The Digital Health Breakthrough Network opened rolling applications for its fall 2017 class of health tech startups for selection in October. The class tests and stresses applicants’ digital health technologies through pilot studies with patients and clinical partners based in New York City with the goal of improving products being brought to market.
Digital Health Breakthrough Network is an NYCEDEC–HITLAB partnership designed to foster innovation in NYC’s healthcare industry, creating jobs for the over 500,000 healthcare workers in the city by accelerating the growth of early-stage health tech startups. HITLAB takes the newest healthcare technologies from applicants and implements them within their network members to simulate usage in a broad market, helping attract early investors and customers, test and stress prototypes, and generate meaningful data.
The Network already has several successful classes and startups, including Mayur Saxena and his company Droice Labs. Droice Labs is a member of the Digital Health Breakthrough Network’s Spring 2017 class, and Saxena spoke about the experience on the class’ website, saying, “Having a well-connected partner is very useful. HITLAB does a lot of due diligence on companies selected to join the network, which lends us additional credibility. It helps a lot in this space.”
Applications are open to all pre-Series A or pre-revenue early-stage startups having a digital healthcare technology that solves a significant need in the health marketplace, with over 50% of their full-time employees working in Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island, or Manhattan.
