The first sessions of an accelerator focused on health and fitness startups are being held this week at Johns Hopkins‘ FastForward East space.
M-1 Ventures kicked off Tuesday with a cohort of five companies. The following companies were selected to participate, according to the accelerator:
- BurnAlong An Owings Mills–based startup developing a video platform allowing people to remotely link to fitness classes and work out together. (Read our profile here.)
- b.Well A Betamore-incubated health platform that seeks to offer access to health data such as medical records, insurance info and health history. (Read our profile here.)
- EduMD A startup founded by surgeons at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland that makes Milemarker, a web-based platform which assists with medical training.
- MotionVibe An app that connects users to a community of fitness consumers and professionals.
- RoundTrip A Philly-based startup that makes a platform to provide on-demand, non-emergency medical transportation.
The orgs behind M-1 Ventures are putting their own spin on the accelerator model. Along with honing in on a specific vertical, the program is designed to help companies who are past the idea phase and building on initial traction, investor Paul Singh, who is co-directing the program with entrepreneur Tony D’Agostino, told us earlier this summer. For instance, BurnAlong has already raised $1 million and is looking to scale.
Companies who are participating receive $25,000. Using a peer review model established by program supporter Village Capital, two companies will be selected by members of the cohort for additional investment at the end of the four-month program.
Along with programming, participants also get time with one-on-one mentors from Johns Hopkins, Plank Industries and the University of Maryland. Brown Advisory and the Abell Foundation are also supporting the program.
Source: These 5 health startups just entered M-1 Ventures’ first cohort – Technical.ly Baltimore
