Four ‘moonshot’ health tech startups aiding cognition and brain health (podcast)

July 1, 2021 | by

This 30 minute podcast interviews four tech entrepreneurs in the StartUp Health Health Transformers accelerator/funding ‘moonshot’ program. Their focus is on technologies designed to improve brain health and address issues around cognitive impairment and disease.

  • Amir Bozorgzadeh, CEO & Co-founder of Virtuleap, a Lisbon-based company that uses VR and gamification in the Enhance VR brain training app for a daily cognitive workout of short, intense, and fun games
  • Kate Rosenbluth, PhD, Chief Science Officer & Founder at Cala Health, Cala Trio is a wrist-worn stimulator that reduces hand tremor for people with essential tremor (ET). Up until this therapeutic device, the only option for ET was a stimulator inserted in a key portion of the brain. 
  • Maor Cohen, CEO & Co-founder of n*gram health, uses immersive digital experiences and augmented reality delivered via smartphone and tablet for assessment, evaluation, and improvement in older adults with cognitive impairment.
  • Mark Cavicchia, RC21X co-founder. RC21X has developed two brain and human performance assessment tools, Roberto and RC21X. These provide brain performance trend data that can be used in healthcare, for monitoring treatment and recovery plan effectiveness, as well as industrial safety.

All these businesses are well along in proven technology and funding, a trend we’ve been finding with accelerators that once specialized in startups barely out of seed and still proving their models. Cala Health, for example, we noted in 2016 with its $18 million raise, but has been around since 2013. RC21X, once Home Base, also has been around since 2013.

The podcast is hosted by India Edwards and Logan Plaster. Mr. Plaster, StartUpHealth’s media director, and this Editor worked together on an article about the late Viterion Digital Health in his previous venture with Telemedicine Magazine. 

More events for your autumnal calendar, from Israel to Ireland to Santa Clara to NYC! (updated)

September 6, 2018 | by

Startup of the Year, Mediterranean Towers, Ganei Tikva, Israel, Sunday 3 September, 6-8pm (Past–but there’s a winner!)

Mediterranean Towers Ventures, the investment subsidiary of the largest retirement living community in Israel, is sponsoring this competition featuring five finalists:

1. Facense – Facense Ltd. develops smartglasses with tiny thermal and CMOS sensors to measure vital signs unobtrusively and continuously, with one application being to detect a person having a stroke.
2. MyTView – My-TView’s proprietary technology enables dynamic modification and enhancement of real-time broadcasts, whilst numbing the “noise”.
3. Invisi.care – transforming existing non-medical data into an effective large-scale clinical prevention tool; a remote seamless population monitoring technology encourages independent and active lifestyle.
4. GaitBetter – A universal, VR based, expert system add-on transforming any treadmill to an operator independent motor cognitive training solution
5. TuneFork–a software audio personalization technology that gives you the optimal hearing experience anywhere you go. 

And there’s a winner–TuneFork. Their award includes free participation at the Aging2.0 Optimize Conference in San Francisco (14-15 Nov), professional mentoring by Mediterranean Towers Ventures, and the opportunity to be evaluated for investment. 

Hat tip to Dov Sugarman, co-CEO of MTV.

Health 2.0’s 12th Annual Fall Conference, Santa Clara, California, 16-18 September

This year’s conference, despite the corporate hand of HIMSS, may be as breezy as ever with a continued concentration on early stage companies and speakers like Lisa Suennen, late of GE Ventures, Sarah Krug of the Society for Participatory Medicine, and Sean Lane of Olive talking about AI. Register here, and dig deep for the ticket.

UK Health Show, ExCel, London, 25-26 September

A major and mostly free event for providers, NHS, local authorities, independent sector, and primary care that addresses system transformation and integration through digital technology, commissioning, procurement and cybersecurity. More information on their website here. Registration here (free full passes for providers and public sector, floor passes for vendors and commercial organizations)

Brain Health, Aging 2.0 Los Angeles, Thursday 27 September, 6-8pm

Not many details on this other than it will be in West LA and the topic will be Brain Health and Artificial Intelligence. The keynote speaker will be Adam C. Lichtl, Ph.D., CEO of Delta Brain, Inc. More information to come and RSVP for now on Eventbrite.

Inspiring Innovation in Digital Health: The UK Telehealthcare Marketplace Northern Ireland. La Mon Hotel and Country Club, Castlereagh, Belfast, Wednesday 3 October 10am – 3pm

UK Telehealthcare is traveling to Northern Ireland for their first event in the beautiful Lisburn & Castlereagh area, one of Northern Ireland’s fastest growing regions. It will be a showcase for digital technology to help people to stay safely and independently in their own homes for longer. A ‘don’t miss’. See the attached PDF for details including masterclass speakers and exhibitors. Free registration here. Hat tip to Gerry Allmark, UK Telehealthcare’s managing director.

Additional UK Telehealthcare events into December are listed on their main page which is linked through their advert on right or here. They are partnering with the UK Health Show (above) and exhibiting in the UK TECS Hub in the assistive technology area (blocks F98, F100, F92, F94).

MedStartr Momentum 2018, PwC Madison Avenue, NYC, Thursday-Friday 29-30 November

Put this on your calendars for after Thanksgiving. 20 startups, 9 Momentum Talks, 4 stakeholder panels, and Mainstream 2019. More here on Eventbrite and as in previous years, watch this website. TTA is a media partner and supporter of Momentum,  MedStartr and Health 2.0 NYC.