Ten startups selected to participate in accelerator addressing the maternal mortality crisis in the U.S.
March 12, 2024, CHICAGO — MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub, alongside Health Care Service Corporation, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, BayCare, Parkview Health, University of Chicago Medicine, Organon and Stryker has selected 10 startups for the second cohort of 51 Labs focused on preventing maternal mortality in the U.S. before, during and after birth.
Last year, MATTER launched the second iteration of the 51 Labs accelerator along with dedicated partners spanning industry, academia and health systems. From a pool of 70 applicants representing 21 states, a review panel of subject matter experts and industry leaders selected the cohort of 10 cutting-edge startups — Armor Medical, BAKS Medical, BioticsAI, Ciconia Medical, Elythea, Expect Fitness, Malama Health, NUA Surgical, Partum Health and Vasowatch.
The cohort will take part in a virtual, 12-week accelerator featuring one-on-one mentoring with industry experts, workshops, interactive roundtable discussions, forums and more. On May 22, 2024, the program will culminate in a live showcase bolstered by perspectives throughout the women’s health community. Learn more about the final showcase and register to attend here.
Learn more about the startups:
Armor Medical — St. Louis, Missouri
Armor Medical is a woman-owned, woman-led med tech company founded to catalyze innovation in women’s health. They are bringing to market the first commercial product to address the urgent demand for an objective, real-time early warning system for obstetric hemorrhage. This innovative solution is the first in a pipeline of technologies that protect and empower women’s health.
BAKS Medical — Chicago, Illinois
BAKS Medical, founded by two medical students with expertise in business and engineering, is on a mission to revolutionize maternal healthcare. Their primary objective is to provide an innovative medical device that effectively addresses postpartum hemorrhage in low-resource settings, underscoring their commitment to advancing women’s health worldwide.
BioticsAI — Oakland, California
BioticsAI uses AI to provide a 10x improvement in fetal abnormality detection in ultrasound. They aim to erase the 50 percent misdiagnosis rate currently faced by patients with fetal malformations through the use of their computer vision technology.
Ciconia Medical — San Diego, California
Ciconia Medical is introducing the first medical device revolutionizing vaginal exams during labor, currently done by fingers. Their AI-powered imaging probe standardizes data collection and interpretation of labor progress while eliminating pain for laboring patients.
Elythea — San Jose, California
Elythea uses machine learning to detect risk of life-threatening maternal complications as soon as the first prenatal visit. At-risk moms receive proactive social determinants of health support and specialist telehealth services to prevent their complications from ever happening.
Expect Fitness — New York, New York
Expect saves lives and slashes healthcare costs with the most cost-effective weapon against maternal mortality and complications: pre- and post-natal fitness. Expect is streaming fitness crafted by an MTV veteran and is the only platform where every workout is approved by OB-GYNs.
Malama Health — San Francisco, California
Malama Health’s tech-enabled care solution enables remote monitoring of patients with high-risk perinatal conditions. Through its patient-facing app, gamified tracking and EHR-integrated provider portal, Malama users have a 21 percent lower NICU admission rate and 40 percent lower preterm birth rate as compared to other high-risk populations.
NUA Surgical — Galway, Ireland
NUA Surgical is an award-winning Irish startup that strives to reduce the risk of maternal complications following cesarean delivery through their patented technology. The company has developed the SteriCISION C-section Retractor, ergonomically designed to improve access and visualization to the uterus, reduce the risk of wound trauma and facilitate a safer surgery. The experienced founding team of Barry McCann, Padraig Maher and Marie-Therese Maher is bolstered with the recent appointment of Dr. Elizabeth Garner, global women’s health thought leader, as their board chair.
Partum Health — Chicago, Illinois
Partum Health is a hybrid clinic founded to elevate care and improve outcomes for women and families by delivering the best of online and offline support through the fertility, pregnancy, birth and postpartum journey. Partum focuses on wraparound specialty services that are often lacking in typical maternity care, including behavioral health, lactation, nutrition, physical therapy and birth and postpartum doula care. Together this support prevents and addresses many incredibly common complications and avoidable costs of the perinatal period while ensuring families experience better health, more joy and less stress as they grow.
Vasowatch — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vasowatch is developing clinical decision support technology to improve the birthing experience for better maternal outcomes. Their initial product is a novel labor and delivery technology that provides continuous monitoring of a mother’s risk for postpartum hemorrhage, excessive blood loss after childbirth, the leading cause of maternal deaths and complications globally. We provide up to 10x greater predictive accuracy hours ahead of delivery, saving lives and averting complications.
About MATTER
At MATTER, we believe collaboration is the best way to improve healthcare. The MATTER collaborative includes more than 900 current and alumni startups from around the world, working together with dozens of hospitals and health systems, universities and industry-leading companies to build the future of healthcare. Together we are accelerating innovation, advancing care and improving lives. For more information, visit matter.health and follow @MATTERhealth.
