Health 2.0 NYC Chapter Announces the Winner of Its First Startup/Funding Matchmaking Competition

NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- The Health 2.0 NYC Chapter announces WellApps as the winner of its "Connect, Create, Cure" Shark Tank event, which allows startup and early stage healthcare companies to pitch their businesses to seasoned angel investors and venture capitalists.  All applicants were narrowed down to five finalists, each of whom gave a five minute presentation and fielded five minutes of questions from an accomplished panel.  Panelists (Esther Dyson of EdVenture, Stephen Krupa, Managing Member of Psilos, Owen Davis, Managing Director NYC Seed, Michael Monson, SVP Performance & Innovation, Visiting Nurse Services of New York and Maureen Farrell, Staff Writer at Forbes.com) evaluated each demonstrator's presentation and overall value proposition to select the winner.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110126/CG37248)

The winning company was co-founded by Brett Shamosh, a digital media executive who built a mobile application to track the symptoms of his Ulcerative Colitis and started WellApps (http://wellapps.com).  WellApps received a prize package valued at $5,000, which included a cash prize, entry to the Health 2.0 Spring Fling on March 21-2 in San Diego, as well as a number of local business offerings.  Said Mr. Shamosh, "The Health 2.0 NYC matchmaking event was a great opportunity for healthcare/IT innovators to expose their solutions to sources of funding.  We were thrilled to take the top prize."

Other presenters at the event included Earndit, Health Expense, Natural Language Processing International and MedicExchange. The event was the brainchild of Alex Fair, Founder of FairCareMD and Co-Founder of the Health 2.0 NY Chapter.  He said, "New York is not only the financial capital of the world, but also brimming with healthcare startups that are making a difference and changing healthcare as we know it. Nonetheless, it is often difficult for Founders and the Investors to connect. I think we succeeded in bridging that gap for a few great companies with this event."  Eugene Borukhovich, Founder of the Health 2.0 NYC Chapter, added "This group was chartered over two years ago with the purpose of inspiring NYC's healthcare community to Connect, Create and Cure together. We are happy that NYC has such an engaging healthcare startup atmosphere and we look forward to many more events like this."

About Health 2.0 & Health 2.0 NYC Chapter

The Health 2.0 Conference is the leading showcase of cutting-edge technologies in health care, including Online Communities, Search and lightweight Tools for consumers to manage their health and connect to providers online. For more information about the nation organization please see www.health2con.com  . Health 2.0 NYC Chapter evangelizes and promotes the Health 2.0 movement in the New York Metro area. For more information or to watch videos of the finalists, please see http://health20nyc.com.

About WellApps, LLC

WellApps develops and distributes mobile symptom tracking applications for patients with chronic illnesses. The data collected is compiled into easy-to-read reports for physicians, resulting in optimal patient treatment and reduced periods of active disease. Patients can also access interactive charts to see correlations between symptoms and understand how compliance to medication affects their well being.  http://wellapps.com

Sponsors for the Event

This event was made possible by the generous support of PRNewswire, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, and FairCareMD.com. 

Media Contact: Alex Fair Health 2.0 NYC, (917) 832-1705 x502, [email protected]

SOURCE Health 2.0 NYC