Startup Incubator Healthbox Announces Its First Class

December 21, 2022 - By Laura Montini

Chicago-based startup accelerator Healthbox announced the inaugural class of ten companies to begin its program in January 2012. Healthbox comes from Sandbox, which manages the Blues venture funds. Healthbox’s program is similar to incubators Rock Health in San Francisco and Blueprint in New York City. But instead of the $20,000 Rockhealth gives (taking no equity), Healthbox will give class members $50,000 in seed capital in exchange for 7% equity, and the companies will also have access to a mentor network, forums led by business experts and a collaborative workspace-(they may though have to move to the wilds of Chicago). The program will culminate in April with Investor Day where participants will present their businesses to a targeted group of investors. Healthbox received hundreds of applications from 26 states and eight countries with concentrations on provider workflow, consumer health, informatics, pharmacy and more. Here are the companies that made the final cut:

• PUSH Wellness (Chicago, IL) is an outcomes‐based wellness incentive provider that drives behavior change in health factors that are meaningful, measurable and modifiable, producing tangible benefits for participants and employers.

• PaJR‐Patient Journey Record (Dublin, Ireland) uses a cloud‐based system with machine learning capabilities to identify patients at high risk of readmission using patient and caregiver self‐ reported health status.

• SwipeSense (Evanston, IL) is hand‐washing 2.0, arming healthcare providers with a portable hand‐sanitation device in combination with real‐time data analytics in order to increase compliance and reduce hospital‐acquired infections.

• CareWire (Minneapolis, MN) is a patient engagement solution that utilizes automated patient text messaging to increase billable appointment yield, visualize patient satisfaction in near‐real‐ time and improve provider performance.

• The Coupon Doc (Atlanta, GA) provides an easy‐to‐use, centralized platform that allows consumers to access manufacturer discounts on their prescription and OTC medications.

• Corengi (Seattle, WA) connects qualified patients with ongoing clinical research studies through a comprehensive online platform. Patients are able to quickly distill relevant studies, trial sponsors are able to reduce costly delays and medical innovation is accelerated.

• Iconic Data (Norcross, GA) delivers a cloud‐based patient list manager solution that provides physicians access to near‐real‐time snapshots of clinical care episodes across disparate, non‐ integrated facilities, resulting in increased charge capture and reduced inefficiencies.

• UnitedPreference (Princeton, NJ) offers employers a Tailored SpendTM payments network that allows health plans to improve participation in preventative health initiatives via branded prepaid cards that can be used to purchase items determined by the health plans.

• DermLink (Atherton, CA) is a cloud‐based, HIPAA‐compliant application that enables remote diagnosis of dermatology cases, dramatically reducing wait times for patients while driving increased revenue and flexibility for providers.

• CareHubs (Beaverton, OR) is a healthcare enterprise social platform that offers dynamic, innovative tools to help patients and healthcare providers better connect, coordinate and engage.