SeedFundersOrlando has made its eighth Florida startup investment, which will boost a Space Coast company’s efforts to prevent pressure sores that kill tens of thousands of people every year.
Early-stage investment group SeedFundersOrlando invested $195,000 in Melbourne-based Kalogon, SeedFundersOrlando announced Aug. 30.
As a result, Kalogon will launch a production line at the Brevard Achievement Center, which provides employment help and job training for people with disabilities, Kalogon founder and CEO Tim Balz told Orlando Inno. There, Kalogon will produce its "smart cushion" meant to prevent pressure sores in people who sit too long, especially those in wheelchairs.
In addition, Kalogon will hire sales and marketing representatives and a software engineer, Balz said. The company’s staff consists of five to 10 employees, including engineers who previously worked at Northrop Grumman and NASA. That includes Balz, a former engineer at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, according to this LinkedIn. “We traded in working on rockets for doing something we think will help people.”
Pressure sores are a deadly issue. In fact, the federal government’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports they kill 60,000 people every year. However, there is little innovation in the products used to treat them, Balz said. “The cushion people sit on today was invented before the personal computer.”
That's why Balz founded Kalogon, which created a cushion that senses pressure points and automatically redistributes pressure to those areas. Plus, a mobile app allows users to adjust the cushion's support themselves. The startup's product is used at multiple Central Florida rehab centers and the James Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa. It's too early to publicly discuss the cushion's pricing, Balz said.
Salus Assisted Living in Indian Harbour Beach was the first facility to use Kalogon's cushion, then just a prototype. Both the prototype and the second-generation cushion are used by Salus residents, and they have developed zero skin issues, while other companies' cushion products still created pressure sores, said Meghan Guy, owner and operator of Guy said. "This is out of this world for our residents.”
Kalogon is a member of Melbourne-based startup incubator Groundswell, and that’s how the 1-year-old company got connected with SeedFundersOrlando. One of Groundswell's mentors put Balz and his team in touch with Marcin Kubiak, a member of SeedFundersOrlando with a health care industry background. After mentoring the team, Kubiak asked them to pitch SeedFundersOrlando.
The evident need addressed by Kalogon and its team attracted SeedFundersOrlando, CEO Dennis Pape said. “Balz and his team are aerospace engineers who have brought the Silicon Valley startup ethos to Florida and have demonstrated the ability to innovate and rapidly execute.”
In addition to SeedFundersOrlando, Seedfunders St. Petersburg and Seedfunders Miami participated in the investment. Kalogon is the eighth investment by Seedfunders Orlando since it was founded in 2019.
Meanwhile, Groundswell COO Jarin Eisenberg said the nonprofit is “thrilled” by Kalogon’s investment round. “Their smart seat technology combined with their drive to make a difference in the lives of individuals by preventing pressure sores is going to have a significant impact on improving the quality of life for so many.”
For more information:
- www.kalogon.com
- Contact@Kalogon.com
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