GE has generated much positive news with its creation, in partnership with accelerator StartUp Health, of a three-year program that will select 10 consumer health startups to become high-growth companies within three years. The announcement, timed during CES, makes much of GE’s contribution to a customized growth curriculum, access to GEs executives including a GE leadership mentor for each company and exposure to GE technology experts. Application is extremely qualified and selective (naturally); the deadline is also short, 8 February–information here. This program is also separate from the existing StartUp Health Academy, although companies in the Academy are eligible to apply. GE joins companies like Nike in a similar setup with TechStars; Qualcomm Ventures has the QPrize in addition to leading the way in funding and partnering with early-stage wireless health companies.
What is not in the release and the MedCityNews article is this, according to Upstart Business Journal: GE Ventures (GE’s investment arm) and the StartUp Health Innovation Fund will negotiate for a 2-10% equity stake in each company. To Editor Donna, what is also notable about GE’s latest foray into ’emerging health innovations’ is that it is Take 2…or perhaps 3. Take 1 was a sub-majority stake, then acquisition of Living Independently Group’s QuietCare in 2008-9, which was to herald an entire Home Health division. Its later relegation into the Care Innovations JV with Intel (Take 2, notably dominated by Intel) was seen by industry observers as a tacit admission of, if not precisely failure, GE’s lack of notable success or confidence in the sector. So we can fairly say that we are cheered that GE has changed its mind–and the accelerator route may be a kinder, gentler way of supporting innovators in consumer healthcare tech.
Most Recent Comments