An AI-powered health care firm in Durham is one of five startup companies nationwide selected for an underrepresented founders cohort.
CliniSpan Health has received a $100,000 investment from gener8tor and Allianz Life as part of their Minneapolis-St. Paul Equity Accelerator program. The company will now partake in an intensive 12-week program with other minority-led startups.
CliniSpan offers a software platform for social media influencers to help people of color and underserved groups access clinical studies.
The MSP Equity Accelerator program will include one-on-one coaching, mentorship-driven programming and connections to the gener8tor network of mentors and investors, according to a press release.
There were 312 applicants nationwide, with just five selected based on their investor readiness, growth potential and strategic alignment with the Minnesota market — where the two investors are based.
CliniSpan Health CEO and co-founder Dezbee McDaniel told Triangle Business Journal that his company’s strong team, as well as their connections with gener8tor partner Al Cornish, were likely factors in the firm’s selection.
“We built this startup from zero to $1 million in revenue, had influencer campaigns with over a million impressions, managed over 100-plus clinical trials as private investigators, and built AI machine learning products for other venture-backed startups,” McDaniel said.
The company is seeing 150 percent year-over-year revenue growth, according to McDaniel, who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill. Eighty percent of CliniSpan Health’s employees are located in the Triangle, but they are considering adding a physical presence in Minnesota.
“We can take a lot of our knowledge, tools and resources to Minnesota and help them improve clinical research, specifically,” McDaniel said.
As far as the program goes, McDaniel and his co-founder, Rashaad Galloway, will be the ones partaking in the cohort.
And what will the $100,000 infusion go toward?
“So, our two particular goals are completing the last five to six AI machine learning components of our products to make it world class,” McDaniel said. “And secondly, marketing dollars for customer acquisition to secure two to three more long-term contracts with top 20 pharma sponsors.”
Currently, CliniSpan Health has secured a contract with one of the top 20 pharma sponsors — CSL. They are also seeking angel investors for their $1 million pre-seed round.
“Underrepresented founders are capable of just as much with the right resources,” McDaniel said. “That's really the message I want to emphasize.”
Gener8tor is a startup accelerator that has raised over $2 billion in cumulative funding and created over 12,000 jobs. It invests in 49 percent BIPOC founders and has had 4,760 participants over the years.
Allianz Life is a life insurance company headquartered in Minneapolis.
