NYCEDC and Health 2.0 Announce Launch of Pilot Health Tech NYC, a Competition to Pilot New Technologies in Healthcare Settings
Pilot Program Designed to Grow Healthcare Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship in New York City
Winning Companies Receive a Total of $1 Million to Address Defined Healthcare Needs
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Health 2.0 today announced the launch of the second annual Pilot Health Tech NYC, a program designed to dramatically increase innovation and collaboration within New York City's health technology sector. Pilot Health Tech NYC helps pilot and advance new health technologies by partnering early-stage companies with key New York City healthcare service organizations and stakeholders - including hospitals, physician clinics, pharmaceutical companies, nursing associations, large employers, and retailers. The Pilot program will provide a total of $1 million to fund at least 10 innovative pilot projects in New York City. Each pilot project will address defined needs of the healthcare industry and test a technology prototype over a period of approximately four to nine months. The inaugural class of Pilot companies has raised approximately $20 million in private investment, including $4.5 million in the last six months. The cohort has also begun pilot projects set to enroll more than 1,000 New Yorkers in locations including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Montefiore Medical Center.
"The biotech sector in New York City has shown tremendous strength and growth, and Pilot Health Tech NYC is the next step in helping our life sciences ecosystem to thrive," said NYCEDC President Kyle Kimball. "This innovative program will advance new technologies that solve real medical issues, helping to make our City healthier and more diverse for years to come."
"This program is truly innovative and one of a kind. It directly addresses the most challenging issue most young companies encounter, getting that first pilot or customer to validate their product," said Indu Subaiya, CEO of Health 2.0. "By matching startups with potential pilot hosts, the program helps reduce sales cycles and helps both parties improve quality of care for patients."
Pilot Health Tech NYC is an important piece of the City's ongoing efforts to leverage recent momentum and position New York City as the nation's hub for healthcare technology. In addition to an individual grant of up to $100,000, the program provides winners with exclusive pilot planning and implementation support services, informational workshops and promotion at major health events and conferences. In 2013, NYCEDC and Health 2.0 also facilitated more than 200 "matchmaking" sessions in order to partner the early-stage companies with key healthcare service organizations. This year's matchmaking sessions are scheduled for March 11 and 12, 2014 and applications for the sessions are due on February 17, 2014. Full proposals for the program are due by May 23, 2014. Additional information is available at www.pilothealthtechnyc.com.
The 10 winners of the inaugural Pilot Health Tech NYC competition were selected from a high caliber group of 41 applicants. Each winner received up to $100,000 and was featured in July as part of Pilot Day, a gathering of more than 300 leaders of the healthcare community. The winning teams were: AdhereTech and Weill Cornell Medical College; BioDigital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Bio-Signal Group and New York Methodist Hospital; eCaring and Pace University, working with Henry Street Settlement; Flatiron Health and Continuum Health Partners (now Mount Sinai Health System); Opticology and New York Eye & Ear Infirmary; Rip Road and VNSNY Choice SelectHealth; StarlingHealth and VillageCare; Sense Health and University Behavioral Associates (Montefiore Medical Center); and Vital Care Services and Pace University, working with numerous community-based health centers.
"Pilot Health Tech NYC allowed us to introduce our 3D human visualization platform at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to improve physician-patient communications," said Frank Sculli, CEO of BioDigital, a winner of the 2013 Pilot Health Tech NYC competition. "This show of support by a major provider substantiated the value of our technology within another rapidly changing market."
"We are grateful to NYCEDC and Health 2.0 for being one of the winners for the Pilot Health Tech NYC program," said Dr. Roy Gulick, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school. "Through its productive matchmaking sessions, we partnered with AdhereTech to pilot their wireless medication bottles with HIV patients. Thanks to Pilot, we are finding innovative ways to boost medication adherence and patient health."
New York City is home to a robust healthcare sector that includes world-class academic medical centers, top pharmaceutical companies, as well as numerous physician practices, nursing associations and clinics. Entrepreneurs, startups, and other innovators are joining these healthcare leaders to tackle complex healthcare issues, deploying new technologies in order to improve patient care while reducing healthcare costs. Pilot Health Tech NYC is part of a portfolio of programs launched by NYCEDC to support the ecosystem for venture creation in the life sciences and healthcare sectors. In 2013, NYCEDC designed, launched and seeded a series of initiatives to address a spectrum of unmet needs among entrepreneurs, including the Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative, an unprecedented $100 million public-private co-investment partnership across world-class academic institutions, industry leaders, top-tier investors and the philanthropic community; Harlem Biospace, a wet-lab incubator for new life-sciences ventures; Entrepreneurship Lab NYC, a six month intensive mentorship program for graduate students and post-docs launching new ventures; and SBIR Impact NYC, a competitive application assistance program to recruit federal research and development funding for new ventures. In their first year, these initiatives have energized the community, already engaging hundreds of participants and stakeholders. These initiatives are a result of Eds & Meds NYC 2020, a strategic review of the life sciences and healthcare sectors in New York City. NYCEDC held extensive conversations with senior academic stakeholders, investors and entrepreneurs in New York City and beyond, and determined that this portfolio of initiatives would help the City play a more active role in bringing providers and entrepreneurs together to reduce costs and improve patient care throughout New York City.
About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is the City's primary vehicle for promoting economic growth in each of the five boroughs. NYCEDC's mission is to stimulate growth through expansion and redevelopment programs that encourage investment, generate prosperity and strengthen the City's competitive position. NYCEDC serves as an advocate to the business community by building relationships with companies that allow them to take advantage of New York City's many opportunities.
About Health 2.0
The conference. The media network. The Innovation Community. The Health 2.0 Conference is the leading showcase of cutting-edge technologies in health care, including Online Communities, Search and lightweight Tools for consumers to manage their health and connect to providers online. The Health 2.0 Developer Challenge is a series of prize competitions promoting health technology innovation. Health 2.0 also has its own media channels, Health 2.0 News and Health 2.0 TV; its own market intelligence service, Health 2.0 Advisors; and also sponsors the Health 2.0 Accelerator industry consortium. Health 2.0 was founded by Indu Subaiya & Matthew Holt in 2007 and is now a community of hundreds of organizations and thousands of innovators. For more information, visit www.health2con.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter.