Women's health, patient checklist startups claim victory in Health 2.0's VentureConnect pitch competition

Mira and Avhana Health surpassed a pool of 60 entrants to place first in the contest's consumer and provider tracks, respectively.
By Dave Muoio
01:44 am
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Cohosts Matthew Holt and Lisa Suennen present the award to Mira cofounder Syliva Kang at Health 2.0's annual pitch competition. 

Women’s health tracking platform Mira and EHR-integrated ambulatory care checklist maker Avhana Health have surpassed dozens of competitors to be named the two victors of Health 2.0’ VentureConnect startup pitch competition. The companies faced off yesterday against four other Series A-ready competitors, and were selected by a panel of judges as the most impactful, robust, and likely to succeed in the crowding consumer and provider digital health markets.

Formerly known as the Traction pitch competition, Health 2.0’s annual pitch competition pairs six competition finalists — three consumer-facing startups, and three provider-facing ones —with expert mentors to fine-tune their organization’s pitch. After a series of rapid-fire presentations and Q&As, one startup from each track is chosen as the competition’s winner. Previous competition winners include Klara, DermaSensor, VaGenie, and Stroll Health.

Mira’s connected women’s health tracker took this year’s crown on the consumer-focused side of the competition. The at-home platform, which launched earlier this month, consists of a urine analysis device connected to a mobile app via Bluetooth. By purchasing the $199 device and its subscription, users can identify peak fertility days to maximize or avoid conception, or monitor their hormone levels during a pregnancy.

Mira’s platform is FDA registered as a Class 1 device, has demonstrated 99 percent accuracy in a 400-participant clinical trial, and could someday serve as a management tool for kidney diseases or other related health conditions, according to the company.

“If you do something that’s focused on consumers, you have to be thinking hard about how they’re going to pay for it, how you’re going to get them to pay for it, because consumers by and large do not like parting with money for medical things,” Lisa Suennen, a digital health-focused investor formerly of GE Ventures who served as the competition’s cohost, said during the event. “It’s a tough business.”

On the provider track, Avhana Health was recognized for its capacity to integrate evidence-based workflows into primary care and ambulatory encounters. By integrating with major EHR vendors, the company surfaces personalized patient checklists to improve care quality and save practitioners time.

“Instead of focusing on data gathering during the visit, you can focus on how to get the patients healthier,” Nate Weiner, CEO of Avhana Health, said during his pitch. “This year, we made a major push where … over the summer we closed over $3 million in contracts and have a very clear line of sight for quadrupling that over the next year. And the best part is, it’s working. Every health organization that we work with, the quality measures go up and the provider satisfaction does as well. We’ve been able to regain millions of dollars in revenue for health organizations, and are helping thousands of patients every day get healthcare.”

The other finalists in this year’s competition included:

Baze, a subscription platform that ships personalized vitamin supplement packages based on home blood test results;

PhysioCue, a non-drug, non-invasive hypertension therapy and blood pressure monitoring device for consumers;

Alertgy, a connected, non-invasive, wearable blood sugar monitor for Type 2 diabetes patients; and

NotesFirst, a mobile EHR being deployed in emerging international markets.

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