Health tech company lands funding from IU
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A California-based healthcare venture founded by an Indiana University alumnus is getting a funding boost from his alma mater. The IU Angel Network and the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund have awarded a total of $450,000 to inTandem Health, which has developed a peer support tech platform.
IU says the platform is designed to connect patients and their caregivers with individuals who have experienced the same diagnoses.
The company was founded in 2021 by IU Kelley School of Business alumnus Paul Hoffman, who decided to start the company based on his own experiences.
“One of the first things someone does when faced with a serious, life-changing diagnosis is search for information online and ask friends and family if they know of anyone who has gone through a similar experience,” Hoffman said. “I, personally, was desperate to find a mentor at my health system who could help me navigate my journey of surgeries and treatments, someone who had managed to survive and thrive. I felt that was the missing part of my care. But I couldn’t find anyone.”
Hoffman is no stranger to starting a business in the healthcare field. In 1995, he founded HealthCom Partners LLC, an online billing system platform that was acquired by Texas-based McKesson Corp. (NYSE: MCK) in 2006.
Another IU alumnus, Jason Wadler serves as president of inTandem Health. He says the company has received positive feedback.
“As we started talking to hospital systems about opportunities for greater peer-to-peer support with inTandem’s technology platform, every one of them we talked to said ‘we need this.’ Some didn’t even realize they had existing peer programs,” said Wadler.
The company says it will use the new funding to further develop its platform.
The IU Angel Network connects startup companies and prospective investors among IU’s community of alumni, faculty, staff and students. The IU Philanthropic Venture Fund provides investments for high-potential, early-stage companies with IU affiliations.