TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

Via News Release

“MINNEAPOLIS (May 17, 2013) – CareWire, Inc. announces that it has tapped key executives to support and advance its mission of harnessing the power of mobile messaging to profoundly improve outcomes and deepen loyalty – one patient at a time.

Ken Saitow, a healthcare industry veteran with over two decades of healthcare consulting experience has assumed the role of President and CEO effective May 1st. Ken has been an Advisor and Board Member to CareWire since September 2012. “We are pleased to have Ken join CareWire in this role and believe his proven leadership skills, depth of healthcare experience and track record of developing solutions for hospitals and health systems will be instrumental in guiding CareWire into the future.” said Scott Danielson, co-founder and outgoing CEO of CareWire.

In addition, Phil Hotchkiss, a four-time start-up veteran with deep business strategy and product development skills will be joining CareWire as Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer.”

Read More…

Via News Release

“Minneapolis, MN— 5.20.13 — Today Clear.md announced that it has been selected as a finalist for “Startup of the Year” at the Doctors 2.0 conference scheduled for June 7, 8 in Paris, France.

“A global perspective has defined our strategy since day-one. We are honored to be recognized by Doctors 2.0 in Europe as a US-company with an international identity, and we look forward to representing the Twin Cities digital health community at the conference in Paris this June,” said John Brownlee, CEO and co-founder of Clear.md.”

Read More…

Twin Cities HealthIT startup Activation Life is fundraising a million dollar equity round according to a recent disclosure filed with the SEC.

The company is pursuing a “Digital Mobile Music System with Studio-Grade Resonate Frequency head phones,” to administer patients with tones that enter through the ears and vibrate throughout the body’s skeletal and vestibular system.  According the website, this involves both iOS and Android mobile applications.

Read More…

Via News Release

“MINNEAPOLIS, May 10, 2013 — Preventice, Inc., a leading developer of mHealth solutions, announced today the commercial availability of its BodyGuardian Remote Patient Monitoring System (BodyGuardian RMS). Preventice received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2012, enabling the mobile health solutions company to market BodyGuardian for use in detecting and monitoring non-lethal cardiac arrhythmias for ambulatory patients.

Developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, the BodyGuardian System uses sophisticated algorithms to support remote monitoring for individuals with cardiac arrhythmias. The BodyGuardian System allows physicians to monitor key biometrics outside of the clinical setting, while patients go about their daily lives.”

Read More…

Thank you to Andcor Companies for underwriting the new Meet a Minnesota CTO series.

Gal Bar-or is the Chief Technology Officer at RedBrick Health, a Minneapolis health and wellness software startup that has raked-in nearly $75m in venture funding.

Gal is responsible for driving RedBrick’s software technology, strategy and architecture. He has over 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship and software development, having co-founded Connected Minds, SchoolAxis, and Useful Chemistry — all in the social/mobile space.  He’s also the named inventor on multiple patents.

How long have you been working in tech for and what is your background?

Read More…

Via News Release

“Cognific, a Minneapolis-based behavioral health technology company, is among a dozen companies selected for the MedCity News CONVERGE Conference Start-up Showcase on July 9-10 in Philadelphia.

…Cognific will be part of a showcase of the best technology-centric healthcare startups taking on the biggest challenges in healthcare innovation.  Selected startups have the opportunity to demonstrate their solutions to audience members and partners and be profiled on MedCityNews.com, the leading media site covering healthcare and life sciences innovation.  Cognific was among the selected startups that offered a unique solution to an unmet need in the market with evidence of traction in the marketplace.”

Read More…

Via News Release

“HealthCare Impact Associates, LLC announces that it has secured an additional $2 million in private capital. Funds will be used for commercial rollout of its Affordable Care Act (ACA) management information system, Health E(fx)™.

The beta release in February of the cloud-based Health E(fx)™ (pronounced “Health Effects”) system is the first-to-market ACA management solution for employers. Health E(fx)™ integrates required data from multiple systems within the employer HR environment, providing ongoing data integrity validation, historical and predictive cost analytics, and automated compliance, reporting and audit capabilities that employers and their stakeholders need to meet obligations of the ACA that will go into effect January 1, 2014.”

Read More…

By Nick Woltman, St. Paul Pioneer Press

“BioMedix, a St. Paul-based medical technology company, has reduced its workforce to fewer than 20 employees from a 2012 high of more than 200, entered receivership and sold off its software arm in an effort to survive a period of market weakness.

The layoffs and sale of the company’s health care practice management division followed a turbulent 2012 brought on by uncertainty in the health care industry, President John Romans said.”

Read More…

By Lauren Goode, AllThingsD

“Imagine this scenario: You’re flying across the world for a business conference, and something goes wrong — with your health. You’re in a foreign country, and you’re not sure of your options for medical care.

You reach for your mobile phone, and instead of calling for help, you open up an app. A doctor is on call for you, 24 hours a day. Private care and a flight back home are quickly arranged.

That’s the world imagined by Better, a new company funded by the Social+Capital Partnership. Better has made a mobile app that taps into the vast database of the Mayo Clinic to provide immediate health care information and assistance.”

Read More…

RedBrick Health has raised another $15 million according to a recent SEC disclosure, pushing their venture capital coffer to roughly $75m since 2006 inception.

Participants in this round include Versant Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, GDN Holdings, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, and Volition Capital.

Headquartered in downtown Minneapolis, RedBrick Health has created an “adaptable technology platform that blends consumer-facing personalization, social engagement, and a flexible financial alignment toolset, which yield engagement rates two to five times industry norms.”

Read More…