Lafayette is home to a brand new hybrid business accelerator program called Accelerate South, designed for innovative healthcare startups. The program is funded by a U.S. Economic Administration grant administrated by Winrock International.
From a pool of 70 applicants, 10 companies from across the country have been selected for the first accelerator.
Over the next four months, the program will connect the cohort to big names in the healthcare industry, who will welcome them to test their products and services and potentially receive investment from the experts.
The selected startups include:
- Fairway Biomed (St. Louis, MO) bleeding control in resection surgeries done in the liver, kidney, and lungs.
- NeuroRescue (Columbus, OH) prehospital medical device to begin induced hypothermia protocol.
- Birya Biotech (Baltimore, MD) improving the quality of life for those battling severe allergies.
- F3 Healthcare (Carrboro, NC) reducing opioid usage after surgical discharge with patient experience indicators.
- Hera Health Solutions (Atlanta, Ga) biodegradable long-term drug delivery implant.
- Cure Global (Pineville, La) telehealth for correctional facilities.
- Insight Optics (Atlanta, Ga) retinal diagnostic platform for primary care physicians.
- Levisonics (New Orleans, La) non-contact analysis of blood coagulation and fluid quality control testing.
- ThinkGenetic (Boston, Ma) cutting-edge genetic diagnostic tool.
- ExperonHealth (Lafayette, La) predictive tools to maximize resources throughout healthcare facilities and enhance patient visibility.
Each of the companies will compete for $2500 in cash prizes at the Get Started Medical Pitch tomorrow (August 30). . “Accelerate South is an innovative and exciting program that will host companies with progressive new ideas to improve healthcare” Accelerate South’s Executive Director, Reece Theriot shares “We are excited to kick off our program with the Get Started Medical pitch competition hosted by Cox Business, giving our cohort an opportunity to introduce themselves to our local healthcare ecosystem. I encourage interested parties to RSVP for the event at www.getstartedmedical.com.”
Program partners include Community Foundation of Acadiana, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette Economic Development Authority, Opportunity Machine, Acadiana Economic Development Council and One Acadiana.