What types of companies does the program look for?
We are interested in technologies that can positively impact clinical care delivery, improve the consumer experience around healthcare, streamline inefficiencies for providers and staff, and improve the business side of care delivery.
Digital health and medical devices comprise the core of our classes, but we’re very interested in companies pushing the envelope across nearly all aspects of care delivery, finance and management.
More specifically, we look for companies trying to commercialize into the provider system. Our sweet spot is with companies whose core business model is business to business – companies that have a product and are seeking clinical validation, building a business model and constructing an enterprise sales strategy.
Through our program, we aim to find and nurture solutions that can help improve health and healthcare delivery—but we recognize that those don’t always come from within the healthcare space. Companies from outside the traditional healthcare industry often provide provocative and exciting new perspectives that can lead to innovation and market opportunity.
Our program is not built to support deep biotech, pharmaceutical products, molecular development, or generalized wellness and fitness that are sold direct to consumer. While we have successfully worked with medical device companies, typically, we are more aligned with Class I or II devices rather than Class III or IV. We’re also looking for companies that already have a product and full-time founders, so we do not accept companies that are still in the idea stage or that have part-time founders.
What is the right stage of company for this program?
Cedars-Sinai Accelerator can be a good fit for companies across the startup spectrum. Our alumni have been across a wide range of stages, from functional prototypes to established commercially deployed products. While most of our companies already have a product and some traction, we have worked with very early stage companies who are pre-product (prototype) as well as those with established recurring revenues.
Funding also varies widely. While our companies, prior to joining our program, have raised anywhere from a few thousand dollars in seed stage investments to over ten million dollars in Series A funding, the midpoint is typically between $300,000 to $3,000,000.
Ultimately, we are interested in highly promising companies who are in growth mode – talk to us and we can help you determine whether we’re the right fit for you.
How will the final companies be chosen?
A good team is the core of a strong early stage company. We believe that companies with strong management teams can make any product and idea successful. As such, the most important thing that we look for is the management team: We look at the experience and skillset they bring, how they function, and how they’ve done in the past. We are looking for focused, well-rounded companies with great teams, strong, thoughtful ideas, and the ability to execute.
Once we’ve identified a strong management team, we look for products that we think will have the most impact in the U.S. market. We also look for traction in the market, and we look to ensure that our program will add value and help a team achieve its goals.