Press release: Village Capital and Kaiser Permanente Announce the Health: US 2018 Cohort

Washington, D.C. – March 8, 2018 – Village Capital, the leader in creating an inclusive and sustainable world through entrepreneurship, in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s leading integrated health systems, today announced the selection of the Health: US 2018 cohort. The venture development program will provide support to 10 early-stage startups presenting disruptive innovations that create an accessible, affordable and improved aging and/or caregiving experience for all. At the end of the program, Village Capital’s affiliated venture fund, VilCap Investments, will offer funding to each of the top two ventures, selected by their peers.

Over the next 45 years, the number of individuals over the age of 65 will double and the number of individuals over the age of 80 will triple, representing the largest demographic shift the U.S. has seen. In January, Village Capital and Kaiser Permanente launched Health: US 2018, a venture development and diligence program for early-stage startups dedicated to creating a dignified, accessible, affordable, and successful aging experience, and enabling all of us to live the life we want after 65.

Village Capital also released an analysis of the program’s application, which can be downloaded in full by clicking here, and includes the following statistics:

• 88% of teams have “lived experience” with aging-related challenges (they have experienced the problem themselves or through a close friend or family member)
• 61% of teams have a founder with past health care experience
• 73% of companies are serving health care providers (hospitals, caregivers, senior care facilities, etc.)

Kaiser Permanente is recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. The organization works to provide high-quality, affordable health care services, and improve the health of the 11.8 million members and communities it serves in eight states and the District of Columbia. Kaiser Permanente helped to select the cohort participants, will work with Village Capital to facilitate the workshops the cohort members will take part in, and will be a co-investor in the two top ventures selected at the end of the program.

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“At Kaiser Permanente we strive to create healthy environments for people of all ages living in the communities we serve,” said John Vu, vice president of Strategy, Community Health, for Kaiser Permanente. “We are excited to be at this point with Village Capital and these incredible entrepreneurs who are working to find new ways to help people age well with dignity where they live.”

“Too many Americans don’t have the opportunity to age in their home and with dignity,” said Allie Burns, managing director for Village Capital. “We’re incredibly excited to bring together this cohort of high potential entrepreneurs that are unlocking the power of technology to empower seniors to have the best possible quality of life.”

Listed below is the full cohort for Health: US 2018:

Advocatia (Chicago, IL): Streamlining engagement, screening, and enrollment for hospitals to improve the lives of their underserved community.

CareAcademy (Boston, MA): Providing online professional development to teach and upskill caregivers of older adults.

Moving Analytics (Los Angeles, CA): Providing virtual cardiac rehab and secondary prevention programs for cardiovascular disease.

Multisensor Diagnostics (Baltimore, MD): Performing rapid medical assessment of 10+ vital health parameters in 30 seconds & facilitating real-time triaging for remote monitoring.

Nonnatech (New York City, NY): Combining machine learning with passive patient monitoring to enable the detection of patient deterioration before symptoms begin to appear.

PharmaCCX (Boston, MA): Increasing global access to innovative medicines by allowing market forces to rationally price drugs.

Reciprocare (Baltimore, MD): Providing an online B2B marketplace that helps senior care providers find caregivers and helps caregivers find jobs.

Tailored Care Enterprises (Madison, WI): Preventing caregiver burnouts with an enterprise-SaaS solution used by care management professionals.

Tending (San Francisco, CA): Guiding seniors and their families through transitions of care planning with technology-enabled services.

Veritage Solutions (Houston, TX): Integrating the senior care facility market and delivering business intelligence through SaaS based data warehouses.

The program will consist of three four-day workshops that take place from March 27th to June 15th, 2018. Village Capital programs are designed to help entrepreneurs sharpen their case for investment and feature:

• Guidance through Village Capital’s VIRAL curriculum. Many entrepreneurs struggle to communicate their level of success to investors. Every entrepreneur received training on the VIRAL (Venture Investment Readiness Awareness Level) curriculum, which is designed to help entrepreneurs set and surpass specific milestones to make them competitive when raising capital.
• Advice from investors, mentors and potential customers. Entrepreneurs spend more than 35 hours in mock board meetings, including one-on-one sessions with investors, industry experts and potential customers (such as Kaiser Permanente employees and senior leaders) to get feedback on product design, regulatory challenges and potential partnerships.
• Peer feedback: Village Capital programs incorporate an element of peer review - the top two entrepreneurs in each program, selected by their peers, receive offers of investment from VilCap Investments.
• Tangible business support. The program also provides resources for building a business, including Amazon Web Services (up to $5000 in credits), Hubspot for Startups (90% scholarship), connections to pro bono legal support through TrustLaw, and an investment analyst that worked closely with their team to strengthen their case for investment.

The funding offered to each of the top two ventures by Village Capital’s affiliated venture fund, VilCap Investments, will be $75,000.

For more information about the Health: US 2018 program please visit: https://vilcap.com/program/health-us-2018/  

About Village Capital

Village Capital builds bridges for entrepreneurs who are creating an inclusive and sustainable world. Our programs connect high potential, early-stage entrepreneurs with the people, institutions, and capital they need to succeed. Since 2009, Village Capital has supported more than 1,000 entrepreneurs through our programs, and partnered with affiliated investment funds, including VilCap Investments, that have invested seed capital in more than 90 program graduates.