Jason Murray came to the University of Cincinnati to boost Teravus, his artificial intelligence-powered health care startup that takes its name from an Estonian term for "sharpness."
In his own words, Teravus' mission is to "closely monitor patients within emergency department waiting rooms, allowing health care providers to tailor interventions more efficiently."
While Murray is confident in Teravus' product, he formerly lacked one skill for launching a startup: business acumen. Fortunately, UC's Center for Entrepreneurship connected Murray with the 1819 Innovation Hub's Venture Lab. Since then, Teravus has been laser-focused on attainable growth.
Hospitals often face triage prioritization issues, leading to unpredictable wait times and trouble managing patient loads. Where patients and administrators noticed problems, Murray envisioned a solution: utilize AI to sort patients based on severity and wait time length.
Murray knew how to prioritize patients in the hospital emergency room but needed to learn strategies for launching his new company. That's why he turned to the Venture Lab, a startup incubator and part of UC's 1819 Innovation Hub.
Candace Wade, program manager at UC's Center for Entrepreneurship, described the Venture Lab as "a nine-week pre-accelerator program for UC students and community members to dive deeper into their ideas." The goal, Wade said, is to "show you how to find your footing in the market while connecting you with mentors, entrepreneurs-in-residence, resources and opportunity for the earliest funding in Cincinnati's ecosystem."
Harnessing the entrepreneurial resources of the 1819 Innovation Hub, Murray and his team developed a business strategy. Much of this plan came from joining the Venture Lab's pre-accelerator and accelerator programs, offering insights on topics such as product development, go-to-market strategy and financial modeling. Investor feedback also played a critical role in refining ideas for Teravus.
"Participating in the 1819 Venture Lab provided invaluable knowledge and expertise," Murray said.
A few of his favorite aspects were weekly tracking of key performance indicators, mentorships from entrepreneurs-in-residence and the accountability provided by cohort and faculty members.
Teravus may have moved beyond the Venture Lab, but a new cohort of promising businesses is growing in the 1819 Innovation Hub. As these teams begin their own nine-week entrepreneurship journeys, they hope to replicate Teravus' success as they dream up the Venture Lab's next great idea.
Featured image at top: Doctors chart patient records. Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative Services
