The kind of founder that investors love is the one who is named Nikhil. He was a research associate at the University of Central Florida and studied computer science at Yale. He jokes that it was the most embarrassing thing to get dropped off by his mom at the office.
He has a personal connection to the problem of trying to diagnose and address Alzheimer's disease as early as possible. He focused his research on building Alzheimer's-related computerized diagnostics as a teenager because it wasn't easy to pull off as a child.
There was a bit of a distraction. He worked at a couple of different hedge funds after graduating from college. He returned to his previous work after another family member was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
The team has raised $6 million in seed funding for a HIPAA compliant app that can help identify Alzheimer's disease after just 10 minutes on a cellphone. It isn't just a tech offering. The results are given to a doctor affiliated with Craniometrix who will review and sign the test and return it to the patient.
The company's backers, including Quiet Capital, Defy.vc, Olive Tree Capital, Rebel Fund, J Venture and Y Combinator, are betting on the company's vision to create a one-stop, direct-to- consumer tele-medicine platform.
Neil Sequeira of Defy believes that it is a concept that his firm is interested in. A cloud-based lab management startup called Genemod is one of Defy's bets.
Sequeira thinks that he might back something that was worked on. He says he met the smartest person he has ever met through another CEO who funded a stealth startup.
It's not known if those smarts will bolster a big business or not.
Craniometrix expects to soon offer real-time doctor access to customers who may have questions and concerns, while step one focuses on people who are concerned about developing Alzheimer's, want to self-screen at home, and will receive a doctor-reviewed diagnostic report from the company within 48
Point-in-time screenings, access to live doctor assistance, and other tools will be included in bundled monthly subscriptions that Craniometrix plans to create.
It is a large market. The types of services that Craniometrix will offer online will cost caregivers $3,000 a year, according to him. While the direct-to-consumer market is a big opportunity, he is already having discussions with health plans about using tools like those that Craniometrix is developing to cut down on unnecessary patient visits.
A lot of today's visits can be served by a chat service or an offline communication service.
The idea is to eliminate the need to go to a doctor. When it comes to managing the disease, it is important that people are kept on better footing.
Considering that Alzheimer's afflicts 6 million Americans alone and that the population is aging fast, the company could well be one to watch. Stay on top of the situation.
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