A Philadelphia company developing "cold therapy wearables" for athletes is pushing forward with its first product after its founder completed a national accelerator program this week.
Eztia founder Dr. Tiffany Yeh, a 27-year-old Taiwanese immigrant, was one of 18 graduates in the second cohort of Embark, an accelerator program hosted by REI Path Ahead Ventures that provides entrepreneurs of color with resources and training to turn early stage ideas into viable business options.
Yeh, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in 2022 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a bachelor's degree in materials engineering in 2013, founded Eztia last summer. She said the company's lead product, the CryoActive Patch, is designed to deliver "on-the-go icing" that's friendly for both people and the planet.
"I started Eztia because I have spent many years sitting on ice packs for personal health conditions and was frustrated with not being able to wear an ice pack out of the house or on the road," Yeh said, "so, I figured that I'd create the solution myself."
Yeh said prior to entering medical school, she taught at MIT's Global Startup Labs and started an intrapreneurship program at Novartis (NYSE: NVS). "I had a solid foundation for founding my own startup," she said.
The CryoActive Patch, she said, will help athletes perform better in heat and recover faster from muscle strain. The product is based on a novel cooling material technology invented by Yeh. The company's proprietary HydraVolt cooling material is inspired by cooling polymers used in applications for tissue engineering and energy-efficient architecture.
"Our CryoActive Patch is not yet on the market, but we are moving fast on product development and have shared prototypes with sports organizations for user feedback and product refinement," Yeh said.
The company, which has three employees, is aiming to finalize the product design by the end of the summer.
Eztia anticipates distributing the product to elite runners this fall to reduce heat strain in competition and "give them a performance edge." The company's plan is to release the product in stages, focusing on regional distribution partnerships in 2023, and then make it available to the general public in spring 2024.
The self-funded company has pledged to be socially responsible and hold itself accountable by publishing impact reports. In addition, for every nine products sold, Eztia will donate a 10th to someone who needs it but cannot afford it.
Yeh said participating in the Embark program has given Eztia an "invaluable network" of support and mentorship within the outdoors industry.
"We've built one-on-one relationships with trade show producers, running experts, and other legendary veterans in outdoor recreation," she said.
Yeh said the nationwide cohort met over Zoom twice a week for three months to learn from company operators and serve as sounding boards for their peer groups.
“Entrepreneurs need specific skill sets, industry knowledge, and professional connections to drive business growth," said Enhao Li of Founded Outdoors, which operates the Embark program. "Historically, however, access to these resources has been limited based on demographic, geographic, or socioeconomic factors. Embark is designed from the ground up to support our founders’ needs as visionaries, business owners and members of a growing and diversifying outdoor community.”
Each participating company in the program receives a $10,000 equity-free grant to kickstart their business. In addition to capital, founders are also connected to a community of peers and mentors to support their continued growth.
