Award-Winning Entrepreneur Program to Help Transform the 20thCentury Industrial Hub into a 21stCentury Innovation Ecosystem
Flint, Michigan – XLerateHealth (XLH), a Louisville-based healthcare technology accelerator, announced today the opening of XLH’s new location in the Ferris Wheel Building in Flint. XLH Flint is funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and 100K Ideas. The move to Flint was spurred by Phil Hagerman, CEO of Skypoint Ventures and co-founder of 100K Ideas, who has made significant investments into Flint to build an innovation economy.
The first XLH Flint startup cohort will kick off their bootcamp program on Tuesday, July 9th with an open house event from 5-7 pm at the Ferris Wheel building, see more detail here.
Once a cradle for the birth of the automobile industry and a 20thCentury industrial powerhouse, Flint is rapidly evolving to becomethe center of an exciting 21st Century startup ecosystem.Business leaders and community partners are bolstering local innovation by helping to build a regional concentration of innovation activities and attracting talent to theGenesee Countyregion.
“It is an extremely exciting time here in Flint and we are proud to bring a nationally recognized accelerator to our region,” said Hagerman. “XLerateHealth has an excellent track record of helping promising startups commercialize and will bring a deep bench of national healthcare and business experts to our community to grow our innovation capabilities.”
XLH is an SBA award-winning program that has a wealth of experience commercializing healthcare companies including digital health, healthcare services, and those with life sciences and biomedical innovations. Through its flagship 12-week bootcamp, XLH connects startups with clinical, academic and business leaders who have the expertise to help entrepreneurs think through all aspects of commercialization including FDA and reimbursement strategies, potential customers/pilots, as well as funding needs. The organization engages a national network of world-class mentors from across the healthcare arena.
XLH has worked with over 60 startups since its inception in 2013 and 88% of these companies are still operational. XLH bootcamp and intersession companies have raised over $35 million and its affiliate companies have raised over $500 million.
“We are so excited to bring the XLH program to Flint,” said Jackie Willmot, CEO and Co-founder of XLH. “The Flint/Genesee County area is primed to support entrepreneurs – organizations are willing to work side-by-side with innovators, there is support from local government, from the VC and angel investor ecosystem, and a wealth of talent and resources from local universities including The University of Michigan-Flint.”
Several XLH portfolio companies have commercialized products and grown their client base. For example, Toggle Health, a healthcare technology company that delivers a breakthrough surgical user experience in the operating room, and Astarte Medical, the only precision medicine company using software and predictive analytics to improve premature infant outcomes. Astarte just raised a $5 million Series A.
Jake Miller, CEO and founder of Louisville-based Toggle Health, was one of the first entrepreneurs to do customer discovery interviews with Flint health systems and is also a mentor for XLH Flint.
“Participating in XLH has been great external validation and helped us to gain access to other national-level programs at MassChallenge, MD Anderson, Texas A&M Ventures and the American Hospital Association” said Miller. “We are currently one of five companies pitching to the top three pediatric hospitals on the West Coast in a competition in Seattle. XLH helped to make all of this possible. Flint has great health systems and incredible public sector support for entrepreneurs and is a perfect fit for the expansion of this program.”
About XLerateHealth:
XLerateHealth is enterprise-focused early stage healthcare accelerator that helps companies build out their commercialization strategy. The XLH flagship bootcamp is a 12-week program that culminates in a showcase “Demo Day” where healthcare ecosystem partners, the regional start-up community, and potential investors hear company presentations. XLH has a history of driving positive impact on the local communities it serves – to date, XLH bootcamp/intersession portfolio companies have collectively raised $35M and have created 250+ jobs. XLH affiliate companies have raised over $500 million. XLH recently received the National Institute of Health’s STTR award to create a Regional Technology Transfer Accelerator Hub in the Southeast IDeA States (AR, MI, LA, KY, WV, KY) and Puerto Rico, which includes 24 universities, further expanding the organization’s network of resources.
