Jumpstart launches Health:Further conference
Nashville business accelerator Jumpstart Foundry is transforming its "Investor Day" pitch event into a two-day health care innovation conference called Health:Further.
Investor Day has traditionally served as the culmination of the 14-week summer program for startups. Founders of graduating companies showcase their business models to a large crowd that includes the city's venture capital and angel investors in hopes of attracting funding and gaining awareness. The pitch session now will be one component of the larger Health:Further conference targeting established health care companies, start-ups and investors.
"We are incredibly excited to bring together diverse people from around the country to cross pollinate ideas and use innovation to make health care better for patients, families, doctors, employers, and payors," Jumpstart CEO and founder Vic Gatto.
Health:Further is Jumpstart's latest effort to bolster its position as a leading health care accelerator. Last year, its founders announced it would narrow its focus exclusively to health care companies and increase funding for participating start-ups to $100,000, up from $15,000.
As Jumpstart has developed over the past six years, so have the Investor Day crowds. More than 1,000 people attended last year when it was held at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, underlining the local support for the city's startup community and the latest crop of companies.
Health:Further, scheduled for Aug. 19 and 20 at the Omni Nashville Hotel, will include sessions featuring industry experts and investors and will focus on innovation within tech, business models and startups. The event also will highlight Jumpstart graduate companies and include an exhibition on new health care technologies.
Nashville Entrepreneur Center, the Nashville Health Care Council and the Nashville Technology Council have each signed on as marketing partners.
"During this time of rapid change in our health care industry, our members are focused on developing new innovations and bringing better outcomes to patients," said Caroline Young, president of the health care council. "Health:Further will offer a one-of-a-kind opportunity to show off these cutting-edge trends, as well as see technologies emerging from the entrepreneurial community."
Among the most striking differences in this event is the price tag. Since its inception, Investor Day has been free, which meant that aspiring entrepreneurs could get a feel for the city's startup culture or find inspiration in the teams pitching. Now, that experience will cost them $195 for an early bird ticket, or upwards of $250 if they wait, which is not a small fee for an entrepreneur-in-the-making.
Jumpstart President Marcus Whitney said the scale and caliber of the event warrants the cost, and with so many other pitch events coming out of the Entrepreneur Center and new startup events in Nashville, the students and the merely curious populations have other, less expensive options.
"We are making a pretty strong move into health care and we're positioning pretty agressively as a health care innovation platform," he said. "To do that, we need to provide something that's of more value... This is going to be more beneficial for our graduates."
Reach Jamie McGee at 615-259-8071 and on Twitter @JamieMcGee_.
Jumpstart Foundry's Health:Further
When: Aug. 19, 20
Where: Omni Nashville Hotel
What: The two-day conference will include sessions featuring health care experts and investors sharing ideas technology, business models and start-ups. The event also includes an exhibit of new health care technology and a pitch event for Jumpstart companies.
For more information, visit http://HealthFurther.com.