The downside of crowdfunding a health app

We haven’t heard from the iMPak JV between Meridian Health system of central New Jersey and Sweden’s Cypak for a while, since their pocket-sized sleep monitor debuted in May 2011. Now iMPak is testing the crowdfunding waters with its ‘Emmett’s Family Vacation’ combination book and mobile phone app for children. Designed to encourage healthy behaviors, it turns tracking everyday movement and steps into a game–pedometer tracking is uploaded onto a mobile phone, and the game works only when ‘energized’ by tracked activity. It also rewards the child with travel facts and history (which gets a big ‘like’ from Ed. Donna). The problem is that its crowdfunding placement on Kickstarter is not gaining traction–since the publication of the Mobihealthnews article on 8 Jan, it’s garnered a measly $50 in funding, totaling an anemic $150 of a distant $25,000 goal–and the deadline is 9 February. Two modest suggestions for iMPak: 1) Get thee over to a healthcare-oriented crowdfunder like Medstartr (contact: Alex Fair) or Health Tech Hatch—a concentrated and interested audience, and 2) for the travel facts and history, cross-promote and add sponsored content from American Express, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, British Airways, Virgin, various museums, etc.