Welcome to our third and final installment of the San Antonio Business Journal's first annual Startups to Watch series. You can read part one here and part two here.
Nvision Biomedical Technologies
This San Antonio-based biologics and medical device company — founded in 2013 by Brian Kieser — first launched its products in 2015, focused on spinal implants, after they received FDA approval in 2014. The company continues to develop and commercialize innovative products to meet the needs of clinical professionals, health care providers and patients, including those that help with extremities, bone and soft tissue. The company is also working on Structural Encoding, which incorporates a method to embed data within any device in a way that can be read via medical imaging. Nvision’s ultimate goal, according to the company, is to produce medical innovations for surgeons to improve their surgical procedures — and their outcomes.
Allosense Inc.
San Antonio-based tech startup Allosense Inc. was founded in 2020 by CEO and former Tesla vendor Roman Sandoval. The computer hardware manufacturer’s focus is creating handheld devices that help material management in the tracking of assets and monitoring of data — for instance, keeping track of storage and shipping temperatures for companies. An undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding was invested in the company by the founder of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson, and Uber co-founder Garrett Camp. It was one of only three companies chosen to take part in 2021’s Expa Accelerator, which is Camp’s own pre-seed program to propel small startups. Allosense was also part of a pre-accelerator program hosted by Geekdom in 2020. Also in 2020, the company was a finalist for the BBVA USA Entrepreneurial Contest. Both the city of San Antonio as well as Rackspace and Bumble executives have invested in the startup.
Turn Medical
Medical device maker Turn Medical was established in 2018 and recently launched its first commercial product — the Pronova-O2 Automated Prone Therapy System. CEO Tara Psencik co-founded the company with Chief Technology Officer Kevin Wilson, Chief Operations Officer Chris Niederkrom and Chief Program Officer Eric Barta, all of whom worked at Kinetic Concepts Inc. before Turn Medical. The automated prone therapy system, essentially an adjustable hospital bed on wheels, can accommodate up to 400 pounds and is designed to help clinicians move patients into the prone position and safely rotate them from side to side as needed. The device is designed to reduce the risk for skin breakdown in key vulnerable areas and protect bedside clinicians from sprains and strains. The initial rollout will include the sale of the Pronova devices across the U.S. and rental options for the units in select markets.
Modern Managed IT
San Antonio-headquartered Modern Managed IT, co-founded by CEO Luis Rodriguez in 2020, offers IT services to small businesses looking for the ease of hosting an in-house IT department at a lower cost with fewer complications. It operates on a no-contract basis with fixed pricing for services at less than 50% of the industry average, a money-back guarantee, a team of certified employees and round-the-clock accessibility to IT teams — including their cell phone numbers. Modern Managed IT is also a certified Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services partner. This year marked the one-year anniversary of its million-dollar venture funding round led by Geekdom Fund with 186k Ventures participating. Previously, it had been operating with pre-seed funding from Porthcawl Holdings. The company also made its first acquisition in 2021: Vertical Technologies, a seven-year-old local managed IT services company, which added a second IT team to its growing San Antonio market.
Forward Edge AI
Eric Adolphe, formerly CEO of OPTIMUS Corporation, founded San Antonio-based Forward Edge AI in 2019 with one ambitious goal in mind: to leverage new AI technologies for the betterment of humanity and to provide solutions for complex social problems. The company uses technologies like AI, Blockchain, swarm intelligence, machine learning and robotic process automation to work toward its mission, selling innovative products like a new Robocall Blocker that blocks unwanted calls on all service providers. Forward Edge AI has been recognized with the 5GX Connect Award and a National Science Foundation SBIR grant. It was also a finalist for the ACT/IAC Igniting Innovation Award. Adolphe is a recipient of the First Black Small Business Innovative Research Tibbett’s Award. He’s also a National Inventor’s Hall of Fame honoree. The company received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation last year to continue developing a new anti-phone phishing app, Gabriel. In addition, Forward Edge AI received funding from Microsoft Corp for Blaise, a handheld device that can detect pathogens like Covid-19 on hard surfaces.
