Mayo Clinic announced today a new collaboration with Techstars to offer the Techstars++ program. The Techstars++ program will bring together health care entrepreneurs and companies with Mayo Clinic to find innovative solutions to improve patient care at an accelerated pace. Mayo Clinic is the first to participate in this new program.
Techstars is a mentorship-driven accelerator program with a track record of helping to develop businesses, especially technology startups. The Techstars++ program offers companies from the Techstars portfolio of 500 alumni companies the opportunity to extend their Techstars experience by spending time on-site and engaging deeply with a corporation/organization - Mayo Clinic in this initial program.
"This is a new approach for Mayo Clinic, and the potential of this collaboration to improve care for our patients is exciting," says Clark Otley, M.D., medical director for Mayo Clinic Ventures and a Mayo Clinic dermatologist.
The new Techstars++ program was designed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic Treasury Services, Mayo Clinic Ventures and Techstars. Mayo Clinic will work with Techstars to select up to four companies at any given time that will be invited to spend two weeks on-site at Mayo Clinic, with an option to extend the stay for up to four additional weeks. During this time, Mayo Clinic and the selected companies will explore business development opportunities around health care delivery and clinical problems. A full-time Techstars program director will work on-site at the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator in Rochester, Minnesota, and will work closely with Mayo Clinic, local entrepreneurs and the companies to help maximize the opportunity.
"We are looking to attack some of the biggest challenges facing the industry today," says Jim Rogers, chair of Mayo Clinic Ventures. Rogers noted that digital health holds promise for increased patient engagement, decreased costs and better outcomes. "Techstars' extensive network and business expertise, coupled with Mayo's clinical expertise, holds the potential to be a very potent collaboration," he says.
Mayo Clinic will be exposed to some of the most innovative early stage companies and technologies in healthcare, including some from the Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator, powered by Techstars. Companies that participate in the Techstars++ and Mayo Clinic program will receive hands-on mentorship and business development opportunities from Mayo Clinic's extensive and world-class network of physicians, scientists and researchers. At no charge, they will work from the Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator at Mayo Clinic's headquarters.
"This is a new program that leverages Mayo's expertise to provide new business opportunities to post accelerator program entrepreneurs in the healthcare space," says David Cohen, managing partner and founder of Techstars. "It's a win-win. Mayo gains insight from some of the most innovative companies in healthcare while those companies are exposed to top medical professionals who are making a real impact on the healthcare industry."
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