[July 29, 2015]

Healthbox Attracts a National Cohort of Innovative Healthcare Technology Companies to Chicago

Healthbox recently announced its newest class of Healthcare technology companies for its upcoming Chicago Studio launching on Wednesday, July 29^th in the new 1K Fulton Market in Chicago's West Loop. This will be Healthbox's fourth program in Chicago and fourteenth overall, where they have worked with 105 healthcare startups and invested in 85 to date. Since its inception in Chicago in 2012, Healthbox has contributed to a boom in the healthcare entrepreneurial movement in Illinois. Currently, Illinois ranks as the seventh most active state in healthcare venture capital activity and value from 2014 to present.^1,2,3 "Healthbox is honored to play an active role in further stimulating the local ecosystem and driving entrepreneurial innovation in Illinois," said Healthbox founder and CEO, Nina Nashif. "The region has a strong healthcare footprint that has been untapped and our goal is to continue to curate a network that encourages entrepreneurs to build their businesses here."

One standout in the local boom is SwipeSense, a Healthbox portfolio company based in Chicago, which raised a Series B Round of $9.7M earlier this year. "Healthbox has been a critical platform for Chicago-based startups and beyond," said Mert Iseri, CEO of SwipeSense. "It enabled us to rapidly test our business model and access the right players in the market to build a successful business."

The upcoming Chicago cohort is made up of ten companies from around the country that were selected from over 120 applicants via a rigorous selection process in collaboration with Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC) and Edward-Elmhurst Healthcare. This cohort will also include an employee innovation, Guardian Health Technologies, from Rush University Medical Center, with the goal of Healthbox supporting the creation of a commercial business plan to accelerate growth.

"We are excited to continue to attract innovative companies to Chicago," says Maria Siambekos, Vice President at Healthbox. "We look forward to working with a strong class of seasoned and proven entrepreneurs that need our help to rapidly scale their businesses."

Overview of the 2015 Chicago Studio Cohort

Admetsys has developed a novel artificial pancreas for hospital and surgical care that improves health outcomes and health economics through high-tech automation.

GreenLight Medical is a cloud-based platform to facilitate online collaboration between hospital staff and medical technology professionals for the review, approval, and purchase of new medical technology.