Six Startups Selected for the Inaugural US Health Equity Alumni 2023 Program

Washington, DC; July 10, 2023 – Village Capital has announced that 6 startups that previously participated in its accelerator programs have been selected to receive advanced training and assistance as part of an inaugural US Health Equity Alumni 2023 Program. Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, an impact fund within the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, supported the past accelerator programs and is funding this program, built to equip companies with custom-tailored technical assistance, coaching, financial support, and access to networks. 

The startups are working on innovative solutions that support frontline healthcare workers and communities experiencing significant health inequities. 

The companies participated in accelerators that took place between 2020 and 2022: Supporting Frontline Healthcare Workers Showcase, Building a Culturally Competent Healthcare System, and Innovations in Health Equity. All of the companies are led by a BIPOC founder and/or CEO.

Here are the six startups improving accessibility and quality of healthcare for communities in the US:

• CliniSpan Health (Durham, NC) is a software platform diversifying clinical research with a proprietary user platform and digital health influencer model.
• ​​KovaDx (New Haven, CT) is bridging gaps in health access through optics and machine learning-based monitoring solutions to support drug discovery and development, and remote patient monitoring for rare blood diseases, starting with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).
• PharmD Live (Washington, DC) provides a virtual pharmacist solution that provides medication and disease management to prevent adverse drug events and deaths in patients through partnerships with clinics.
• SageSurfer (Sunnyvale, CA) is an omnichannel, behavioral health care coordination platform designed for smoothly managing everything from crisis care for individuals with complex needs to the engagement of diverse populations with mild to severe mental illness.
• SpeechMED (Miami, FL) is an accessible voice and language platform that makes healthcare instructions and medication compliance understandable to patients and their caregivers and is specifically designed for immigrant households, the elderly, and socioeconomically vulnerable populations.
• Viora Health (Philadelphia, PA) offers a personalized engagement platform that boosts and scales existing healthcare workflows to empower patients with social needs to reduce costs of care and improve quality and access to care.

From June to September 2023, the selected startups will participate in several online workshop sessions and one in-person summit. They will also receive highly curated technical assistance around impact measurement and management, communications, and mental health. 

The Good Economy, a leading impact advisory firm, will conduct impact assessments for all companies. Fenton, one of the country’s leading public interest communications firms, will provide tailored communications services according to the needs of each company. Pilea, a collective of coaches and coach-therapists that builds leadership in startups, will host individual and group coaching sessions throughout the program. 

Startups will also receive mentorship from venture capital fellows and on-demand coaching from an investment analyst. Each startup will receive an equity-free participation stipend from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation that will go towards milestone development.

Additionally, the US Health Equity Alumni 2023 Program allows for a broader set of startups who participated in JJIV-supported programs to benefit from general support and expert-led workshops, with support from the California Health Care Foundation. 

For more information, reach out to Sofía Cándano at Village Capital sofia.candano@vilcap.com.

About Village Capital 

Village Capital is reinventing the system to back the entrepreneurs of the future. Known for its groundbreaking approaches to supporting founders who are building solutions to emergent social, economic, and environmental challenges, VilCap unlocks critical social and financial capital for early-stage companies to maximize business and impact growth. Village Capital has operated in the US since 2009 by running over 45 accelerator programs. VilCap has supported more than 897 startups from over 43 states and 23 entrepreneur support organizations (ESO) working in sectors such as financial health, health equity, justice tech, and sustainability. Learn more at www.vilcap.com and follow @villagecapital.