Sprint has partnered with the University of Kansas Medical Center for the company’s second Mobile Health Accelerator, a three-month program in Kansas City powered by TechStars.
The 2015 Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator will run from March 9 through June 4.
“We are pleased to work with Techstars to provide early-stage input and guidance related to our expertise in health care education, research and patient care,” KU Medical Center Executive Vice Chancellor Douglas Girod said in a statement. “Through this collaboration, we can help mobile health startups with innovative solutions to industry-wide problems.”
Sprint first announced the accelerator in September 2013, and revealed the accelerator’s first class in March 2014. Startups that participated in the first class included Baltimore, Maryland-based illness mapping offering Sickweather and Cambridge, Massachusetts-based patient coordination app Yosko, which recently announced plans to launch pilots with as many as five hospitals this year.
The Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator accepts 10 companies that can receive up to $120,000 in funding, $20,000 upfront and the option to accept $100,000 in convertible debt funded by Sprint. Techstars retains 6 percent of the equity for each company.
This year, startups are also offered an equity back guarantee, which takes effect for all Techstars accelerators beginning in 2015. At the end of the Techstars program, if a startup is not satisfied with the value of Techstars, they will have 3 business days to lower or eliminate Techstars’ equity position.
Last week, Techstars partnered with another healthcare provider, Mayo Clinic, to launch a post-accelerator program, called Techstars++ that provides exposure for entrepreneurs who have completed the Techstars accelerator. When healthcare-focused companies complete the Techstars accelerator, they can spend two weeks at the Mayo Clinic exploring business development opportunities and learning about the organization.
