Johnson Summer Startup Accelerator Celebrates Progress at Demo Day
The 12 teams that made up the 2022 Johnson Summer Startup Accelerator (JSSA) cohort devoted themselves to working on a vast array of startups, but shared one big similarity: the progress they made on their businesses, which was displayed at Demo Day in early September in Ithaca, N.Y. Supported by the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, the program is designed to help students take the first step toward launching a startup. After spending the summer completing three phases of programming, including customer discovery, developing solutions, and testing, program participants leave with the tools to continue on their entrepreneurial journeys. “JSSA helped take something from an idea, to a more refined idea,” said Steven Zychowski, Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership ‘23 and founder of CheckOnMe. “I felt like I did a mountain’s-worth of work, but I took only one step, and that’s ok, because up until that point, I had only been thinking about it. It forced me to put that thought into action.” The program, which kicked off in early May and spanned the duration of the summer, included weekly content sessions with industry experts and mentors, matched participants with a dedicated Entrepreneur-in-Residence who provided weekly mentorship and […]
Big Red Ventures Makes First Investment of 2022-23 in ATDev
Big Red Ventures (BRV), Cornell’s early-stage venture capital fund, is excited to announce its investment in Assistive Technology Development, Inc. (ATDev), a medical device company focused on mobility, marking BRV’s first investment of 2022-23. “ATDev is incredibly excited to join Big Red Ventures’ world class portfolio,” said Todd Roberts, ATDev Co-Founder and CEO. “Access to the team’s expertise and Cornell’s vast resources will accelerate our mission of launching scalable physical therapy to patients across the US and globally.” Co-founded by Roberts and Owen Kent, ATDev is reimagining physical therapy through robotics to transform access to care and tracking of patient outcomes. Through their novel knee brace, Rehab Robo, ATDev is on a mission to reduce barriers to physical therapy and improve the quality of care for individuals who have undergone knee surgery. Rehab Robo is the first device that can support the entire rehabilitation pathway in the comfort of a patient’s home. “We are delighted to back Todd and Owen on their exciting journey to disrupt the physical therapy market,” said Sam Evans, BRV Fund Manager. “ATDev has the potential to transform recovery for millions that experience knee surgery each year. Their affordable solution significantly improves access to care, and we […]
Founder Taps into Solution for Understaffed Nursing Homes
Kayla Wooley, MBA ’22, came of age in the senior care industry. She began learning the family business of operating nursing homes from the bottom up—beginning work in the seventh grade as a summer intern and eventually becoming licensed after college to assume a leadership role at a facility in Rhode Island. “For as long as I can remember, every family dinner conversation was about the quality of senior care,” said Wooley, the founder and CEO of StaffOnTap, a digital marketplace that connects understaffed nursing homes to temporary nurses interested in earning extra money. Her grandmother founded a nursing home 50 years ago—today her family operates a portfolio of nursing homes across Connecticut and Rhode Island. “I discovered that I loved coming up with strategic programs, such as cardiopulmonary or dementia programs, but I had a difficult time implementing these programs due to nursing staff shortages. The problem was so bad that I couldn’t reliably find a nurse for an eight-hour shift, let alone to successfully implement a new program.” With the staffing gap at the forefront of her mind, Wooley decided to continue her family legacy in senior care—returning to school to pursue a master’s degree in public health […]