This spring, VentureWell Senior Program Officer for Health Commercialization Brenna O’Riordan had the opportunity to spotlight two VentureWell Accelerator alumni companies and one of the ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub’s Sprint for Women’s Health performers at the Digital Health Innovation Summit in Boston, Massachusetts. Digital health startups face complex challenges as they transition to market, navigating significant technological and investment shifts that prompt new questions about reimbursement challenges, the implications of artificial intelligence advancements, and integrated wearable devices.
“At VentureWell, we work with the innovation ecosystem to encourage deep learning early in the commercialization cycle, and share it to build a healthier future,” said O’Riordan. “Hearing our panelists share how VentureWell mentorship has shaped their journey underscored what it takes for health entrepreneurs to adapt and succeed in today’s landscape.”
Meet the Panelists
Kevin Jackson, chief operating officer: AlgometRx is commercializing a device that objectively assesses and characterizes pain, enabling a fundamental paradigm shift in analgesic prescribing. The device was invented in Julia Finkel’s lab at Children’s National Hospital, which has been awarded $8.1 million as a performer for the ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health. The sprint is managed by VentureWell through the Investor Catalyst Hub.
Joscelyn Kelly, vice president of Operations: Lura Health created a preventative health monitoring device powered by saliva to continually monitor chronic conditions. Lura Health’s founders participated in the E-Team Program and Aspire, both part of the VentureWell Accelerator. Lura Health is currently collaborating with Colgate to explore the benefits of Lura’s technology through the SMILE Health accelerator.
Stefanie Modri, co-founder: VasoWatch created a biomarker for postpartum hemorrhage, enabling a 60% incident reduction. It completed the Ascend Medtech program in 2023 and is a member of the Investor Catalyst Hub. VasoWatch recently pitched at the 2025 Startup World Cup.
Five Tips for Healthtech Innovators
During the panel, these VentureWell alums identified common commercialization challenges. Hear their advice on how to navigate those hurdles and learn how VentureWell programs can help prepare entrepreneurs to succeed in the changing digital health landscape.
1. Translate your clinical expertise to business credibility.
You may be a technical expert, as a health innovator, you also need to showcase your business acumen to build investors’ trust. Consider how to frame your clinical language and data to communicate your product’s potential to a broader funding audience.
“With technology for postpartum hemorrhage, I try to get investors to care about something that may never have happened to them. I have to navigate the way the story is delivered. I wear many hats and show that I have enough clinical expertise and business experience for partners to buy in.”—Stefanie Modri, Vasowatch
How we can help: Our Ascend Medtech program helps teams bridge the gap from customer discovery to commercial launch by refining their business model and getting investor-ready.
2. Find your “Goldilocks” partner.
Big names may be tempting, but startups can get swept up in the priorities of larger companies. It’s important to find the right-sized partner based on your company’s stage of development to maintain your vision and impact for patients.
“On the one hand, you want a partner that has the clout, distribution, and scale to make you successful in the market. On the other hand, when a partner is too big, it can be harder to navigate conversations about what features should be prioritized in the product. As a company, we need to think beyond this immediate partner and consider what would be best in the long term for as many patients as possible.”—Joscelyn Kelly, Lura Health
How we can help: Our Aspire Medtech program prepares your startup for investor engagement with the goal of setting you up for success in raising equity investment.
3. Don’t sleep on financial viability data.
To bring life-saving technology to patients, your solution has to be marketable. Generating evidence—from dollars saved by the U.S. health system to specific articulation of value to the customer—is the driving force for adoption, regulatory approvals, and reimbursement.
“You have great clinical data that may convince some scientists and some physicians, but how do you generate data that will convince the payers and buyers that this technology is improving care and saving money along the way? We’re developing a device that will ultimately be reimbursed, so health economics data is critical. Without data, you don’t have a product or business at all. That was something mentorship helped us identify and has been fundamental in how we’ve developed since then.”—Kevin Jackson, AlgometRx
How we can help: The Investor Catalyst Hub helps ARPA-H performers navigate the regulatory and reimbursement processes and provides resources to bring game-changing solutions to market.
4. Shift your storytelling from the big picture to the downstream reality for investors.
When your startup graduates from research and development in the lab and enters the world of commercializing a product, your pitch strategy needs to evolve with it.
“In the beginning, the storytelling is focused on the vision, but as we start to get out of the lab and closer to market, we need to translate that to traction, revenue, and data. We try to draw a clear line in all of our pitches between the tech and how that translates to distribution and validation.”—Joscelyn Kelly, Lura Health
How we can help: Aspire Medtech and the Investor Catalyst Hub pair founders with investor-mentors to pressure-test their fundraising strategy, simulate the due diligence process, and build the deal-room materials they’ll actually use in meetings.
5. Zero in on your market objectives.
The early discovery phase offers various possibilities to pursue, but once your product starts down the commercialization pathway, it’s time to focus your attention on market objectives.
“As a spin-out startup, you see this mountain ahead of you of the things you need to do to get to commercialization. Often innovators think, ‘if I don’t do this we won’t make it,’ but it’s okay to prioritize; it won’t sacrifice the business. You have a limited amount of time and funding, so it’s important to know what to prioritize and when—especially coming from an academic environment, when your objectives may be different from those on a commercialization pathway.”—Kevin Jackson, AlgometRx
How we can help: The Investor Catalyst Hub works with ARPA-H performers to achieve commercialization inflection points, ensuring that they move toward impact and don’t just continue to iterate on the technology.
If your healthtech institution wants to join a network working to accelerate the commercialization of medical breakthroughs, apply to be an Investor Catalyst Hub spoke.
If you’re a student innovator, entrepreneur, or startup, explore the VentureWell Accelerator suite of programs to get access to immersive learning, mentorship, industry experts, and network-building opportunities.
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