Last night, Rhode Island Inno took to Sprout Coworking in Providence to talk all things health and wellness innovation at our April event.
Appropriately dubbed the State of Innovation: Health and Wellness Inno, it began with a panel of three local thought leaders: Yuri Tomikawa, founder of Zencare; Carol Malysz, executive director at MedMates; and Jennifer Rousseau, director of strategic planning for new ventures at Chewsi.
They answered questions like, "What are some of Rhode Island's existing assets related to health and wellness?" and "What creates a thriving ecosystem?" They spoke to the "two degrees of separation" unique to Rhode Island and how the ease with which one can make meaningful connections in the business community is particularly helpful for innovators.
After a brief Q&A with our panelists, I had the pleasure of moderating a discussion between two local founders. Kathleen Repoli, CEO of SimplaFYI, a health and wellbeing company focused on integrative care, and Nick Adams, president of Care Thread, a secure mobile care coordination solution, shared the story of their respective entrepreneurial journeys and the impetus for their startups.
Afterwards, like-minded entrepreneurs were able to pick their brains about the process of getting their enterprises off the ground, their challenges and more.
All in all, it was a wonderful evening of learning, food and drink and meeting you, our readers. To Sprout Coworking, our panelists, our storytellers and those who came out, thank you! To those bummed you couldn’t make it, worry not; we’ll be back in July. See you then!
