Georgia Tech’s Flashpoint works closely with founders to enable them to think clearly about their businesses. It is unique in implementing startup engineering, a business creation and innovation process developed by its Director, Dr. Merrick Furst. The Flashpoint team is led by Dr. Furst and is supported by James Coleman and rock star intern Amreeta Duttchoudhury (check out our scoop on her here). Over the past 6 months, a solid group of teams have been working their way through the customer discovery process and on March 31st, they’ll be presenting at Flashpoint Demo Day. Here’s a little taste of some of the companies that’ll be in the house.
Florence Healthcare
Please tell us a little about your company and its founders:
We’re a team of document management and healthcare experts out to change the way new drugs are brought to market.
Andres Garcia
Expertise: Security and document management.
Experience: VMWare, AIrwatch, AGCO, MS Computer Science.
Favorite waiting room magazine: Highlights
Ryan Jones
Expertise: Search and document management.
Experience: Pubget Inc, Microsoft, BCG. MBA.
Favorite waiting room magazine: Us Weekly
Mike Kassin
Expertise: Healthcare workflows.
Experience: MD, Emory.
Favorite waiting room magazine: Guns and Ammo
What problem are you addressing?:
Two brand new, interlocking problems have overwhelmed the $33 billion clinical trial industry. First, following new federal regulations, pharmaceutical companies are forcing trial sites to implement remote data monitoring, which means that hospitals, clinics, and investigators are now responsible for sending huge volumes of data offsite. Second, hospitals and clinics are rapidly adopting a patchwork of health-IT systems, which are not designed to accommodate extracting data for trials. The result is a “data gridlock” that consumes an enormous amount of medical professional’s time, prevents doctors from taking on new trials, and slows existing trials to a halt.
For whom?:
There are 10,000 trial sites and 20,000 trials going on each year. Approximately $10B of the $33B spent on trials annually goes into documentation and monitoring.
How does Atlanta weave into your story?:
We’re applying document management techniques that originated in financial services to clinical trials—to help accelerate cures for disease. Atlanta has been a leader in both fintech and health IT, so the fit there is obvious.
The fact that the CDC and Emory Medical School are in our backyard makes this an even better market to start a business like ours.
Acivilate
Please tell us a little about your company and its founders:
With an aerospace engineering degree from the UK, an MBA from Emory’s Goizueta School of Business, and a résumé that includes senior positions in leading technology companies, Louise Wasilewski made the bold choice to found a startup focused on empowering people who need a hand up.
What problem are you addressing? For whom?:
Acivilate was built to help people who have been incarcerated, been in foster care, or otherwise become clients of social services, to seize the chance to improve their lives. People in these situations find themselves caught in a bureaucratic tangle of overlapping rules, requirements, and documentation. The social workers, probation officers, nurses, and others who implement these programs are stuck in the same mess. The result isan inefficient, ineffective system that wastes taxpayer dollars and private contributions.
Through hundreds of interviews, Acivilate has been mapping the public/private service landscape. The goal is a kind of ‘Google Maps’ of the social services world.
Follow Acivilate on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acivilate
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/acivilate-inc
