hearX® and Office Practicum.
GoCheck Kids, a mobile digital platform and cloud-based portal that serves pediatric teams in their quest to prevent vision impairment, announced a pair of partnerships. They partnered with Office Practicum to integrate their platforms and streamline clinical workflows for photo screenings and visual acuity tests. They partnered with hearX® to offer a combined vision and hearing screening solution in a compact, smartphone-based platform.

Health Note expanded their partnership with Springfield Clinic.
Health Note, a clinical documentation company specializing in the patient experience, expanded their partnership with Springfield Clinic. The continued collaboration will focus on further digitizing the patient experience with patient self-scheduling, intake and clinical documentation across the enterprise.

SkinIO partnered with Color Health.
SkinIO, a HIPAA-compliant, AI-driven, virtual skin cancer screening platform, partnered with Color Health to add SkinIO’s skin cancer screening to Color Health’s Virtual Cancer Clinic.

Third Eye Health, partnered with Pleasant Valley Nursing and Rehab Center.
Third Eye Health, a telehealth post-acute care solution, partnered with Pleasant Valley Nursing and Rehab Center to provide immediate virtual care support.

Two MATTER startups further validated their solutions through publishing research and receiving FDA clearance.

AgileMD received 510(k) FDA clearance.
AgileMD received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for their eCART Clinical Deterioration Suite. Their solution can accurately identify high-risk hospitalized patients across conditions, including sepsis, heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Biologic Input Output Systems (BIOS) was granted a FDA Breakthrough Device Designation.
BIOS, a neurotechnology company, received a Breakthrough Device Designation from the FDA to investigate the use of their system to allow users to control and to receive sensory feedback from robotic prosthetic upper limbs. The BIOS System is a peripheral nerve interface intended to be used for control of and sensory feedback from prostheses in individuals with limb loss.

Five MATTER startups reached key milestones to advance their businesses.

Onward launched their transportation management services with Stanford Health and HonorHealth.
Onward Health, a leading transportation management solution, ​​launched their Companion Rides™ and transportation management services to patients traveling to Stanford Health’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and in the greater Phoenix metro with HonorHealth.

Densitas announced the commercial release of intelliMaven™.
Densitas, a global leader in AI solutions for breast cancer screening, commercially released intelliMaven™, a GPT AI assistant for mammography quality. In conjunction with their flagship product intelliMammo®, intelliMaven™ provides scalable and sustainable quality assurance for mammography facilities to meet FDA MQSA EQUIP compliance and ACR accreditation requirements.

NovaScan announced a distribution agreement with Epredia.
NovaScan, a clinical stage oncology diagnostic company, announced intent to enter into an exclusive commercial distribution agreement with Epredia, a global leader in precision cancer diagnostics. Epredia will help distribute NovaScan’s MarginScan™, a medical device that will support physicians in real-time detection of non-melanoma skin cancer.

Vivante Health rebranded as Cylinder.
On June 12, Vivante Health announced their rebrand to Cylinder. Read about their rebrand, continued commitment to innovation and digestive healthcare solutions here. Cylinder was also featured in our most recent startup spotlight.

Enhanced Medical Nutrition collaborated with Protein Industries Canada.
Enhanced Medical Nutrition, a company specializing in creating and commercializing products in medical nutrition, collaborated with Protein Industries Canada to bring new protein products for Canadians with special nutritional requirements.

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