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250 Attend HubX-Life Sciences Demo Day at Innovation Hub

2 min read

The demo day hosted by the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub in North Little Rock for teams that completed its first 13-week HubX-Life Sciences accelerator program attracted more than 250 people, including U.S. Rep. French Hill, R-Ark.

The program was the state’s first privately funded and industry-specific accelerator, provided through The Hub’s partnership with Baptist Health and Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

Sabin told Arkansas Business on Thursday that The Hub is already planning the next HubX-Life Sciences accelerator and that it would likely be offered around the same time next year.

At the demo day, Hill said, he couldn’t think of a better place for a company to take part in an incubator than Little Rock and North Little Rock. 

“The best place to do it,” Hill said. “Take that, Austin.”

Hill said the HubX program is aimed at a improving a key sector of American life: health care. He said innovation is key to achieving improvements in access, affordability, patient care and outcomes.

“How are we going to do a better job spending the 50 percent of your tax dollars, approximately, that are spent basically in health care?” he asked. “We’re going to do it through innovation, and we’re going to do it through disrupting the old standard way of doing things. I love to see part of that cutting edge is right here in North Little Rock.”

Sabin said that the accelerator was also exceptional because it’s the only one in the nation to have backing from both a health care provider and payer.

‘Smart’ Pills and Pillows

The names of the eight HubX-Life Sciences startups selected to participate were announced in March. They’ve each received $50,000 in seed investment, mentorship, assistance, have conducted product trials within Baptist Health and qualify for additional back-end investments.

On Thursday, each company, introduced by a mentor, pitched their health care ideas, products and devices. The pitches included a “smart” pill dispenser that would help seniors manage their medication, an artificial pancreas system that would keep the glucose levels of patients in the hospital stable, and a non-invasive at-home monitoring system for congestive heart failure patients.

The crowd, voting through text messaging, chose Chrona of St. Louis as the best presenter and most investable startup. Chrona offers a sleep optimization system that turns any pillow into a “smart” pillow.

Jeff Stinson, director of entrepreneurship at The Hub, told Arkansas Business that all of the startups are in talks with Baptist Health about piloting their products in Arkansas, and a couple are interested in building a permanent presence in the state.

Mike Preston, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, delivered the event’s keynote address.

Preston said the AEDC supports facilitated business growth, which includes seeking venture capital and hosting incubators. He said the HubX-Life Sciences accelerator demonstrates how successful that kind of growth can be.

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