M-1 Ventures concluded this month, but the accelerator’s intense focus on driving revenue and protracted growth will help sustain its four startups for years.
In August, the connected health and fitness accelerator supported by the Johns Hopkins University, UM Ventures, Plank Industries and others selected its inaugural cohort. After Labor Day, the ventures began an intense 16-week curriculum designed to help scale their businesses.
“One of the most subtle but important ways M-1 Ventures is different from the 1,100 other accelerators in the United States is that we didn’t do anything with innovation,” says M-1 Ventures co-director Paul Singh. “It’s about entrepreneurship.”
At the M-1 Ventures Demo Day on Dec. 13, the 2017 cohort — b.well, BurnAlong, MileMarker and RoundTrip — showcased how the accelerator changed the trajectory of their businesses. Each came in with viable products and marketplace traction, now they move forward with more leads, new plans and stronger sales projections.
Here’s a highlight from each of the Demo Day presentations:
BurnAlong*
Challenge: People want to improve their fitness, but too often motivation is fleeting.
Solution: BurnAlong provides an online video fitness and wellness platform that enables users to work out with top instructors from across the country and their friends.
Result: BurnAlong currently has 400 business partners and more than 3,000 members.
*Awarded an additional $25,000 through a peer-review investment model.
b.well*
Challenge: More and more people are turning to digital health services to track and manage their care, but a lack of integration among these services limits their effectiveness.
Solution: B.well’s online platform puts customers at the center of their health care by simplifying access to health data, insurance and on-demand health services.
Result: Since joining M-1 Ventures, b.well has onboarded two new clients and grown its pipeline more than 300 percent. After closing its first year of sales with $1.6 million, it projects to have more than $11.5 million in 2018.
*Awarded an additional $25,000 through a peer-review investment model.
MileMarker
Challenge: Today’s method of evaluating performance of surgical residents inhibits their professional development and makes it difficult to identify high performers.
Solution: MileMarker™ is an on-the-job, real-time assessment software for surgical training currently being used by Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland
Result: When M-1 Ventures began in September, MileMarker had five leads. By the conclusion of the accelerator, they had 200.
RoundTrip
Challenge: Each day, 10,000 patients miss or delay care because of transportation issues.
Solution: RoundTrip’s online platform connects hospitals and patients with on-demand, non-emergency transportation.
Result: Interactions with Johns Hopkins experts facilitated by M-1 Ventures opened a new revenue pipeline through predictive analytics. The company expects to grow its revenue from $75,000 to $1.4 million.
Click here to learn more about M-1 Ventures!