Applications have opened for a 12-week accelerator program backed by one of Pittsburgh's biggest health care service providers.
Highmark Inc. partnered with Baltimore-based health care corporation LifeBridge Health to back the next cohort of the Healthworx Accelerator, which is backed by CareFirst, another Blue Cross, Blue Shield company. Startups participating in the accelerator will have access to "a diverse network of health care experts from every corner of the industry to provide an insider's perspective and education for early-stage health care companies," according to a release from Healthworx.
Highmark Chief Growth Officer and CEO of Diversified Businesses Deb Rice-Johnson said in a prepared statement that the company is "thrilled to be a part of the Healthworx Accelerator, a program that will drive health care innovation and access forward."
"Our partnerships will provide important support and mentorship to these startups, helping them navigate the complex health care landscape and bring their solutions to life," Highmark Ventures managing director Steve Christensen said in a prepared statement.
Tech startups in general face an uphill battle, and health focused startups face an even steeper one — Harvard Law reports that approximately 75% of venture capital-backed startups fail while the National Institutes of Health reports that 90% of health startups fail. But successful health care startups can be the most profitable — a report by Fierce Healthcare analysts found that in 2022 U.S. health care startups brought in $12.6 billion in revenue.
Because of the high risk, high reward nature of developing technology, accelerator programs are in high demand because they include access to resources not offered by traditional venture capital investment, namely network opportunities. This is not the only accelerator program Highmark is involved with — Allegheny Health Network, owned by Highmark Health, is directly partnered with Innovation Work's AlphaLab Health to fund and accelerate life sciences research.
"These are big players in health care that are committed to softening the steep learning curve most newcomers face in this space, an opportunity not often granted in this industry," Healthworx managing partner Doba Parushev said in a prepared statement. "With this group of partners, Healthworx Accelerator will connect cohort companies to experts across the health care space, from product development to payer-provider system navigation to marketing, to provide members with a truly transformative experience."
