Female Founders Sweep the 2022 thINc BIGGER Challenge at thINc360, The Healthcare Innovation Conference

Three female-led organizations announced as winners and enter review for the MedStartr Accelerator Program for investment and acceleration valued at over $500,000

BALTIMORE, May 31, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Female Founders Sweep the 2022 thINc BIGGER Challenge at thINc360, The Healthcare Innovation Conference

Three female-led organizations announced as winners and enter review for the MedStartr Accelerator Program for investment and acceleration valued at over $500,000

MedStartr Venture Partners and the organizers of the thINc360 Conference (#thINc360), The Healthcare Innovation Company (thINc), announced the winners of the thINc BIGGER Challenge (#thINcBIGGER) at the annual thINc360 Conference held last week.

Joining forces to run the thINc BIGGER Challenge, more than 60 teams applied to win their way into the MedStartr Accelerator Program (MAP) and portfolio and onto the #thINc360 Stage. thINc and MedStartr sought innovative early-stage companies with revenue under $1M that are ready to scale by engaging self-insured employers, health plans, large provider groups and institutions looking for innovations to adopt. The winning teams enter review for inclusion in the MAP and could receive investment, acceleration, and in-kind partnership deals valued at over $500,000. To date, teams in the MAP, a three-year Accelerator focused on Healthtech, on average have increased in value 4.2x in three years or less.

"The MedStartr Crowd Validation model is driven by gathering input from all stakeholders in the healthcare system, including patients, clinicians, partners, investors, and Institutional leaders. Data from a decade of running challenges suggests, and our portfolio of past winners and investments like Medable, Mymee, Alertgy, Valera Health, UniteUs, 1Docway, Misfit Wearables and many more, demonstrate that when teams engage and satisfy all stakeholders, the likelihood of success in the healthcare marketplace is greater than 20-fold better than teams that do not. Contests such as this one are a critical part of the MedStartr investment selection process," explained Alex Fair, Managing Partner, MedStartr Venture Partners.

Fair went on to add, "This is the first time we have run a Challenge with thINc and we couldn't be more pleased. We co-sponsored patient activists attending the conference and listened closely when they asked important questions and voted in the challenge. It was also very gratifying to see all three winning pitches from female-founded companies. This continues a trend we have seen and I hope it encourages more women to found amazing healthcare startups."

Judges included a distinguished panel of healthcare leaders, nurses, physicians, investors, and hospital leaders, in addition to online viewers and Patient Activists from #TheWalkingGallery.

The top three teams in the 2022 thINc BIGGER Challenge include:
First Place: Beam
Presented by CEO, Katie Bell, Beam is an online exercise, education and well-being platform designed for people with chronic health conditions. Learn more at https://www.beamfeelgood.com and follow Beam on twitter at @beamfeelgood

Second Place: Smart Charts
Represented by CEO, Corinne Vargas, CEO, Smart Charts is a therapy platform that helps people get better faster by giving them a beautiful experience with their platform, visualizing progress and capturing clinical information. Therapists love the platform too as it is designed to help make their work easier, more informative, and even fun. Learn more at mysmartcharts.com and follow them on twitter at @MySmartCharts.

Crowd Favorite: Blackbird Health
Presented by Erin Moore, VP Operations, Blackbird Health is a comprehensive virtual-first approach to pediatric mental health to help every child succeed every time. Learn more at Blackbird.Health or follow them on twitter at @BlackbirdHI.

*Crowd Favorite is calculated based upon a weighted analysis of votes from the audience and Judges using the MedStartr Crowd Algorithm. First and second place are based on the expert judges alone.

Press Contacts:
MedStartr Venture Partners, LLC                    
Heather DeLeonardis                            
Phone: 530.633.7827 x 610                        
Email: [email protected]                                                                                 

The Healthcare Innovation Company
Sean Edwards
Phone: 781-939-2618
Email: [email protected]

About MedStartr Venture Partners
MedStartr manages events, challenges, an accelerator, and a global community of healthcare innovation enthusiasts from all across the healthcare landscape and around the world. MedStartr Venture Partners manages funds that invest in the best new ideas that are identified and accelerated by MedStartr Challenges and programs. For more information about MedStartr please visit http://www.medstartr.vc

About thINc360
thINc360 gathers healthcare and employer leaders for the year's most prominent industry event. Focused on delivering impactful content and creating meaningful connections amongst attendees, thINc360 creates a unique forum that inspires innovation to move healthcare forward. thINC360 will take place on April 30-May 2, 2023, at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor, MD. Prospective attendees can learn more and register at https://thinc360.com/2023event/register/

Media Contact

Sean Edwards, The Healthcare Innovation Company (thINc), 781-939-2618, [email protected]

SOURCE The Healthcare Innovation Company (thINc)