Embrace the pivot. That’s the advice Kelsey Abernathy, PhD '19, and Dan Fucich, PhD '19, gave to aspiring entrepreneurs participating in the sixth annual Grid Pitch on April 20, 2023.
Jim Kucher, DPA, MBA, program director of the MS in Health and Social Innovation at the Graduate School.
The business partners are the co-founders of Algenair, a Pittsburgh-based company that uses algae to improve indoor air quality. The two-time Grid Pitch veterans participated in 2018 and 2019 while finishing doctoral research in marine biology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). They credit Grid Pitch with helping them refine their business idea with the help of their Grid mentors.
Grid Pitch is a showcase that allows UMB students to pitch innovative business ideas to a panel of experts and investors in the entrepreneurial community. Accepted participants receive six weeks of one-on-one coaching and mentoring from an experienced entrepreneur or business expert. The event is held at the Grid (Graduate Research Innovation District), a space at UMB where students, entrepreneurs, faculty, and staff connect to bring innovative health and social impact ideas to life.
“The first time Dan and I were at the Grid Pitch we had this idea to grow algae on rooftops. We had a different name,” said Abernathy. “It took about six months of going down that path to realize that that wasn't the right direction.”
With the guidance of their Grid Pitch mentors, Abernathy and Fucich finally settled on the Aerium, a natural air purifier that uses algae to clean the air.
This year’s Grid Pitch featured seven teams of business-minded UMB students divided into two categories. The Vision tier is for UMB students who have an idea to change the world, but have not yet begun the journey of implementation. The Venture tier is for students who have an idea that is fleshed out and have begun the journey of implementation.
“The students presenting tonight have found the problems and challenges they want to solve that align with their values and passions,” said Jenny Owens, ScD, MS, associate dean of academic affairs of the University of Maryland Graduate School. Owens encouraged the student entrepreneurs to pursue their ideas and to make a difference in the world.
The Grid Pitch 2023 participants are:
VENTURE
Ryan's Place: Debbie Sahlin, School of Nursing
Ryan’s Place is a comprehensive, care-focused center for those with disabilities and chronic medical conditions. Ryan's Place is patient-centered, integrated, team-based, accessible, and focused on quality and safety. Ryan’s Place is committed to helping those with disabilities and complex health conditions achieve maximum health outcomes and live their best lives.
AGILE: Peter Memiah, Graduate School
Globally, an estimated one out of every three women (or four men) will experience gender-based violence (GBV) in their lifetime. The Accelerating Access to GBV Information and Services Leveraging a Technology Enhanced Chatbot (AGILE) will be an AI-powered GBV symptoms checker that will quiz users on the risks that they may be experiencing, and immediately offer service recommendations.
VISION
HealthBand: Samar Behdin, School of Medicine, and Rashad Balashov
HealthBand is a wearable bracelet that uses near field communication technology to store patients’ medical history, including medicines, allergies, and emergency contacts and allows for easy, secure, and confidential access to this information by health care providers. This revolutionary technology aims to improve patient outcomes by allowing providers instant access to critical information that will allow them to make lifesaving decisions.
HLTH On-Demand: Morgan Anderson Reed, School of Nursing
HLTH On-Demand's mission is to improve patient education, understanding, and health outcomes by delivering an on-demand library of evidenced-based health promotion programming in mid- to long-term health care facilities. Providers would have the opportunity to prescribe specific educational videos, and patients and families would have 24/7 access to a library of prerecorded content, live programming, and interactive games.
Little Hands Big Questions: Tiffany Wood-Hom, School of Pharmacy
Little Hands Big Questions (LHBQ) envisions a world in which every hospitalized child understands his or her diagnosis, treatment plan, and prognosis, and is given the tools needed to support positive coping and mastery of the medical environment. Through personalized 3D printing, LHBQ provides patients and their families with realistic teaching tools specified to their illness.
Oleuda Project: Insun Yoon, School of Medicine
The Oleuda Project is a revolutionary approach to adult health, based on the belief that our built environments should inspire us to stay physically active and connected to our communities. Its aim is to create cross-generational, disability-inclusive interactive spaces in Baltimore by honoring the voices of the community and collaborating with local artists and engineers.
MindStudios: Tyler Thornton, School of Social Work
MindStudios is an innovative, cutting-edge mental health and motivational app designed to transform cognitive health management. The app provides users with motivational quotes and videos to help them stay motivated and focused on their goals. MindStudios app features a chat box with an AI trained to respond to mental health crises, providing users with immediate support and resources.
Third-year medical student Samar Behdin says Grid Pitch and her mentor Lindsay Ryan, MS, interim executive director of economic development, University System of Maryland, helped her and her partner to think more deeply about HealthBand, a bracelet that uses near field communication technology to transmit health information to medical providers with the tap of a phone. “She helped us dig into who the competitors are and what went wrong in their cases,” said Behdin. “We went from just having an idea to really fleshing it out and learning what makes a business work.”
The HealthBand team’s hard work paid off. Each Vision team walked away from Grid Pitch with $1,000 in seed funding from the University System of Maryland Launch Fund and the University of Maryland Graduate School. Venture participants received $1,500 to get their ideas one step closer to reality.
According to Grid assistant director Taylor DeBoer, MA, past Grid Pitch participants Abernathy and Fucich are the gold standard for the program. Their company Algenair recently installed an 8-foot, 100-gallon algae system with the photosynthetic capacity of over 5,000 plants in Pittsburgh International Airport to purify the air for travelers.
“They're a perfect example of what can happen” when you participate in Grid Pitch, DeBoer said. “The goal is to have everyone be an Algenair.”