Some of the most disruptive startups are developed with specific knowledge someone gains in a niche industry. The founder sees a problem and then sets out to fix it.
Here are four Capital Region startups that were founded by medical professionals after observing a problem in their respective industries.
ReVivo Medical
ReVivo Medical was founded by Dr. Darryl DiRisio, an Albany Medical Center spinal surgeon, and biomedical engineers Eric Ledet and Glenn Sanders.
The company’s two titanium alloy implants, which were developed in the Albany Medical Center Biomedical Acceleration and Commercialization Center, are used together to hold vertebrae in place following spinal surgeries.
The product’s design is meant to allow a slight amount of bone flexibility, which promotes better and faster healing. Features built into the design are also meant to make the procedure easier for the surgeon.
The startup is close to performing clinical trials on its product, a critical next step toward FDA approval.
UCM Digital Health
After working as an ER physician assistant, Keith Algozzine founded UCM Digital Health to help prevent people from visiting the ER unnecessarily.
Early on, that idea developed into a digital platform through which patients can work with emergency medicine providers to determine whether an issue requires an ER visit or a different type of care. This helps patients avoid taking a potentially unnecessary — and expensive — trip to the emergency room.
The Troy startup earlier this year raised $5.5 million in a series A funding round and since has been hiring and expanding services and partners.
Hearts and Mind Training Center
LaQuetta Alexander-Ellis and Odaysia Burton-Garland founded the Hearts and Mind Training Center in early 2020 to help fill a health care workforce gap that exists in phlebotomy and other certified positions.
Burton-Garland is a nurse who trains new employees at Albany Med. Alexander-Ellis has taught phlebotomy training courses for a couple of organizations.
They started by offering phlebotomy training and have since added EKG training.
Their long-term goal is to become a state-certified training institution for several types of medical state licenses.
Peak Neuro Group
After seeing low-quality training by some companies in his field of surgical neuromonitoring, Mike Riley started Peak Neuro Group in an attempt to raise the bar.
Riley trains and employs surgical neuromonitoring professionals for a job that mainly involves monitoring motor and sensory function of the spine during back surgery to avoid paralyzation.
He developed a yearlong education and training program that includes 21 lectures and hands-on training.
He's currently working with four hospital systems and has a goal of operating in 20 hospitals in the next five years.
