The developers behind a novel at-home diagnostic wearable device for patients with diabetes took home the top prize at one of the most prestigious annual pitch competitions held by Carnegie Mellon Univeristy's Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship.
CMU graduate students and D.Sole founders Saisri Akondi, Zilin Zhang, Je-han Yang and Dina Kaganer received a $25,000 SAFE investment as part of their the first place finish in the McGinnis Venture Competition, which held an awards ceremony Tuesday night following a day-long event of pitches from over a dozen teams.
With the use of its wearable device and its app platform, D.Sole is looking to offer diabetic patients early diagnosis and monitoring for diabetic peripheral neuropathy via its artificial intelligence-powered foot analysis report and the information it is able to gather about appropriate foot care. Data from the wearable device can also inform the app's ability to make analyses and suggestions for possible treatment.
"It was an incredibly tough decision for our judges, there was a lot of great debate around the table," Dave Mawhinney, executive director of the Swartz Center, said. "All 84 of the participants in the program just did an amazing job, it was a great learning experience and a great opportunity to think about the possibilities of what it's like to be your own boss. And we're very, very excited about all of you, all of the winners, all of the participants."
Second-place went to Edulis Therapeutics, makers behind a localized drug delivery system for chron's disease. Founders Spencer Matonis and Vladimir Lamm received a $15,000 SAFE investment as a result.
The judges awarded a $10,000 SAFE investment each to the two third-place finishers that tied this year: ReRoad Robotics, a road scanning and pavement maintenance startup, and Right One, makers of a job sourcing platform based on a generative AI model.
An endowment from Gerald E. McGinnis, founder of Respironics, helps to fund the annual competition, which also offers up to $6,500 in investment awards to undergraduate students. Clutch Car Management and ScOAPe received investments due to their placement in the undergraduate track.
Last year, a local video game asset purchasing platform for blockchain-based games called NiFTy received the first-place finish in the competition.
