A Scottsdale-based medical diagnostics startup that has specialized in testing hundreds of thousands of Arizonans for Covid-19 during the pandemic has received a $50,000 grant to develop at-home diagnostic tests.
Saguaro Bloom, which was founded in 2020, received the EmergeAZ Fast II Grant, which is designated for startups with emerging technologies that can address economic, health or societal challenges. The grant is sponsored by InvisionAZ, a nonprofit and venture capital fund, and the StartupAZ Foundation, a nonprofit that helps new companies get off the ground.
The company currently offers Covid-19 testing at several Valley sites along with at-home allergy testing that people can self-administer without requiring a blood draw or a lab visit. The company also has operations in New York City.
The new grant money will be used to develop additional at-home diagnostic tests, a spokeswoman for Saguaro Bloom said. The company is currently working on a clinical allergy test to help identify, manage and treat patients with allergies and allergic asthma.
The company is working with Medicaid providers to improve access to preventive care diagnostics for vulnerable populations, with a particular eye on heart disease and diabetes.
“We are honored to be recognized and receive an EmergeAZ Fast II Grant from InvisionAZ and StartupAZ,” Saguaro Bloom co-founder Jesse Greer said in a statement. “Our goal is to build a diagnostics provider that powers delivery of equitable, cost effective medicine at scale for all Americans. Incumbent labs haven’t caught up to the rapid expansion of telemedicine during Covid, and Bloom can help serve routine health care needs for millions of people from the comfort of their home. Doctors and insurers can deliver better medicine at lower cost with us, while patients enjoy a vastly superior experience built from our own frustrations with existing options.”
The EmergeAZ Fast Grant program already has awarded $1 million to nearly three dozen startups in its earlier rounds.
The program is administered through a partnership of the Arizona Governor's Office, Arizona Commerce Authority, InvisionAZ and StartupAZ, and it is meant to address the impacts of the pandemic. A total of $1.5 million in funding will be awarded in amounts ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 until the fund is entirely administered.
To be eligible for the grant, startups must be Arizona-based, in a revenue stage and established for 12 months, and they must have five or more employees and not received funding from the grant’s earlier round.
Jack Selby, a former PayPal vice president and current chairman of InvisionsAZ, said the program is helping Arizonans.
“I am incredibly proud to see all of the ways that these incredible startups and entrepreneurs are contributing to bettering the lives of Arizonans,” Selby said in a statement. “Our awardees are launching Arizona forward and I’m proud to see the EmergeAZ Fast Grant be such a success.”
