International startup accelerator Techstars announced Friday that it would launch a new healthcare accelerator based in Minneapolis in partnership with UnitedHealthcare that will fund and mentor medical-technology startups.
The UnitedHealthcare Accelerator Powered by Techstars will focus on new healthcare innovations that support payer and care provider efforts, with an emphasis on digital health and wellness solutions.
The overall goal of the accelerator is to "help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone," Techstars said in a release.
Later this year, 10 startups will be selected to participate in Techstars' UnitedHealthcare program, which is expected to kick off in September. Like other Techstars accelerators, the program will last three months and offer participating companies mentorship and capital along with research and development assistance.
The accelerator will conclude with a demo day, where each of the 10 companies will pitch its business model to an audience of venture capitalists, industry experts and members of the Twin Cities tech community.
"Our passion and drive for innovation matched with Techstars' proven method for startup accelerator will create an environment to build and scale cutting-edge digital health and wellness technology," Joel Nelson, United Healthcare's vice president of innovation, said in a statement. "Bringing together entrepreneurial spirit and mentorship helps us transform healthcare in the United States and abroad."
Minnetonka-based UnitedHealthcare is a medical giant. Ranked fifth on the Fortune 500, it has backed startups in the past through Optum, its technology and healthcare services arm. UnitedHealthcare has been pouring more capital into Optum Ventures, a unit investing in digtal-health startups, in recent years. Last spring, UnitedHealth Group said it had committed about $600 million to Optum Ventures.
This will be Techstars' third Twin Cities program. The accelerator established its first, a Minneapolis retail program in partnership with Target, in 2016. Last year, Techstars launched Farm to Fork in partnership With Ecolab and Cargill in St. Paul.
Techstars did not say exactly where in Minneapolis the UnitedHealthcare accelerator will be located, or the name of its director. Applications for the program will open Monday, Feb. 18.
