The Digest for Health Transformers & Changemakers
Drew Schiller spent 15 years building Validic and made multiple attempts at an exit before ChartSpan acquired the company this year. In a candid StartUp Health Fireside Chat, Drew, now Chief Development Officer at ChartSpan, shared what most founders only learn the hard way. Something nearly always threatens a deal. The relationships you build years earlier tend to matter more than any banker. An acquisition is a marathon for your whole team, not just the founder. He also explained how AI is changing what makes a healthcare company defensible.
The video and podcast are excerpts from the full session. Members stayed for the live Q&A, where Drew went deeper on founder resilience, clinician trust in patient-generated data, and who actually pays for prevention. Want to be in the room next time? Join StartUp Health to attend Fireside Chats live, build your relationships with investors and industry leaders, and ask your own questions.
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Congratulations!
Huge congratulations to the seven StartUp Health community members named finalists in the 2026 Digital Health & AI Awards, presented by the Digital Health Hub Foundation. CarePredict and UnaliWear are helping older adults live more independently, and Flosonics is bringing real-time monitoring to critical care. General Prognostics is working toward needle-free biomarker monitoring, and Livemed Health is helping community hospitals offer specialty care close to home. Alvee and Radicle Science are closing gaps in civic health. Get to know the Health Transformers behind each company and join us in cheering them on at the awards announcement at HLTH.
This week, StartUp Health company MedHaul’s AI-powered medical transportation took home first place in WellWithAll's $1 Million Prize. Additionally, 26 other rounds closed, spanning family caregiving, Medicare AI, surgical technology, and women’s health, with companies from the US, India, the UK, Israel, Brazil, Canada, and the UAE.
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🌐 Join the Access to Care Moonshot Community
MEI Micro, led by CEO & Founder Louis Ross, is on a mission to democratize high-accuracy motion sensing for life science applications. The technology, developed over a decade, is now being commercialized as the company begins shipping its first sample products to key partners, licensees, and customers. This includes companies in the medtech, healthcare, and sports medicine fields.
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🧠 Join the Alzheimer’s & Brain Health Moonshot Community
With more than 2,500 videos, 11,000+ subscribers, and nearly a million views on YouTube, our video channel spotlights Health Transformers in action, showcasing how the right mindset, moonshot vision, and the spirit of an entrepreneur make anything possible.
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Mordechai Raskas, MD, CMIO of Avo, on being selected for Becker's 2026 list of Health IT & Revenue Cycle Up-and-Comers.
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Anish Sebastian, CEO & Co-founder of Babyscripts, on the company’s partnership with Kindbody to expand digital pregnancy and postpartum support.
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Erica Plybeah, CEO & Founder of MedHaul, on winning the top honor in WellWithAll's $1 Million Prize for AI-powered innovation changing daily health for the people care reaches last.
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Susan Bratton, CEO & Founder of Savor, on the publication of new research in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, contributing to the growing evidence base for technology-enabled nutrition support in cancer care.
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Chris Kiple, CEO of Solius, on Solius Pro, the only FDA-cleared over-the-counter UVB light therapy, earning a TIME Best Inventions 2026 Special Mention.
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