Latest news with #BIGIdeaBounce
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Olin Business School Makes A Big Bet On The Business Of Health
Michael Mazzeo will become the new dean of the Olin Business School at Washington University (Photo credit: Doug Birkenheuer/WUSTL When Olin Business School Dean Mike Mazzeo led the creation of a new strategic plan for the school, one new North Star emerged as a strategic imperative: developing true distinction in the business of health. It wasn't merely a takeaway from the strategy sessions. It became a guiding mandate for moving forward. 'Given the tremendous growth of the health sector in our economy, it's a place where we have a unique opportunity to demonstrate impact,' he says. 'We want to be a place where we train the next generation of business leaders in this field.' From Mazzeo's way of thinking, the university already had core assets in place to make a difference. Washington University has long had one of the nation's top medical schools. The university was creating a School of Public Health, its first new school in more than a century. And in the Midwest at least, few other rivals had earned distinction in the business of health. 'We have assembled a lot of resources to be successful,' he says. 'The partnerships give us tremendous opportunities.' So a major intellectual and financial investment in the field seemed like a no-brainer. Within months, Mazzeo hired a managing director for the Olin Health Initiative, refreshed and created new courses in a portfolio of seven separate courses (see table below), and created in the business of health an undergraduate major, an MBA concentration, a specialization in Olin's Flex MBA program, and a distinction in the school's executive MBA. in the subject, and an MBA concentration. The school also focused its latest BIG IdeaBounce pitch contest for student startups on the business of health and recently convened a symposium on the subject to gather all the players in the ecosystem of health care in the St. Louis metro area. Olin is now laying the groundwork for a course in health finance, among other new offerings. Mazzeo also views the launch of the initiative at a time when more critics are questioning the value of higher education. 'We are in a period of adjustment and disruption, so demonstrating our value is more important than ever,' he says. 'The school of business has a unique opportunity to demonstrate impact.' Key to the initiative's success is Mazzeo's recruitment of Patrick Aguilar, managing director of the Olin Health Initiative. He brings a wealth of both academic and business experience to the job. He had been a professor at WashU's medical school before leaving to be the chief medical officer at a healthcare venture at which he helped to build 13 urgent care centers in Oklahoma. 'It was similar to a medical residency in business,' says Aguilar. Patrick Aguilar, managing director of health at Washington University's Olin Business School When Mazzeo called him to be a special advisor to the dean, Aguilar was leading clinical operations in pulmonary and critical care medicine for Endeavor Health Medical Group in Chicago. He first worked part-time on the strategy for the business of health initiative, finally returning to Washington University in November of 2024. With appointments in the business school, the med school, and the school of public health, Aguilar is in a strong position to fully leverage partnerships among the trio of academic players at WashU. Like Mazzeo, he believes that having three schools focused on the effort provides a unique competitive advantage in the field. 'Everyone is thinking about health, but most are not thinking with a school of medicine and a school of public health,' he notes. 'My triple appointment is a sign of that. Right now, we are operating in an environment where there is great uncertainty. We need to work with others to move forward.' In shaping curriculum and adding a health focus to most of the school's degree programs, Aguilar says there has been no resistance. 'Faculty at Olin have been active in health for many years,' he says. 'But their efforts were not done in a coordinated and comprehensive way.' Besides a refresh to existing health courses, Olin has added a new course on Drugs and Devices that focuses on how to take an idea out of the lab and put it into the market, and a new course on Health Insurance in America that explores how reimbursement decisions are made by the insurance industry. Aguilar also helped to revive a venture capital course, half of which is now devoted to the business of health. A health-focused capstone course allows students–both undergrad and graduate students–to solve real-world problems at established companies and startups. The school is also working more closely with the four health systems in the St. Louis metro area, which have significant reach throughout the Midwest, along with a growing biotech sector and two payer companies in health insurance. Olin also plans to tap into its rich alumni network, some of whom are in Medical Alley in Minneapolis. Among other things, Olin is hoping to smartly build on the commercialization of medical school intellectual property. 'How do we take ideas that are great and push them to new places?' he asks. Sure enough, the initiative is not only a program play; it is also a doubling down on scholarly research in the field. 'Across the different academic disciplines, we already had faculty working on the issues of health,' says Mazzeo. 'We want to do research and train students to advance wellness and case delivery. We explicitly are not doing a center for health care management because it is too limiting.' Mazzeo expects to hire four new faculty members with a health focus over the next couple of years. He also sees increasing demand for business talent in the health field, making it a more viable option for graduates. 'We are seeing all kinds of roll-us and acquisitions of health specialists by private equity. MBAs in particular are interested in that space.' This embedded content is not available in your region. The post Olin Business School Makes A Big Bet On The Business Of Health appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
WashU Olin BIG IdeaBounce Winner: A Sophomore Who Collects Ideas On His iPhone
BIG IdeaBounce Winner Miles Lanham, founder of Métopi, with the three founders of Patient Led Health, which won the People's Choice Award: Darden Executive MBA students Caroline Holt and Justin Ryan, with Astrid Domenico (left) A biomedical major at the University of Virginia, Miles Lanham had made a habit of collecting ideas in his iPhone from his high school years in Alexandria, VA. Whenever he saw something that intrigued or engaged him, Lanham would pull out his phone and add it to a list of thoughts numbering in the hundreds. When he witnessed a friend on UVA's track team collapse from an asthma attack during a workout, he was aghast because no one had an inhaler at hand to help the boy, who was struggling to breathe. The team's trainer, he recalls, had to race back to TK to get one as his teammate was carried away on a stretcher. 'He fell to the ground,' recalls Lanham. 'They put him on a cart and took him off the track and rushed him to the trainer who had an inhaler. But the inhaler was 500 meters away.' Miles Lanham, a biomedical sophomore at the University of Virginia, is co-founder of Métopi The incident made Lanham's iPhone list. It would also become his ah-ha moment to work on a startup for a wearable multi-pack inhaler that would always be available to a person coping with respiratory challenges. He and his partner and collaborator, a recent MBA graduate from the Darden School of Business, entered their idea in the fourth annual WashU Olin BIG IdeaBounce pitch contest. They competed with 81 other teams from 43 universities in 14 countries, from Algeria to Vietnam. Lanham traveled to St. Louis as one of three finalists to pitch the idea of a wearable, multi-pack inhaler before judges yesterday (April 11) and emerged the winner of the $50,000 top prize. The 19-year-old sophomore is the youngest founder to win the BIG IdeaBounce crown. He competed against an Olin Business School MBA who is working on an AI-driven mental performance app for college athletes and a trio of founders, two of whom recently graduated from UVA Darden's Executive MBA program (see These Three Finalists Will Vie For The $50K Prize In WashU Olin's BIG IdeaBounce Pitch Contest). The People's Choice award, given on the basis of votes from Poets&Quants' readers, was given to Patient Led Health, a startup that is developing an app called Coalesce for people who want greater control over their medical records. Patient Led Health is led by Darden Executive MBA students Caroline Holt and Justin Ryan, with former OpFocus CEO Astrid Domenico, a long-time friend of Holt's. Sergiu Celebidachi, a former NCAA tennis player and current MBA student at Olin, won second place and $5,000 for SPARC Sports. a mental performance app for college athletes to help them deal with the psychological challenges of competition. While this was the fourth iteration of the competition, this year it was exclusively devoted to the business of health, a new Olin Business School initiative by Dean Mike Mazzeo, who wants to make Washington University's Olin the leading business school in the field. In the past year, Olin has partnered with the university's School of Medicine and the launch of a new School of Public Health, developed a set of seven elective courses in the field, and introduced a major in its business undergraduate program and a concentration in its MBA. 'We want to be a place where we train the next generation of business leaders in this field,' says Mazzeo. Lanham's product, dubbed the Portahaler, is designed to attach seamlessly to a phone, wrist, or keychain, ensuring they always have access to rescue medication. Each inhaler contains 40 doses, allowing for a novel multi-pack prescription system of up to five units. What's more, it would cost no more than $60, well below the cost of current inhalers on the market. It was not his first win. Lanham won two rounds of pitch contests at the University of Virginia's E-Cup, making it into the school's i-lab, an incubator run by the Batten Institute to guide young entrepreneurs through a journey from idea to market. But creating a company from scratch has long been a dream for Lanham. 'I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur,' says Lanham, who began his idea list in high school. 'Every time I experienced a problem,' I wrote it down on the phone. I have hundreds of ideas.' Rohan Bansal, a Darden MBA, is a collaborator and partner for Métopi It was at Annandale High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, that Lanham launched his first startup. As the co-founder of SorboStrap, he created a novel, invisible backpack waist belt, an invention meant to decrease back pain caused by heavy backpacks. He developed the product from the ideation stage to the prototyping stage. In the process, Lanham racked up 3,000 social media followers and more than half a million views. 'From launching my backpack company, I learned that consistency is key,' says Lanham. 'Our marketing strategy back then relied entirely on social media — it was a numbers game, and the same principle applies now. If you apply to a hundred pitch competitions or reach out to enough investors, you're bound to get a hit.' A state champion long-distance jumper and captain of the track team at Annandale, he was recruited to UVA on an athletic scholarship. Lanham knew he wanted to use his undergraduate experience to start something. When an injury kept him off the track team, he had plenty of time to devote to the inhaler idea. He named his startup Métopi, which can be translated to 'frontier' in Greek. Says Lanham: 'It feels fitting — and I think it sounds cool!' When he began working on what would become Métopi, he was told that doing a MedTech startup solo would be difficult, if not impossible. Lanham went on LinkedIn to search for a Darden School of Business MBA with experience in the life sciences. He discovered Rohan Bansal, who graduated from Darden in 2024 and went to work as a senior consultant for Trinity Life Sciences, a Boston-based strategy consulting firm for early-stage biotech products. Before coming to Darden, Bansal spent five years at ZS, the management consulting and technology firm. As an analyst and then a consultant, he had worked on assignments for top global healthcare companies, spearheaded a 10-member team to create and implement a growth strategy for a breakthrough drug in the U.S. and Europe, and a global leader in injectable aesthetics. Healthcare and biotech are both his passions and fields of expertise. The pair went to work to move along Lanham's idea. From his earlier startup, Lanham learned that delegation was crucial. 'Rohan and I divide tasks based on our strengths,' he says. 'With his MBA and life science consulting background, he's great at operations. With my engineering background, I focus more on product development.' They concluded that existing competitors were making products with little innovation since the first inhalers were made available in the 1950s. Even more telling, their products were, in Lanham and Bansal's view, far too expensive and easily portable. Insurance policies often limit patients to a single inhaler per prescription, leaving many unprotected in critical moments. For those seeking additional inhalers, out-of-pocket costs can reach up to $500 per unit. The potential market is massive. Some 545 million people worldwide suffer from respiratory diseases. Four in ten of them have had a flare-up without the benefit of a ready inhaler in the past year alone, according to their research. Some 72% want quicker and easier access to inhalers. Patrick Aguilar, managing director of the WashU Olin Health Initiative, with winner Miles Lanham Lanham began his BIG IdeaBounce pitch on an emotional level, showing a photo of a 22-year-old man who died after a severe asthma attack led to cardiac arrest. He then went through a series of slides that showed the evolution of inhalers and how little they have changed since their invention in 1956. the nearly 10,000 tons of plastic waste they produce each year, his strategic partnerships, and his advisory board members. He noted that Métopi already has multiple patents filed along with a working prototype that has been validated and tested by a couple of manufacturers. Judges were especially impressed by Lanham's successful recruitment of one key advisor: Evan Edwards, a pharma executive, entrepreneur, and inventor with more than 200 patents to his name. It was Edwards and his brother who created a compact and more easily carried epinephrine rival to EpiPen called Auvi-Q to combat severe allergic reactions. Like Lanham, Edwards had developed the idea while a student at UVA years ago. They licensed the product in a reported $230 million deal to French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in 2009. Though in a different field, Métopi's Portahaler is similar to Auvi-Q because it a medical device that is more compact, cheaper, and more portable than competing products. Throughout his presentation, Lanham displayed no jitters. He was composed and articulate. 'I was not super nervous because this was my fourth pitch competition in the span of three weeks, so it felt like another day in the office,' he says. 'My thoughts immediately after I won were how can I effectively use these funds and get them into action as soon as possible.' By winning the $50K award in the BIG IdeaBounce competition, Lanham unleashed another $35,000 pledge contingent on his raising of a match. All told, Métopi now has enough cash to get the tooling done to make his product. He has already lined up two manufacturing partners in the United Kingdom and China. There's still a long road ahead. Lanham estimates that the product will require an investment between $5 million and $10 million and take two to three years for FDA approval. Because the Portahaler uses the same already approved medication, just the delivery method must gain regulatory approval. Meantime, he's out trying to get more money for the business. The day after he walked away with the $50,000 top prize in WashU Olin's BIG IdeaBounce contest, Lanham was pitching again in Charlottesville at the third and final stage of the University of Virginia's E-Cup at the Tom Tom Festival. DON'T MISS: or The post WashU Olin BIG IdeaBounce Winner: A Sophomore Who Collects Ideas On His iPhone appeared first on Poets&Quants.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WashU Olin's BIG IdeaBounce: 13 Startups In The Business Of Health Compete For The $50K Top Prize
Washington University's Olin Business School BIG IdeaBounce competition features the business of health The business of health boasts a massive economic footprint on the world. Healthcare is the largest single employer in the U.S., with more than 20 million people working in biotech, pharmaceutical, insurance, health services, hospitals, and clinics. All told, spending on the business of health exceeds $4.5 trillion in the U.S., making up nearly 18% of GDP in the U.S. So for the fourth annual BIG IdeaBounce competition, sponsored by Washington University's Olin Business School, it was something of a no-brainer to focus on this central pillar of the world economy. Our invitation to students to pitch their health startups has been a huge success. Some 82 startup ideas flooded in, representing nearly 45 universities in 14 countries, including Algeria, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Estonia, Ghana, India, Panama, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam. The judges narrowed down those submissions to a baker's dozen of exceptional startup ideas, many of them powered by artificial intelligence applications. They range from wearables that monitor heart function and sleep habits to sophisticated software platforms aimed to boost efficiencies and productivity in healthcare. streamlines the ordering process for home medical equipment, while Brivy automates mental health session records, saving clinicians hours by instantly generating insurance-ready notes and session insights. Patrick Aguilar, managing director of health at Washington University's Olin Business School This group will be further narrowed down to three finalists who will be invited to St. Louis to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges at Washington University's Olin Business School in mid-April. The top winner will walk away with a $50,000 cash prize, with smaller funding awards to the second and third-place teams. P&Q is also inviting our audience to vote for their favorite team and idea. The breadth and depth of new thinking applied to the challenges of health is impressive. 'From across the country, groups of innovators and thinkers submitted outstanding ideas designed to improve the wellness of society,' says Patrick Aguilar, managing director of health at Washington University's Olin Business School. 'Founders developed biological and technological tools that addressed the breadth of what 'health' means, and they created pitches that captured the urgency and importance of their work. At Olin, we are heavily focusing on how business can create this exact kind of societal impact, and it was inspiring to see the ways that the teams created solutions to problems across the health spectrum. 'Rather than limiting themselves to the treatment of disease,' adds Aguilar, 'they extended their reach to enable human beings to live the best lives possible. This is exactly the kind of thinking that we need to work through the most challenging problems of our era. I was impressed by their curiosity, creativity, and originality, and I look forward to seeing how the judges react to the final pitches next month.' Many of the ideas are so complex and intricate that they require the brainpower of interdisciplinary teams. OneHealth+ founders comprise professionals with expertise in healthcare, technology, and business, including MBAs from Wharton and Stanford, with experience in engineering and health infomatics, a physician getting his Executive MBA at the Olin Business School, all led by a CEO with degrees in human biology as well as masters in health administration from Cornell and business creation from the University of Utah. FindMyClinicalTrial, a startup out of American University, is helping patients navigate the clinical trial landscape via an AI powered website and application which allows for patients, family members, and providers to easily search, share, and enroll in clinical trials. The startup, a collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, has engaged more than 4,000 users and post over 24k clinical trials is all 50 states. Its four-member startup team brings together expertise in computer science, machine learning, business, and communications. A pair of MBA students at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business–Caroline Holt and Justin Ryan–joined with a third founder at the University of Texas in Austin with AI crew to create Patient Led Health. It has come up with an innovative app that enables individuals to capture, store, analyze, search, share and manage their own medical records across many patient portals. Meantime, two PhDs from the University of California in San Diego are developing a wearable ultrasonic imager for continuous, real-time and direct visualization of cardiac function. The primary market? Patients in intensive care units who require continuous cardiac monitoring. Of the estimated 10 to 15 million patients admitted to ICUs each year, 40% to 60% require cardiac monitoring, creating a direct market of up to 7.5 million patients annually. WashU Olin's BIG IdeaBounce® powered by Poets&Quants was open to all current undergraduate and graduate school students or any prospect interested in a graduate business school degree. You can watch their two-minute elevator pitches and read about their business plans in the following profiles. Tell us your favorite idea by voting via the buttons below. The team with the most votes will win the Poets&Quants People's Choice Award and receive $1,000. Voting ends April 13, 2025. School Affiliation: Washington University Description: Adera is an AI-powered sleep enhancement headband and app that uses real-time neuroadaptive feedback. Problem: Adera addresses the global sleep crisis, which affects over 1 billion individuals worldwide and costs the global economy approximately $680 billion annually due to reduced productivity and increased healthcare expenses. Poor sleep impairs cognitive performance, increases the risk of chronic diseases, and contributes to mental health issues. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated sleep disorders, with a 60% rise in insomnia cases. Existing solutions such as sleep trackers passively monitor sleep without intervention, and sleep medications often lead to dependency and health risks. This growing crisis demands an immediate and effective solution that not only tracks but also actively improves sleep quality. Solution: Adera's AI-powered sleep enhancement headband and app provide real-time sleep optimization using neuroadaptive feedback, biometric analysis, and environmental modulation. Unlike traditional trackers, Adera dynamically adjusts soundscapes, lighting, and temperature based on users' physiological signals to optimize deep sleep and REM cycles. Its biometric sensors monitor brainwaves (EEG), heart rate variability (HRV), respiration rate, temperature, and movement, allowing its AI engine to predict and prevent sleep disturbances. This adaptive technology offers a non-invasive, drug-free, and personalized solution that continuously improves sleep quality over time, promoting cognitive performance, reducing stress, and enhancing overall well-being. Market: Adera targets the $585 billion global sleep economy, projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2030. Its serviceable available market (SAM) within AI-powered sleep solutions is valued at $30 billion, with a goal to capture $1.5 billion within five years. The primary B2C segments include individuals with sleep disorders, high-performance professionals, and wellness enthusiasts seeking drug-free sleep optimization. On the B2B front, Adera targets corporate wellness programs, healthcare providers, and smart home ecosystems, offering scalable solutions that enhance employee productivity, reduce healthcare costs, and integrate seamlessly with smart devices like Alexa and Google Nest. Competition: Adera differentiates itself from passive trackers like Oura, WHOOP, and Fitbit by providing real-time, AI-driven sleep enhancement rather than mere data collection. Unlike smart beds such as Eight Sleep, Adera's headband integrates EEG, HRV, and respiration data to dynamically adjust environmental factors. Compared to brain stimulation devices like Dreem and Philips SmartSleep, Adera is non-invasive, avoiding electrical stimulation risks while offering real-time, adaptive optimization. Its proprietary AI engine continuously learns from biometric feedback to personalize sleep routines, ensuring superior results in both deep sleep and REM enhancement. This multi-sensor, real-time feedback approach positions Adera as a market leader in sleep technology. Value Creation: Adera's scalable business model includes direct-to-consumer hardware sales ($299.99 per unit), monthly subscriptions for advanced AI features ($19.99/month), and B2B partnerships with corporate wellness programs and healthcare providers. With a projected revenue of $402.7 million by Year 6 and a net profit margin of 62%, Adera offers both financial sustainability and measurable social impact. By improving sleep quality, Adera enhances cognitive performance, reduces stress, and lowers healthcare costs associated with sleep-related conditions. Its non-invasive, drug-free approach aligns with the growing consumer preference for natural wellness solutions, ensuring long-term market relevance and profitability. The Team: Jasmine Kim (Bachelors in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology, Entrepreneurship, May 2025) School Affiliation: Washington University, Texas A&M Description: Brivy is an AI-powered tool that automates mental health session documentation, saving clinicians hours by instantly generating insurance-ready notes and session insights. Problem: Mental health clinicians in small-to-medium-sized private practices spend 10+ hours per week on documentation, leading to burnout, delayed insurance reimbursements, and less time with patients. Many providers struggle to complete notes on time, affecting both cash flow and work-life balance. Solution: Brivy automates documentation by recording sessions and instantly generating SOAP notes with ICD-10 codes and session insights. This eliminates manual note-taking, reduces clinician fatigue, and ensures faster, more accurate insurance reimbursements. Market: Our target customers are mental health practice owners managing 3-10 clinicians (therapists, counselors, nurse practitioners). Current research includes: • Managed Facebook marketing for 4 mental health clinic owners since Jan 2024, gaining direct insight into operational struggles (delayed reimbursements). • Conducted 6 in-depth interviews with mental health practice owners, confirming documentation as a top pain point. • Hosted a webinar (Jan 2025, 40+ RSVPs, 15 live attendees): 100% reported interest in AI documentation, 67% were comfortable using AI in healthcare documentation. Competition: There are many sophisticated AI medical scribe tools (Abridge, DeepScribe, Heidi Health), but many are generalized and few cater specifically to mental health providers. Brivy fits a gap in the market by serving mental health clinicians working in small-to-medium sized practices. Our solution is tailored specifically for these practices through its note type, billing codes, and session insights. Value Creation: Brivy enables clinicians to see more patients by reducing documentation time, directly increasing revenue. Long-term sustainability comes from a SaaS subscription model with multiple pay tiers, targeting small-to-medium mental health practices. The Team: Connor Alder | MD Candidate 2028, Washington University Peyton Smith | BS Computer Science 2024, Texas A&M School Affiliation: Washington University Olin Business School Description: is an AI-powered marketplace that streamlines the ordering process for home medical equipment by ensuring orders meet insurance requirements upfront, drastically reducing wait times and administrative burdens for patients, physicians, and suppliers. Problem: When patients are prescribed essential home medical equipment—such as CPAP machines, walkers, and wheelchairs—they face an average wait time of 40 to 60 days before receiving them. These delays deprive patients, many of whom are elderly or managing chronic conditions, of the support they need to safely manage their health. The root cause is an outdated process that forces equipment suppliers and physicians into repetitive back-and-forth communication, often relying on obsolete methods like faxing and phone calls. This inefficient system, focused on correcting clinical notes to meet complex insurance requirements, creates bottlenecks that ultimately delay critical patient care. Solution: revolutionizes the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) industry and ordering process by acting as a marketplace that bridges physicians and equipment suppliers, using the same AI technology that insurance companies employ to deny claims—only now to ensure orders meet insurance requirements before they even reach the supplier. This automation removes the need for tedious back-and-forth communication between physicians and medical equipment companies, reducing administrative burdens and errors. For physicians, it means less time correcting documentation and more focus on patient care. For equipment suppliers, orders arrive fully compliant, allowing them to process and fulfill requests faster and more efficiently. Most importantly, for patients, this means faster access to the vital medical equipment they depend on, helping them manage their health more effectively and improving their overall quality of life. Market: primary customers are Durable Medical Equipment (DME) companies in the United States, with an initial strategic focus on Pneumatic Compression Device (PCD) suppliers. This segment faces unique challenges, particularly around complex insurance requirements. The company leverages its deep industry expertise and strong relationships within this niche to quickly validate solutions and establish credibility. Competition: While faces no direct competition for its innovative approach, it's important to explain how we stand out in the broader e-prescribe market for Durable Medical Equipment (DME). In this context, e-prescribe refers to electronic medical equipment ordering from physicians to suppliers. Value Creation: marketplace model is built for both profitability and impact: by capturing up to 25% of the $16.3M PCD submarket (within a broader DME sector valued at over $114B and growing at 7.4% CAGR), the company projects an 87% net profit margin, a near-zero cost of goods, and a 14% first-year ROI—all while significantly reducing patient wait times for essential medical equipment, creating measurable social value alongside strong financial sustainability. The Team: Justin Lapid – MBA – 2026 Andrew Stenger – MBA – 2027 School Affiliation: Harvard Business School; Illinois Gies; INSEAD; London Business School; MIT Sloan; Stanford; Berkeley Haas Description: is an AI-powered platform that accelerates the commercialization of biomedical and healthcare innovations by identifying high-potential patents and research findings for startup creation. Problem: Groundbreaking biomedical and healthcare research often remains trapped in academia due to commercialization bottlenecks, lack of entrepreneurial guidance, and inefficiencies in connecting innovators with investors and industry partners. Solution: leverages AI to analyze patents, research papers, and emerging biotech trends, identifying the most promising innovations for commercialization. The platform connects researchers with entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders to transform cutting-edge research into viable startups. Market: The global biotech and healthcare innovation market is growing rapidly, with venture capital investment in biotech startups exceeding $50 billion annually. targets researchers, universities, tech transfer offices, venture capital firms, and startup incubators and accelerators seeking to capitalize on untapped biomedical innovations. Competition: Current commercialization pathways rely on university tech transfer offices and consulting firms, which are slow and inefficient. AI-driven platforms like significantly outperform traditional methods by automating patent analysis, identifying high-impact opportunities, and fostering direct connections between researchers and startup ecosystems. Value Creation: accelerates the transition of biomedical research from academia to market, reducing commercialization time, increasing startup success rates, and unlocking significant economic and societal value by bringing transformative healthcare innovations to the public faster. The Team: Hadia Alabed, Chief Scientific Officer (CEO/CSO): Hadia Alabed graduated with a PharmD degree from the University of Trakya (Turkey), and now she is pursuing a master of science degree in Biotechnology Innovation at the Technical University of Istanbul (Turkey). Anaïs Daoud, Chief Innovation Officer (CINO): Anaïs Daoud graduated as an Artificial Intelligence engineer from the National School of Artificial Intelligence in Algeria, and currently she is pursuing a master of science degree in AI and Machine Learning at the Technical University of Istanbul (Turkey). Chakib Hamada, Chief Technology Officer (CTO): Chakib Hamada graduated as an Artificial Intelligence engineer from the National School of Artificial Intelligence in Algeria, and currently she is pursuing a master of science degree in AI and Machine Learning at the Technical University of Istanbul School Affiliation: Rutgers University Business School Description: A hospital integrated CompassionCare Navigators service that enhances patient experience, staff efficiency, emotional support (TLC), and seamless communication between patients and hospital teams. Problem: Hospitals are designed to treat physical illnesses, but emotional distress, stress, and lack of personalized attention often slow recovery, impact hospital reviews, and increase staff burnout. While technology streamlines processes, it lacks emotional intelligence, leading to frustration for patients and inefficiencies for hospital teams. Delayed response times, miscommunication, and unattended patient concerns create unnecessary stress for both patients and medical staff; a gap that must be addressed. Solution: The CompassionCare Navigators is a hospital-based service that acts as the bridge between patients and hospital staff, ensuring that every concern is addressed swiftly and empathetically. This initiative integrates real time problem resolution, emotional intelligence, and proactive patient advocacy into hospital workflows. It enhances patient satisfaction, reduces stress related health complications, and improves overall hospital efficiency. By seamlessly coordinating with nurses, doctors, patient experience teams, and administrators, the CompassionCare Navigator creates a supportive hospital environment where both patients and staff thrive. Market: The healthcare industry is shifting toward patient-centered care and operational efficiency, with hospitals investing heavily in improving patient experience, reducing burnout, and enhancing care coordination. The patient advocacy and hospital efficiency market is valued at over $12 billion and continues to grow. The CompassionCare Navigators model provides a scalable solution for hospitals aiming to increase efficiency, improve ratings, and create a human centered care experience. Competition: Current commercialization pathways rely on university tech transfer offices and consulting firms, which are slow and inefficient. AI-driven platforms like significantly outperform traditional methods by automating patent analysis, identifying high-impact opportunities, and fostering direct connections between researchers and startup ecosystems. Value Creation: The CompassionCare Navigator creates long term value by: 1. Enhancing patient satisfaction, leading to higher ratings and reputational growth. 2. Reducing staff burnout by streamlining communication and handling non-medical patient concerns efficiently. 3. Improving hospital efficiency, ensuring faster response times and smoother hospital operations. 4. Boosting financial sustainability through improved patient ret The Team: Julieanne Abreu: (Marketing Major, Bachelors Degree, 2025). School Affiliation: University of Virginia Darden School of Business Description: Today, personal medical records remain locked behind healthcare providers' closed electronic filing cabinets, forcing patients to hunt down and piece together non-transferable data; our app flips this paradigm by enabling individuals to capture, store, analyze, search, share and manage their own records across many patient portals. Problem: Think about the waiting room at your last doctor's appointment, or the e-checkin you completed in advance. You likely guessed at medication start/end dates, dosages, your last immunizations, and provided incorrect or incomplete information to your medical provider. You may have failed to mention past symptoms or tests which may have resulted in time and resources wasted by repeating tests. Worse, you may have missed sharing a key puzzle piece that could prolong or derail your path to the correct diagnosis or necessary treatment. Solution: Research shows that patients who are more actively involved in their healthcare experience achieve better outcomes and incur lower costs. This is obviously what all Americans want for themselves and their families, but the lack of easy access to their own healthcare history makes it nearly impossible. Informed patients advocating for themselves is better for healthcare providers too, who want to provide the best care they can, but are severely limited in their capabilities by the tools and time that they have. The app will integrate with medical portals as a patient-centered hub to curate, analyze, visualize and also share images, reports or aspects of their records with other providers or caregivers. We will utilize AI to analyze patient records and information to identify insights across previously siloed information, share preventative health suggestions, catalogue diagnostic test results, immunization records, a comprehensive list of prescriptions and surface insights to prepare for specialist appointments. It will enable patients to have the power of their medical records where they belong: in their own hands. Market: Our app will benefit people of all ages who have more than one medical provider, want agency and control over their own health information, and know that a complete picture of their health history will support and enable better health and care. Our first niche markets will be: 1. People living with chronic disease/illness (this population experiences extremely challenging circumstances with organizing, accessing and sharing records with providers, insurance providers (i.e., payers), disability providers and caregivers) 2. Parents managing their own healthcare and that of their children 3. People with chronic disease/illness 3. Seniors 4. Divorced or separated parents Additional use cases: 1. Anyone who has moved countries or states 2. Veterans adding private health care services to Tricare/VA 3. Students moving from their parents' healthcare to their own. Millenials and Gen Z demand greater agency, autonomy, organizations and convenience in their personal lives than prior generations. This app will enable them and all adults navigating the increasingly complex and secure medical records management world to utilize technology to realize this expectation and improve their overall outcomes. Competition: We have done extensive research on competition. There are merely two apps on the Apple Store that offer a way to manually collect and organize your health information. Neither provides direct access to patient portals, nor AI to analyze or integrate any of the insight. Apple Health has built an extensive personal health monitoring system into iPhones, which includes the ability to connect to some healthcare providers. However, the UX/UI is clunky and fixed; we suspect like the Weather app or others, it will have information and insights, but only the basics, not best in class. We want to be patient obsessed and purpose built: it is not enough to have static medical records on-demand, we believe patients should have the power of integrated, searchable records with data and insights immediately accessible and presented in a way that is intuitive and useful. Patients also need the ability to interact with the data and within the app, such as taking personal notes, integrating upcoming appointments with their calendar app or setting reminders that go beyond the out-of-the box solution. Value Creation: The documented physician shortage is expected to increase in the next decade, which is exacerbated by doctors leaving medicine due to red tape, and lower reimbursements, opting for career changes or early retirement. The burden is falling to nurses, NPs, PAs, and Artifical Intelligence, as well as increasing reliance on English as a Second Language providers to fill the gap. It is imperative that patients can better understand their medical history to advocate effectively for themselves and their loved ones. Further, providers feel the pressure to move patients through appointments more quickly, send patients for fewer tests and prescribe faster, while information security and piracy threats are ratcheting upwards. Patients do not need to become medical experts, but they do need to have tools to serve as expert advocates for their current and past medical history. They need a means to manage their personal medical data to ensure it does not get lost in a sea of portals, permissions and provider regulations. According to an NIH study, 88% of cases they studied involved ordering at least 1 unnecessary medical test for first day due to lack of information, with 72% of those tests having no impact on patient care or outcomes. This accounts for millions of dollars per year in wasted healthcare costs, not to mention patient mental and physical discomfort. Today, 6 in 10 Americans have a diagnosed chronic disease. The CDC predicts that for the population who are 50 years and older, the number with at least one chronic disease is estimated to double from 71.522 million in 2020 to 142.66 million by 2050. About 90% of the annual $4.1 trillion health care expenditure is attributed to managing and treating chronic diseases and mental health conditions. With chronic disease comes a gauntlet of providers and medical histories and sharing insights, but with human memory being highly unreliable, patients diagosed with chronic illness may miss an appointment, a prescription, or a prior diagnosis, which can further complicate thier cases. We believe we can cut a significant chunk out of wasted healthcare time and cost by ensuring patients know their data and information and have the tools to 'brief' their providers on their own health history. There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates patients who are more actively involved in their healthcare experience achieve much better outcomes and incur lower costs. The Patient Led Health Coalesce App is inspired by that achievable goal. The Team: Caroline Holt, MBA '26 Justin Ryan, MBA '26 Astrid Domenico, B.A. and Certificate in AI at UT Austin School Affiliation: Washington University Olin Business School Description: On-Demand tele-therapy for schools and institutions Problem: Schools struggle to support the mental well-being of their students in an impactful way, which negatively impacts institutional culture, safety, and long-term outcomes. The mental health crisis disproportionately affects youth, with an estimate of 1 in 7 being impacted by mental illness. While mental health and wellness has become a mainstream priority, urgent access to psychological care remains widely out of reach. Emergency rooms are struggling to meet the demand for pediatric mental health crises, and these patients may wait hours to days to receive acute therapeutic services. Solution: Subscription-based service for institutions providing urgent psychological care services via tele-health appointments from qualified mental health professionals. Complete with AI powered accessibility accommodations (including captioning, visit summaries, secure symptom logging & insight guidance). Market: The children's mental health department has reached $31 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6%. The daily cost of boarding patients in the ED is almost double that of inpatient care in 2024, from $993 to $1,856. TAM: $39.14 billion SAM: $14940.8 million SOM: $1494 million Competition: Current rapid-response tele-psychiatry services like Access TeleCare, Iris Telehealth, and FasPsych offer services to hospitals and outpatient clinics, not directly to students via their school and university. Non-emergency psychological service apps like BetterHelp and Headspace are frequently offered to students, but lack the intensive support of a qualified mental health professional appointment for acute needs. Crisis Care Connect connects students through their school, in order to meet students virtually wherever they are and with the level of care they need most. Value Creation: $7 billion of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding has been spent on mental health programs for schools since the pandemic. However, with federal funding rolling back on these initiatives, schools and universities will likely need to allocate funding to services that can decrease overall staffing needs and externalize mental health care. Our service will help schools to do this while improving the mental health outcomes of students across the US. The Team: Mackenzie Cappelle, MD/MBA Candidate 2026 School Affiliation: American University Description: FindMyClinicalTrial is a web-app platform that allows patients, families, and providers to search and enroll in clinical trials. Problem: FindMyClinicalTrial is helping patients and families navigate the clinical trial landscape, increase diverse participation in clinical trials, and bring more effective treatments to market. Solution: FindMyClinicalTrial does this with our intuitive AI powered website and application which allows for patients, family members, and providers to easily search, share, and enroll in clinical trials. Our Mayo clinic collaborated product improves user experience and only posts active and recruiting clinical trials. By working with advocacy partners, we have been able to engage over 4,000 users and post over 24k clinical trials is all 50 states. Market: We have two target customers: 1. Patients and Families: These are our users and the platform for them is free. 2. Industry (BioPharma): We work with biopharma companies to help promote their clinical trials and accelerate enrollment. Currently, it takes upwards of $200 million to start and finish clinical trials that would bring a drug to market. FindMyClinicalTrial seeks to lower those costs by increasing faster patient enrollment (a significant delay and expense in trials). Competition: Currently our competition is a government run website called This is the go-to website for finding clinical trials, however, it is outdated and not patient friendly. This site was designed for researchers and medical innovators. Our platform is patient centric and pulls all the data from the NIH, meaning we have the same amount of active and recruiting trials in the US. Value Creation: Clinical trials will always be a necessary step to bring new innovations and therapies to market. FindMyClinicalTrial seeks to partner with biopharma companies on a subscription basis to help promote ongoing research opportunities to our users. The Team: Killian Lozach – MBA Candidate, 2026 Javad Rajabi – MS in Computer Science and Machine Learning Genevieve Satzinger – BA in Computer Science, 2025 Emma Briggs – BA in Communications, May 2025 School Affiliation: Washington University Description: Health XR is developing mixed reality software for augmented reality headsets like Microsoft Hololense and Meta Orion that use LLMs and Computer Vision to assist dentists during their operations Problem: Health XR solves the pain point for dentists and medical doctors often being overwhelmed managing their day-to-day appointments. Dentists often face having to be the 'master of all,' when it comes to caring about individual patients and overseeing day-to-day operations. This can consist of anything from memorizing mental notes on each patient, to remembering which employees took an early vacation. The high intensity and essential work in the dentist clinic creates dozens of pain points that involve dentists being overwhelmed and requiring assistance with the millions of basic tasks they have to process at once. One oral surgeon we spoke with spends 5 to 10 hours writing notes a week. Health XR produces mixed-reality software that will use the audio and video recorded during the appointment to help their day-to-day operations, giving AI-powered real-time information to the physician to support their workflow. Solution: The service we will provide involves automated note-taking, and real-time information on patients' medical history and medications when viewing them with a headset on. We will use the data from the doctors looking at x-rays and performing the procedure and be able to AI to figure out scientific discoveries that were once product will be a business-to-business software subscription for the dentistry field that acts as an all-in-one assistance for dentists supplementing their busy work in the clinic. Dentists often are tasked with hours of busy work and memorizing that affects their ability to focus on their primary line of work, and Health XR will be able to mitigate many of these pain points. Health XR can revolutionize efficiency in the clinic and relieve many of the stressors dentists face daily, all while helping digitalize their workflow. The automated recordings will integrate directly with patient databases adding them to each patient file, and then dentists will have summarized data with key points right in front of them. Market: As a Software as a Service Company we would fall under the digital dentistry market, but serving the general diversity market as a whole. According to Grand View Research, the digital dentistry market was valued $6.8 Billion in 2023 and has a 9.9% CAGR through 2030. This represents digital software and equipment for end use by hospitals and dentist clinics, which would be the target market for our software. Fortune values the general dentist market size at $41.03 Billion in 2025 and $87.65 Billion by 2032, representing a 11.5% CAGR. As the population ages and grows dental work will continue to be a sizeable market represented by the strong growth, and technology will continue to advance to support it. Dentists and healthcare firms are always looking for ways to assist their practitioners and investments in digital dentistry are common to help advance the field. Health XR could also be considered a part of the Mixed Reality market which has a 45.34% CAGR from $5.87 Billion in 2025 to $38 Billion by 2030, proving to be one of the fastest-growing tech markets. Investments in companies like Meta and Apple, with Google's recent collaboration with Samsung demonstrate the direction the tech field is going as a whole with hardware AI and mixed reality. Competition: There are many AI note-taking apps for general practice like school, but there are none that integrate seamlessly with mixed reality headsets or that use imaging and Audio together. Startups like Suki AI and DeepScribe provide AI-powered note-taking but have a low-value proposition in that they are difficult to use and often don't work as intended. Devices like Plaude work well for AI notetaking but are more used in the office setting. Health XR is unique because it is trained on data tailored towards dentists and has the mixed reality aspect to improve their workflow. Our product used mixed reality to seamlessly act as glasses for the user while also recording data. Value Creation: The software is meant for dentists and Health XR was started by Dr. DeForest DDS. Dr. DeForest has worked with dentists in his practice, researchers, and students at the school where he works who have validated the value proposition. As a dentist myself I identified many pain points he and his coworkers faced, validating the need for Health XR's software. Through these customer discovery efforts. I have spoken with nearly 3 dozen dentists, students, and healthcare management teams that have helped validate the need for autonomous assistance in the clinic. They helped reinforce the pain points I have faced working in my clinic that dentists are overwhelmed and need an easy way to remember information. When pitching the idea to friends and colleagues of a headset that had video pass-through while adding virtual aid to the world around them, they were all on board and desperately desired a similar product in their minds. The Team: Dr. Aaron DeForest DDS, Christien Wong B.S. in Business and Computer Science 26′, Mark Schulist B.S in Computer Science and Mathematics 27′, Jasmine Sun B.S in Computer Science 27′, Elizabeth Kresock PhD in computer science School Affiliation: Wharton, Stanford, Washington University Olin Business School Description: Comprehensive and Innovative Blockchain-based healthcare financing and navigation solution Problem: More than one billion people in Africa lack health insurance, with coverage in many countries below 2%. This forces many individuals to rely on out-of-pocket payments for healthcare, often deterring them from seeking necessary care. In Ghana, healthcare access is particularly challenging due to the labor market structure, where 62% of all commercial enterprises are in the informal sector and account for 83% of the workforce as of 2023. This represents 35.8% ($84 billion) of Ghana's GDP PPP levels. Irregular and unpredictable income makes it difficult for many to afford private health insurance, as consistent premium payments are often unfeasible. Consequently, a significant portion of the population depends on out-of-pocket payments for medical care. For those unable to afford care at the time of illness, seeking treatment becomes a difficult choice. Many delay or forgo necessary care due to cost concerns, leading to delayed diagnoses, worsening health conditions, and preventable complications. This lack of financial security disproportionately impacts low-income individuals and rural communities, exacerbating existing health disparities. The absence of comprehensive social safety nets for informal workers further compounds the issue, leaving them vulnerable to unexpected medical expenses. Without affordable and sustainable healthcare financing options, individuals often seek care only in dire situations, when conditions have already deteriorated. This results in higher long-term healthcare costs and an increased disease burden on both individuals and the healthcare system. Addressing this issue requires innovative, locally tailored solutions to ensure affordable and equitable healthcare access across Africa. Solution: OneHealth+ offers a comprehensive and innovative solution to Ghana and Africa's healthcare accessibility challenges, particularly for individuals in the informal sector. Over the past two decades, mobile money systems like Kenya's M-Pesa and Ghana's MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) have revolutionized financial services for the unbanked, leveraging the widespread use of mobile phones. Building on this trend, OneHealth+ integrates a blockchain-based health credit system that enables individuals to save, manage, and use healthcare funds securely and transparently with a large network of approved healthcare providers. The platform allows users to contribute to health savings accounts when funds are available, ensuring access to medical care even during periods of uncertain income. This eliminates the need for out-of-pocket payments at the point of care and promotes better financial planning. Additionally, OneHealth+ enables secure transfer and utilization of healthcare remittances from loved ones in the diaspora, ensuring funds are used exclusively for medical expenses. With Ghana receiving $4.6 billion in remittances in 2023, and 20-30% estimated to go toward healthcare, OneHealth+ enhances transparency by allowing senders to track and verify how their remittances are spent. OneHealth+ also offers a flexible payment solution allowing employers to allocate health credits to employees instead of relying on unsustainable traditional insurance models. To enhance service delivery, OneHealth+ onboard healthcare providers such as hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centers, therapists, and ancillary services like spas and gyms, offering curated services for customers while streamlining the healthcare process. This makes healthcare more accessible, flexible, and transparent for individuals, families, and businesses. Market: We have identified three main target groups: informal sector workers needing solutions for planning and paying for healthcare, diasporans sending remittances for healthcare needs, and employers seeking alternatives to traditional health insurance. As of 2023, 83% of Ghana's workforce was employed in the informal sector, expanding at an average annual rate of 3.7%, outpacing formal employment growth of 2.6%. Given Ghana's predominantly agro-based economy, this trend is expected to persist, leaving many workers without access to traditional health insurance. At the same time, remittances to Ghana have consistently increased, rising from $4.29 billion (6.3% of GDP) in 2020 to $4.5 billion in 2021 and $4.7 billion in 2022, before experiencing a slight dip to $4.6 billion (6.1% of GDP) in 2023. Despite this fluctuation, remittances are expected to rebound, with approximately 20-30% of these funds also expected to be allocated to healthcare expenses. Additionally, a growing number of employers are dissatisfied with conventional health insurance models and are actively seeking alternative solutions, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly explore ways to provide healthcare benefits for their employees. These trends indicate a strong and expanding demand for innovative and flexible healthcare solutions tailored to these key market segments. Competition: Even though Ghana has other healthcare financing initiatives, such as Mutual Health Organizations, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), and private health insurance, none offer the flexibility and transparency that OneHealth+ provides. Traditional models face significant challenges, including low enrollment due to rising healthcare and operational costs. OneHealth+ differentiates itself through a user-led technology-driven approach to healthcare financing that ensures transparency, flexibility, and accessibility, particularly for individuals in the informal sector. Unlike conventional health insurance plans that require fixed premium payments, often unsustainable for workers with irregular income. OneHealth+ leverages blockchain technology to provide a healthcredit system. This allows users to save at their own pace and utilize funds only when needed. Another key differentiator is its accountability in healthcare remittances. Many individuals in the diaspora struggle to verify whether the funds they send for healthcare are used appropriately. OneHealth+ solves this by enabling direct contributions to a blockchain ledger-based dedicated health savings account for loved ones, ensuring that every dollar is spent exclusively on healthcare services. Additionally, OneHealth+ offers a flexible alternative for employers seeking to support their workers' healthcare needs. Unlike rigid employer-sponsored insurance plans, which can be too expensive for businesses employing informal or contract workers, OneHealth+ allows employers to allocate health credits, providing a cost-effective and adaptable solution. Beyond financing, OneHealth+ ensures recipients receive the care they need by connecting them with healthcare partners and assigning a patient navigator to guide them through their healthcare journey, providing seamless access to quality care. Value Creation: OneHealth+ generates revenue by facilitating healthcare payments and access across four key channels: uninsured informal sector workers, diasporans funding healthcare for loved ones, employers purchasing health credits for employees, and discounts from healthcare providers benefiting from increased patient volume and payments. With 83% of Ghana's workforce in the informal sector, OneHealth+ provides affordable, prepaid healthcare packages. If just 1% of the estimated 11 million informal workers enroll in a basic health package at an average cost of $10 per month, this segment alone could generate $13.2 million annually. Similarly, Ghana received $4.6 billion in remittances in 2023, with an estimated 20-30% allocated to healthcare. If OneHealth+ captures just 0.5% of these remitted healthcare funds through direct health purchases, it would generate approximately $11.5 million annually in transaction fees and administrative charges, providing diasporans with a secure and transparent way to fund healthcare. Employers also represent a significant revenue source, as many prefer purchasing flexible health credits over traditional insurance. If 5,000 SMEs enroll an average of 10 employees each, purchasing $500 worth of credits per employee annually, OneHealth+ would manage $25 million in healthcare funds, generating $2.5 million in revenue through transaction fees. Healthcare providers contribute to revenue by paying a 10% transaction fee on facilitated funds. If OneHealth+ enables $20 million in healthcare payments annually, this would generate an additional $2 million. This analysis does not include potential returns from investment vehicles and scaling to similar African countries, further strengthening long-term sustainability. The Team: The OneHealth+ team comprises professionals with expertise in healthcare, technology, and business. Chief Technology Officer Sandy Khaund specializes in blockchain applications and technology development. With experience at Microsoft and other Fortune 500 companies, he excels in strategic technology implementation. As a founder of multiple startups, he brings expertise in entrepreneurship and product development. He holds a B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Wharton. CEO Osei Boateng is a healthcare leader dedicated to expanding access to medical care in underserved communities. As the founder of OKB Hope Foundation, he has provided healthcare to over 10,000 individuals across 80+ rural communities. Recognized by CNN and EuroNews, he holds a B.S. in Human Biology and an MHA from Cornell University, along with an MBC from the University of Utah, excelling in healthcare strategy and business development. Chief Medical Officer Dr. William Effah is a physician with extensive experience in the healthcare landscape in Ghana, public health, and global health initiatives. His work with the CDC strengthens OneHealth+'s healthcare delivery model. As a lecturer at Washington University, he bridges clinical expertise with education. He is pursuing an EMBA at Olin Business School. Chief Operating Officer Joel Adu-Brimpong has expertise in health informatics honed at Cleveland Clinic. He holds an M.S. in Healthcare Informatics from the University of Michigan, and is pursuing an MBA at Stanford Business School. His expertise ensures that OneHealth+ remains patient-centered and technology-driven. School Affiliation: Washington University Olin Business School Description: A mental performance mobile platform for athletes Problem: There is a critical gap in college athletics with the resources provided for mental performance, with 78% of student-athletes feeling their programs fail to provide adequate resources for handling the psychological challenges of competition. Despite the increasing recognition of mental strength as a key factor in peak performance, only 65 out of 253 Division I athletic departments offer mental performance or health services. The existing support is severely limited, with an alarming ratio of one mental health professional for every 1,900 athletes, making personalized guidance nearly impossible. Additionally, the high cost of private sessions—averaging over $250 per hour—renders professional support inaccessible to many struggling athletes. Compounding the issue, 40% of athletes cite stigma and embarrassment as primary barriers to seeking help, further limiting their access to essential mental training resources. Solution: Our solution is to normalize mental performance training at every level of sport by democratizing access to sport psychology tools through technology. SPARC SPORTS is an AI-driven platform designed by elite sports psychologists and NCAA athletes to enhance focus, resilience, and mental toughness. Backed by cutting-edge research, SPARC acts as an on-the-go sports psychologist, delivering personalized training through interactive modules and real-time progress tracking. By making mental performance support accessible, affordable, and stigma-free, SPARC ensures that every athlete can train their mind as rigorously as they train their body. Market: These mental performance tools apply to executives, entrepreneurs, military, esports, and performers, tapping into the $13B+ mental wellness and performance industry, with the sports tech industry growing at 26%. Our specific target market is the 540,000 NCAA student athletes, where our market research has shown this problem is most significant. Competition: SPARC SPORTS is an AI-driven mental training platform that replicates the experience of working with a real sports psychologist through interactive exercises, structured video lessons, and personalized training modules. Unlike traditional mental health apps, which primarily focus on general well-being through passive meditation, SPARC is built specifically for athletes. It goes beyond audio-based guided meditation and visualization exercises offered by competitors like Calm, Champion's Mind, and Rewire Fitness. Instead, SPARC provides actionable, structured, and tangible training tools that allow athletes to actively develop focus, resilience, and mental toughness in real-time. Additionally, SPARC introduces a personalized scrollable feed providing real-time recommendations and continuous engagement. While the gold standard in mental performance remains working directly with a sports psychologist, their limited availability and high costs ($300+ per session) make them inaccessible to most athletes. SPARC is designed as an affordable, on-the-go solution that provides high-level mental performance training at a fraction of the cost. Value Creation: SPARC SPORTS is positioned for long-term sustainability through multiple revenue streams and measurable impact in the mental performance industry. The platform generates revenue through: B2B Licensing Model – Selling SPARC as a subscription-based platform to universities and athletic programs, allowing entire teams to benefit from structured mental training at scale. B2C Subscription Plans – Offering individual athletes affordable access to AI-driven training, interactive modules, and personalized content. Premium One-on-One Coaching – Enabling athletes to book live sessions with certified sports performance coaches. SPARC delivers measurable impact by improving mental health and mental performance, allowing everyone to bring out their best self. With a scalable tech-driven model, SPARC is not just another meditation app, it is the future of sports-specific mental training that actively enhances performance and well-being. The Team: Sergiu Celebidachi, MBA, 2025 School Affiliation: University of Virginia Darden School of Business Description: Wearable, multi-pack prescriptible rescue inhalers designed to help the up to 87% of respiratory disease patients who have experienced a potentially life-threatening flare-up without access to their medication, while saving up to $500 per unit Problem: Globally, 545 million people suffer from respiratory diseases, and up to 474 million have experienced a potentially life-threatening flare-up without access to their rescue inhaler. This inaccessibility poses a serious threat to patient safety, causing users to express a strong need for multiple inhalers to keep in various locations for emergencies. However, insurance policies often limit patients to a single inhaler per prescription, citing concerns about medical waste, leaving many unprotected in critical moments. For those seeking additional inhalers, out-of-pocket costs can reach up to $500 per unit, making them unaffordable for many. Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health highlights that social stigma associated with public inhaler use contributes to non-adherence, especially among younger populations. Compounding these issues, the environmental impact of U.S. inhaler prescriptions is severe, generating emissions equivalent to those of over 400,000 American homes annually. Solution: For 70 years, the rescue inhaler has looked the same, despite user frustrations over accessibility and usability. However, Métopi is revolutionizing the inhaler industry with the Portahaler, the world's first wearable, multi-pack prescriptible rescue inhaler, designed to attach seamlessly to a phone, wrist, keychain, or any object a user may find fit, ensuring they always have access to their rescue medication without a second thought. The Portahaler is smaller than a handheld eraser, making carrying a rescue inhaler non-invasive, ergonomic, and discreet. Each inhaler contains ~40 doses, allowing for a novel multi-pack prescription system of up to five units. This approach enhances user safety by enabling rescue inhaler placement in multiple locations, saving up to $500 per unit compared to traditional inhalers, and leveling the playing field no matter one's financial situation. It also minimizes environmental impact by allowing the tailoring of prescriptions to user needs (e.g., 40, 80, or 200 doses), discouraging overuse by the ~30% of users who currently overuse their inhalers, giving it the potential to significantly reduce emissions. Market: Worldwide, these 545 million respiratory disease sufferers drive a $38.4 billion inhaler market, projected to grow to $66.5 billion by 2030. Approximately half of this global market consists of the rescue inhaler market, valued at $15.5 billion and expected to reach $27.9 billion by 2030. In the U.S., the inhaler market currently stands at $14.2 billion, and its respective rescue inhaler market is around $6.4 billion. Initially delivering albuterol, a short-acting bronchodilator, the Porthaler is being designed for a market launch in the rescue inhaler segment. Albuterol prescriptions represent approximately 70% of all inhaler prescriptions, providing a strong strategic entry point into the market. In the U.S., prescription rates for albuterol have risen alongside the growing prevalence of respiratory diseases, increasing from 46 million in 2011 to 61.47 million in 2021, highlighting increasing demand. The Portahaler, however, is a platform delivery device, meaning it has the capabilities to deliver a variety of drugs and expand into the larger total inhaler market. Target customers include all sufferers, but specifically active individuals, who prioritize portability and comfort. Additionally, younger demographics are drawn to its sleek, customizable design, which blends functionality with aesthetics. These users could have a variety of respiratory conditions including, asthma, COPD, and acute infections like pneumonia or bronchitis. Once again, our prescription models allows for the tailoring of dose amounts to the duration of the condition, encouraging adoption for those with non-chronic infections. Competition: Our competition includes products like ProAir RespiClick by Teva, Ventolin by GSK, AirSupra by AstraZeneca, and various generics. For the past 7 decades, these companies have focused primarily on innovating the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) rather than the delivery device itself, such as AirSupra's recent combination formulation. However, despite its pharmacological innovation, AirSupra retains the traditional, bulky L-shaped inhaler design, offering no improvement in accessibility. At Métopi, we take a different approach by prioritizing the inherently faulty delivery method rather than just the API. While the efficacy of rescue inhaler drugs is undisputed, as inhaler users ourselves, we recognize a critical gap in how these life-saving devices are carried and accessed. Our focus stems directly from this shared experience within the inhaler-using community, where the most significant pain point communicated is not the drug's effectiveness, but the practicality of having it readily available at all times. This user-driven insight has guided the development of the Portahaler, a solution designed to ensure rescue medication is always within reach. As a result, the Portahaler will be the first compact, wearable rescue inhaler on the market significantly improving accessibility and safety. This assumption is backed up by the user and provider insights mentioned in the 'Solution' section, which is clear evidence our innovations directly address major patient pain points. When comparing costs, the Portahaler also provides significant advantages as well. It will cost $30-$60 for up to five units, compared to competitors like Airsupra who cost up to $470+ for just one additional unit, which limits safety for many users. The Portahaler's never-before-seen flexible dosing options (e.g., 40, 80, to 200 doses) will allow users to only purchase or be prescribed what they need, also helping to limit costs significantly. Additionally, by reducing overuse and over-prescription, less medication will be used, potentially providing insurance companies with significant long-term savings while improving patient outcomes. Compounding these benefits, by addressing overuse with its prescription model, the Portahaler will be the first respiratory treatment designed to directly reduce emissions from traditional inhalers and combat global warming. Value Creation: Métopi's business model ensures both financial sustainability and measurable social impact. By adopting a B2B2C licensing strategy, we plan to partner with an established pharmaceutical company once the Portahaler nears or achieves FDA approval. This approach allows us to focus on R&D and API expansion while leveraging our partner's infrastructure to accelerate market entry, minimize regulatory and commercial risk, and optimize distribution. From a financial perspective, similar licensing deals indicate strong revenue potential. Kaleo's $330 million licensing agreement with Sanofi for the Auvi-Q auto-injector in the U.S. and Canadian markets demonstrate the viability of this model. We anticipate a comparable deal structure for the Portahaler, including an upfront payment of 10-30% of the total deal value, milestone-based payments, and ongoing royalties of ~5%. The success of recent inhaler market entrants, such as Airsupra, which generated $28 million in sales within the first six months post-launch, underscores the potential for strong revenue generation. Beyond financial sustainability, the Portahaler delivers significant social and environmental impact. It directly addresses gaps in rescue inhaler accessibility, potentially reducing asthma-related deaths, which exceed 3,600 annually in the U.S., by ensuring patients always have access to life-saving medication. The device also offers financial relief, lowering monthly costs for users by improving accessibility and efficiency. Furthermore, the Portahaler is designed to reduce waste and emissions, contributing to environmental sustainability by minimizing inhaler overuse. This combination of financial viability, patient safety improvements, and environmental responsibility makes the Portahaler a compelling and scalable solution, ensuring long-term sustainability in the market. The Team: Our core team includes founders Miles Lanham and Rohan Bansal, along with executives Benjamin Joseph and Evan Burita. Miles Lanham – Biomedical Engineering, Class of 2027 Rohan Bansal – MBA, Class of 2024, specializing in life sciences Benjamin Joseph – Biology, Class of 2027 Evan Burita – Economics, Class of 2027 Although our advisors are not part of our core team and cannot pitch with us, they play a crucial role in our success and further validate our company's potential. Our advisory board includes Evan Edwards (co-inventor of the Auvi-Q), Jim Daniero (NIH-funded scientist and serial entrepreneur), Larry Borish (NIH-funded asthma researcher), and Blair Okita (life science process development and quality management expert). Their expertise is instrumental in guiding the Portahaler's development, commercialization, and regulatory strategy. School Affiliation: University of California, San Diego Description: We are developing a wearable ultrasonic imager for continuous, real-time and direct visualization of cardiac function assessment. Problem: Normal cardiac function is essential for the maintenance of systemic tissue perfusion throughout the body. Cardiovascular diseases impose a huge burden in terms of mortality, morbidity, disability, and healthcare costs, especially in the elderly. Cardiac function is dynamic, so continuous monitoring over an extended period is preferable to a single snapshot in time at the doctor's office for the assessment of long-term cardiovascular health, the clinical management of critically ill or perioperative patients, and the early detection of acute cardiac dysfunctions for inpatients and outpatients. Solution: Cardiac monitoring primarily targets heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen levels. Although these are useful parameters, they do not match the wealth of diagnostic value of direct imaging. Our approach is innovative because it will provide quantitative imaging with more abundant information than conventional measurements of curves and data points. A cardiac imager can reveal clinically important characteristics, such as cardiac chamber volume, myocardium structures, and ventricular ejection function, which are important for a wide range of general examinations. Market: The primary target market for the wearable ultrasound cardiac imager is the patients in intensive care units who require continuous hemodynamic and cardiac monitoring. This includes critically ill individuals with sepsis, acute heart failure, post-cardiac surgery recovery, and other cardiovascular complications. The total addressable market for the wearable cardiac ultrasound imager in ICU settings is substantial, given the high demand for continuous hemodynamic monitoring. Globally, an estimated 10–15 million patients are admitted to ICUs each year, with approximately 5 million in the U.S. and 3 million in Europe. Among ICU patients, 40–60% require cardiac monitoring, creating a direct market of 4–7.5 million patients annually. The broader critical care monitoring market, which includes devices such as pulmonary artery catheters and echocardiography systems, is projected to reach $5–7 billion by 2030. A wearable ultrasound imager that enables continuous, noninvasive cardiac assessment could capture 10–20% of this market, translating to a serviceable opportunity of $500 million to $1.5 billion. Expanding applications into perioperative care, emergency medicine, and outpatient monitoring could further increase the market potential. Competition: The wearable cardiac ultrasound imager is highly differentiated from existing competitors by offering continuous, noninvasive, and operator-independent cardiac monitoring, which is not achievable with current solutions. Traditional echocardiography, including transthoracic and transesophageal ultrasound, requires skilled operators, is intermittent, and lacks real-time continuous monitoring. Pulmonary artery catheters, while providing direct hemodynamic measurements, are invasive, carry procedural risks, and require ICU placement. Emerging wearable cardiac monitoring devices, such as electrocardiography-based patches and hemodynamic sensors, only offer indirect cardiac function assessment without imaging capability. Unlike these alternatives, the proposed wearable ultrasound imager provides direct visualization of cardiac structures and function in real time, allowing for immediate therapeutic adjustments and early detection of transient cardiac events, making it a transformational advancement in ICU and perioperative monitoring. Value Creation: The wearable cardiac ultrasound imager creates substantial clinical, economic, and societal value by enabling continuous, real-time cardiac monitoring in ICU settings, reducing reliance on intermittent imaging and invasive procedures. Its noninvasive, operator-independent design lowers healthcare costs by minimizing the need for skilled personnel, reducing ICU length of stay, and preventing complications from delayed cardiac assessments. From a revenue and profitability perspective, the device taps into the $5–7 billion ICU monitoring market, with potential expansion into perioperative care, emergency medicine, and outpatient cardiac monitoring, creating a scalable business model through direct hospital sales, subscription-based software analytics, and reimbursement-driven adoption. Social and environmental impact is also significant—early detection of hemodynamic instability improves patient outcomes and reduces mortality, while eliminating the need for disposable catheter-based monitors reduces medical waste, aligning with sustainable healthcare initiatives. The Team: Tom Park, PhD, 2026 Hao Huang, PhD, 2027 The post WashU Olin's BIG IdeaBounce: 13 Startups In The Business Of Health Compete For The $50K Top Prize appeared first on Poets&Quants.
