We set out more than a month ago to find the 2021 Tech Madness champion — and with help from you, our readers, we have crowned a victor.
McLean kidney care startup Somatus takes the trophy for the annual bracket challenge, after several weeks and multiple rounds of intense battle between 64 of the region’s private, bootstrapped or venture-backed, tech-enabled companies.
We selected the participants with your help, then seeded them based on funding raised, size, stage, headcount and other growth factors, and created the matchups accordingly. And Somatus did not shy away from the competition.
Related: Here’s the full play-by-play for Tech Madness 2021
The fast-growing Northern Virginia company, which is expanding a new type of comprehensive care model for patients with chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease, secured a whopping $64 million in June 2020 to scale its model nationally and invest in its technology. That Series C round brought the 4-year-old company’s total funding to more than $105 million.
The now 500-person company, up from about 300 less than a year ago, has a mobile app for patients to monitor their health and works with health care providers and insurers to roll out dialysis and kidney care for more patients across 25 states. The larger vision is to ensure a foothold in the fast-growing dialysis market while improving outcomes for these patients by meeting them where they are and preventing hospital visits and readmissions.
Dr. Ikenna Okezie, its CEO, started the business in 2016. He’s a former group vice president for DaVita HealthCare Partners, a kidney care juggernaut with a 13,000-physician network, and previously served as managing director for D.C.-based health and education consultancy The Advisory Board Co. and as an engagement manager for McKinsey & Co.
Somatus (No. 3 seed) entered the Tech Madness competition against TechChange (No. 14) — as many of the tournament’s higher-seed companies lost to underdogs. But Somatus continued racking up votes, taking down Live Chair Health, Pie Insurance, Pet Connect and Rose Health in subsequent rounds with impressive voter support.
By then it was clear Somatus, also an Inno on Fire winner, was one to watch. But so was its championship opponent, MemoryWell (No. 9). In the final matchup, Somatus took 4,619 votes — 89.6% — to secure the crown.
“Being included in the Tech Madness tournament provided fun competition and levity for our entire team. It was also fun to engage our friends and families in a way that invited them to learn more about the work we do to revolutionize the kidney care industry,” Okezie said in an email Friday. “We see this not only as something that can bring attention to our company and mission but specifically to patients living with chronic kidney disease and the work they are doing every day alongside physicians and caregivers who are committed to continuously improving and delivering the best care possible.”
We’d like to thank all 64 companies for participating in the competition this year — and, of course, the community for voting.
