In spite of the familiar saying, building a better mousetrap is no longer sufficient to secure success for a startup. This is especially true for startups in the health and medical markets. You need access to funding, help with navigating regulatory hurdles, preparing your designs for manufacturing, and a host of other arcane yet essential details.
This is why the electronics giant LG create the LG Nova program. A team of industry veterans and entrepreneurs offer support and guidance to new companies across a range of industries. One of the common themes throughout, however, is to help grow companies that could have a global impact by delivering solutions that will benefit a wide and diverse population.
I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, Senior Vide President of LG Nova, about some of the companies in the program.
XRHealth creates “virtual clinics” where patients can use medical virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems for immersive treatments, right in their own homes. The company provides licensed therapists as well as the equipment that the patient will need (such as VR goggles). The service is focused initially on pain management, neurological disorders, and behavioral health. The treatments are covered by many insurance providers.
MayaMD has created a digital health assistant app driven by artificial intelligence (AI). Maya is a virtual guide who interacts with patients using normal conversation with a digital human or a text-based chatbot. A patient explains their symptoms, and Maya will ask additional questions to reach a recommendation based on a database of more than 25,000 physician hours and more than 10,000 symptoms and conditions. According to the company, the system can provide telemedicine triage in less than a minute with 94% accuracy.
akin is an Australian company that has created akin Home, an app that helps make home life smarter. Using AI, it can analyze your daily activities and help you organize your daily tasks. Users can also set goals and track progress, which can lead to better time management for the whole family. akin Home can also help the elderly with aging-in-place issues, and to help family and caregivers keep track of their physical and mental health.
These are just some of the many startups in the LG Nova program, which ultimately can make lives better for millions around the world.
