Kosmo Technologies, which is developing an airway feedback device that can identify in real time if an oral appliance will work for an obstructive sleep apnea patient and determine optimal jaw position, has been offered an initial seed investment of $50,000. The seed money comes from being one of 10 early-stage companies selected to participate in the inaugural Healthbox Salt Lake City accelerator. The  accelerator was launched through key partnerships with Intermountain Healthcare, Health Equity, Zions Bank, and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company).

Each of the 10 startup companies—nine from Utah and one from Massachusetts—has been offered an initial seed investment of $50,000 from Healthbox and is now participating in the 3-month business accelerator in Salt Lake City. They will have unique access to the Healthbox partners and global expert network, supporting their growth in a complicated healthcare system.

According to the Kosmo Technologies website, the Andra Gauge is a disposable bite registration device that allows the practitioner to easily control a patient’s mandibular position in a relationship to the maxilla to accurately obtain the best bite registration. The company says it is the only bite registration device that can hold the position of the mandible in relation to the maxilla in three dimensions. The ability to dial in and lock in place the anterior-posterior and vertical positions while providing a precise positioning of the sagittal movement makes it the ideal vehicle for capturing the best bite registration that is precise, accurate, and reproducible.

The other nine companies participating in the Healthbox Salt Lake City accelerator are:

  • Asserta Health enables employers and health plans to reduce medical spending by deputizing consumers with a purchasing card used to pay the full bill at the time of service, even when all or a portion of the funds come from their health plan.
  • LIYEN Inc is the creator of Slyder—a stylish, next generation spacer device for asthma inhalers that increases compliance through innovative product design and customization.
  • LowestMed provides prescription drug pricing information to consumers enabling them to shop, compare, and save on out-of-pocket costs.
  • ProMD reduces hospital readmissions by showing discharged patients exactly what they need to do, when they need to do it, and by streamlining communication between patients and their medical team.
  • simplicityAirway has developed an adapter device that allows for endotracheal intubation and airway access without the need to remove critical life support instruments.
  • Symptomly is a web-based dashboard and communication portal that allows hospitals and insurance companies to manage their chronic disease population.
  • Tute Genomics is a cloud-based platform enabling healthcare organizations to provide precision medicine through genomics.
  • whatsnewMD partners with physicians groups and health systems to create a standardized platform for identifying and evaluating medical technologies.
  • XableCath is developing a catheter-based device for crossing obstructed lesions in the peripheral arterial system.

“We were pleased with the high number and quality of applicants to the first-ever Healthbox accelerator in Utah and are excited about the great products the selected participants are developing,” Andrew Laver, vice president of Healthbox, says in a release. “Through the program, we will help the companies develop stronger products, build more effective teams, and more clearly understand pathways to market in the complex healthcare industry.”