DreamIt accelerator wins $325K innovation grant

Global startup accelerator Dreamit has received a $325,000 grant from Blackstone Charitable Foundation to drive innovation in the healthcare sector.

The Dreamit Health program was developed in collaboration with Penn Medicine and Independence Blue Cross.

The prestigious Blackstone Innovation Grant is awarded to organizations that strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems and support promising entrepreneurs. The grant will allow Dreamit, Penn Medicine and Independence to support more high-potential early stage healthcare startups that have the potential to increase the quality and lower the cost of healthcare in this region and nationally, according to the organization. It also will allow Dreamit to expand its high-impact accelerator practices based on the program’s previous three years of success.

The funding also will grow the Dreamit Health network by facilitating new relationships with additional Philadelphia healthcare organizations while deepening integration with current partners. Dreamit Health will host on-site Customer Immersion and Learning Events at top Philadelphia-area healthcare institutions to expand engagement with clinicians and build a broader clinical network for early need finding, design iterations and piloting. Startups will have an opportunity to pitch the executive teams and clinicians at these institutions their insights into core problems, market opportunities, gaps in existing solutions and their current value proposition, along with how the regional institutions can help.

“This grant will allow more early stage digital health companies to participate in Dreamit Health and bring their world-changing innovations to market while deepening our roots in Philadelphia’s tech community, where we’ve been supporting entrepreneurs for nearly a decade,” said Dreamit CEO Avi Savar. “We are proud to have been selected by the Blackstone Charitable Foundation from hundreds of organizations and look forward to working with our partners to build a bigger, better Dreamit this year.”

“Penn Medicine, Independence Blue Cross, and Dreamit are all excited about what we’ve been able to accomplish to date, having grown companies that are starting to change health care delivery, and the Blackstone Foundation’s support creates the potential for even bigger impact,” said University of Pennsylvania Health System CEO Ralph W. Muller.  “We’ve learned a tremendous amount about how to open the right doors and provide valuable guidance and resources for entrepreneurs seeking to improve health care, and can now apply those lessons learned at a larger scale.”

“Dreamit Health has been an important catalyst toward achieving our goal to make our region a national hub for health care innovation,” said Daniel J. Hilferty, president and CEO of Independence Blue Cross. “The program allows us to attract the best and brightest minds to our region, help them cultivate important collaborations, and develop and market their ideas.  The Blackstone grant will help us expand the already successful program’s reach even further.”

Now entering its fourth year, Dreamit Health has accelerated over 40 startups, providing funding, mentorship, industry insights, data and access to customers and investors through its global network. Dreamit Health alumni have gone on to raise additional capital, secure coveted pilot programs, win contracts and successfully exit. Reflecting its support for startups throughout the lifecycle, Dreamit was the second most active digital health investor in 2015.