Epharmix, a health-care software that uses SMS and phone-based technology to allow the sickest, toughest patients to stay in touch with their care teams automatically, will receive $50,000 in equity-free funding as the 2016 winner of the Global Impact Award. With this announcement from the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis, Epharmix joins the ranks of past winners Nanopore Diagnostics (2014), ViFlex (2014) and Applied Particle Technology (2015).
The Global Impact Award honors Washington University students, postdoctoral researchers and recent alumni whose ventures are scalable, sustainable and quick-to-market with proof of concept and a broad impact. It is made possible by a donation from alumnus Suren G. Dutia and his wife, Jas K. Grewal.
In June, the Skandalaris Center announced the finalists for the award. From that moment, the finalists worked with center administrators and hand-selected mentors to refine their ventures and pitches. After the finalists gave their pitches to the judges Nov. 7, Epharmix was selected as the winner. Epharmix consists of several Washington University alumni and current students.
“To our team, the Global Impact Award reflects the combination of innovation and magnanimity that makes the WU community so powerful,” said Blake Marggraff, Epharmix CEO.
“As Epharmix carries the torch for 2016 with a focus on using high-impact digital health to support the patients who need it most, my team and I will derive even more motivation from the knowledge that some of Washington University’s most esteemed alumni believe in our mission and approach to driving sustainable, scalable improvements in health care.”
“This is an exciting event for the Skandalaris Center,” said Emre Toker, managing director at Skandalaris. “The Global Impact Award allows us to encourage interdisciplinary participation in entrepreneurship, to connect teams with expert mentors and to build a strong support network of mentors and entrepreneurs over time. I am eager to watch each of the teams’ progress.”