Regarding Cara Health. I was informed that the name “Cara” means “kind” or “friend” in Gaelic, a reflection of the way that patients perceive the personal touch of Cara’s human phone calls vs. the automated calls or messages of its competitors. I was also informed that Cara forgot to put the ask in the presentation, but that it is seeking $1.2 million and has already had $300,000 committed, which probably means it will launch a US pilot soon if it hasn’t already. Anybody know of Cara pilots in the US? Also, I’d love to see the money used to hire a salesperson, preferably one with US healthcare experience.

Regarding the high amounts of money Healthbox companies are seeking, I was reminded of a non-dilution clause that Healthbox has in its contract with companies. When Healthbox invests and takes 7% equity, Healthbox shares are not diluted until companies raise $1 million or more. Strategically, companies want to hit $1 million so Healthbox gets diluted with the founders. That explains why most of the Healthbox companies were looking for investments of $1 million or more, numbers I think are too high given the stage of the companies. I knew about the clause, but somehow forgot and didn’t put together that it was the reason for the high capital needs. I’m curious — do other incubators have these non-dilution clauses?

The event was hosted at a theater / meeting space that was rather nice, much nicer than the facilities for Blueprint’s demo day, according to an investor that I spoke with who attended both. The show opened with Jonathan Mann playing “The Healthbox Song” that he had written. It was a nice touch.

Healthbox Song from HISTalk Mobile on Vimeo.

I wasn’t in New York last week, but the event was covered in several articles (here, here, here, and here — the last one is the best summary.) I also spoke with Brad Weinberg MD, a founder and partner at Blueprint, about the experience of the first Blueprint class. He was happy with how well the companies did at securing pilots and funding, both big milestones after only three months. In reading the summaries and progress of each company, I’m also impressed with how far most of them got.

Patient Communicator.

StartupHealth took a different approach from the health-specific incubators Rock Health, Healthbox, and Blueprint Health. Whereas the incubators provide seed capital and require 3-5 months of intensive work to build a prototype and presentation for investors, StartupHealth is a three-year program that offers no seed capital. Instead of calling itself an incubator, it is calling itself an Academy, specifically The Academy for Health and Wellness Entrepreneurship. Also, StartupHealth seems to enroll individuals directly and not companies.

If not capital and free workspace, what do you get if you are selected to be a part of StartupHealth? StartupHealth provides ongoing support through access to peers, coaches, mentors, funders, customers, and anything else you need to grow a business in healthcare. The list of mentors and speakers is an impressive one, with representatives from lots of funds, HHS (I think Todd Park’s profile needs to be updated to CTO of the US, not HHS), and the VA. Participants have video conferences monthly, in-person meetings quarterly, and demo days to showcase products to potential investors and customers.