Provided by UNT HSC
Eight of the Techstars Fort Worth CEOs pose for a selfie on Demo Day.
An event came to the Stockyards this week that has never been seen before in the historic district. That’s difficult for the mind to grasp, considering the Stockyards have seen just about everything in a lifespan of more than a hundred years.
However, the Techstars Demo Day on Tuesday at the recently renovated and reopened Isis Theater on North Main Street was exactly that.
And what a nifty thing it was, 10 CEOs from high-growth, early-stage startup companies from the Techstars Fort Worth pitching their innovations from the stage of the refurbished Isis.
“The men in my family have not seen their 65th birthday in my father’s line in five generations,” said Peter Weisz. “I’m here to change that. Not on only for my own family but everybody.”
The might be the ultimate meaning of an entrepreneur who disrupts.
Weisz is the founder and CEO of Pulsewave, which has patented TempleGuard, a wearable attachment for existing eyeglasses that measures vital signs behind the patient’s ear. The Swiss company’s device combines real-time patient monitoring with artificial intelligence algorithms in order to predict the development of cardiovascular disease.
Weisz was one of the 10 CEOs who have been in Fort Worth the last 13 weeks, the founders of 10 of the world’s most innovative startups perfecting their new physical health technology.
Each were greeted by an enthusiastic audience, which stood and roared with excitement as the CEO's walked onstage. It was part of the environment Trey Bowles, managing director of Techstars Fort Worth, wanted to project to a worldwide audience, and it was tantamount to fans greeting a big play by your national championship-contending TCU Horned Frogs footballers. The founders also spent a portion of the evening mingling during a pre-event happy hour in the theater lobby.
They are part of the world’s first physical health accelerator operating out of The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.
In September, the companies arrived in Fort Worth as a part of the Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth Accelerator, a first-of-its-kind partnership between the city of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, HSC, Goff Capital and Techstars. Techstars is a global investment business that provides access to capital, one-on-one mentorship and customized programming for early-stage entrepreneurs.
HSC received $4.8 million in funding from the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County to start the physical therapy-focused accelerator program with Techstars. Equity investments into the startup companies are being made by HSC and Goff Capital to total nearly $10 million for the project over three years.
The goal of the partnership is to revolutionize the physical health industry through new technology. The accelerator is focused on supporting companies building new technologies, treatments and therapies in the physical health space in areas such as rehabilitation, physical therapy, performance and exercise.
The startups received hands-on mentorship, curated entrepreneurial content and programming, up to $120,000 in funding, and access to a vast network of mentors, investors, alumni and influential corporate executives.
The program’s partners chose 10 startups to support and fund during the next three years. The companies were chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants from all over the world. Team members from HSC, Techstars and Goff Capital worked with them to shepherd those ideas from concept to game-changing tech.
“Their work to disrupt the physical therapy and related industries is going to pay dividends for patients and providers for years to come, and HSC was thrilled to have played a small part in the development of these startups,” said Cameron Cushman, HSC’s assistant vice president of innovation ecosystems.
Fort Worth is now the only city in Texas other than Austin that hosts an accelerator of this magnitude.
“Innovation is a core HSC value,” said Sylvia Trent-Adams, president of The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. “The Techstars Physical Health Accelerator not only spurs important innovations that will help countless patients, but it will also help solidify Fort Worth and HSC as destinations for entrepreneurs who need support for disrupting the health care industry with new ideas and fresh perspectives. I couldn’t be more excited about Demo Day and everything it represents for our future.”
Weisz, who has an MBA from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, was the inventor and founder of Findy Eyeglasses tracker. Findy literature describes itself as the smallest glasses finder in the world. With a locator — the Findy Adaptor — that blends into the arms of the glasses, one can track lost glasses through the science of Bluetooth.
Josh Rabinowitz’s Dallas-based company Articulate Labs is one of the startups involved in the accelerator. His Kneestim is a light, wearable device that helps rehabilitate the user’s knee through electrical stimulation.
He said the accelerator has dramatically expanded his company’s network. He now has a number of promising leads for everything from product testing to medical equipment suppliers.
“Those doors opened pretty quickly with the Techstars name behind it,” he said. “Having an entity like Techstars and the rest of the team show faith in the technology gives us a stamp of approval that encourages investors to take a look at us.”
The accelerator represents a collaboration to fill gaps identified by many business-savvy observers in Tarrant County: access to physical therapy and the lack of a true early-stage accelerator program for innovative startup companies.
“These innovative companies are working hard to bring new tools to market to make us all healthier,” said Bowles. “Their experience at Techstars has opened up a world of mentors, investors, experts, providers, clinicians and researchers that they would not have had access to on their own. This intensive program has allowed these 10 companies to make some serious traction and grow tremendously in just a few months.”
About the other eight companies in the Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth Accelerator:
BOOMROOM out of Charlotte, N.C., is an integrated platform that equips fitness entrepreneurs with the tools and technology to host superior virtual experiences and manage their businesses all in one place.
GoManda is a digital solution to building social skills through building vocabulary. It provides a tablet-based flashcard platform that gives educators the best tool to teach vocabulary.
Neurofit creates virtual therapy exercises that assess, monitor and personalize care for neurological impairments. The Toronto startup produces a digital data layer that uses telemedicine, remote monitoring and digital brain health programs to give patients and clinicians a more proactive way to support the recovery journey.
Toronto/Chicago company Stabl’s product is a computer vision-enabled platform entirely accessible through the internet that tracks patients’ biomechanics automatically as they perform their recovery exercises. The movement data is relayed to the patient’s clinical team members’ dashboard, where they can monitor patient recovery, identify potential health risks and communicate with the patient.
For busy, health-conscious people who do not have the time or desire to go to crowded gyms or visit a physiotherapist, German company STRAFFR is the first truly smart resistance band that connects to an app to provide personalized and effective functional training, enabled by real-time feedback and supported by certified trainers and pro athletes.
Tampa-based Recovr Health helps providers and payers increase compliance and decrease no-show rates by leveraging XR technologies to gamify physical and occupational exercises.
Wellest Inc. has created an industry-leading artificial intelligence coach for managing end-user nutrition and activity plans. The San Francisco startup’s deeply personalized and dynamic plans optimize users’ body compositions to help them look their best, feel healthier and live longer, all while maintaining flexibility to live their lives.
D.C.-based ZAMA Health is developing a behavioral health integration for any athletic program, fitness company or gym.