Day: 22 July 2022

Transcript

[00:08 – 01:26] Sam van Bohemen

Hi, my name is Sam and I am the CEO and co-founder of Nuroflux.

When a family member suffered multiple strokes in between CT scans, we were desperate to understand why these strokes were not detected. And now, at Nuroflux, we are developing an innovative device to address this problem.

Worldwide, there is a stroke every 2 seconds, and with an ageing population, the incidence of stroke is expected to increase.

Following a suspected stroke, a patient will come into a hospital where they will have a CT scan to confirm the diagnosis. Now CT scans provide an imaging snapshot in time, but due to radiation exposure are only performed every 24 hours. In this first 24 hour window, patients will receive treatment and are at risk of deterioration, such as having a secondary stroke, which occurs in 10% of all patients. However, there is currently no way to continuously monitor patients’ brain activity and brain blood flow, which are key indicators in stroke. Standard care relies upon waiting for the next CT scan and on nurses performing intensive nursing observations. Now, as you can imagine, this is very distressing for patients and is time consuming for nurses. It is the subject of a method and is useless if the patient is unconscious.

At Nuroflux we are developing a wearable device that will provide real time continuous monitoring of treatment and the detection of patient deterioration, leading to faster detection intervention and improved patient outcome. Our wearable device utilizes a proprietary, multi-modal system that I have developed during my PhD in biomedical engineering to provide real time continuous monitoring of brain activity and brain blood flow simultaneously, the device will be easy to use and will have alert algorithms that indicate the need for clinical action, such as the detection of secondary strokes, the neurological and diagnostic and monitoring equipment market is growing. In fact, the Asia-Pacific region is experiencing the largest growth in the sector. However, we anticipate our device will also disrupt the global diagnostic imaging market, which is valued at 37 billion AUD.

Our initial foothold market will be in-hospital monitoring where we will sell devices and offer a subscription service for our software platform. However, there are also a number of exciting expansion opportunities.

Our device is scalable to ambulances and at home settings to help detect stroke in the community and due to the low cost and portable nature of the device. We’re also interested in rural and remote communities where there is limited access to CT and MRI scanners. Furthermore, our device may also monitor other diseases, including delirium and traumatic brain injury.

David and I are the co-founders of Nuroflux. I’m a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student with a neuroscience honors degree. My co-founder, David, is a commercialization and innovation associate and a major medical research institute. He has a PhD in medicine and is completing his MBA. We are also supported by an experienced team of clinical, and strategic advisors. Nuroflux has also formed an exciting strategic partnership with the George Institute for Global Health, a Medical Research Institute to pursue a multicenter clinical efficacy trial that will take place in Sydney and will be supported by three of Australia’s leading stroke clinicians.

We are seeking $800,000 at a $4.1 million pre money valuation. These funds will help secure our IP position, develop our regulatory strategy and create our next generation device and software platform. We are seeking pre-seed investment and strategic partners.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. We hope that you will join us on our journey to improve stroke patient outcomes in Australia and worldwide.

DOWNLOAD A WORD VERSION OF THE TRANSCRIPT HERE.  

Visit the Nuroflux website or follow them on LinkedIn and Facebook. 

Transcript

[00:08 – 01:26] Hailey Brown

Tourism marketing is predominantly visual for the 253 million blind and low vision tourists globally. This means that they have to rely on tools and platforms designed for sighted people to choose where to travel. Put simply, the tourism industry is inaccessible. But what if tourism experiences didn’t need to be limited to imagery and instead could be a much more immersive, enriching experience?

So instead of using just this photo of the puffing Billy Steam train, you can listen to this. Feel the magic of the steam train travel from the moment you arrive, as you inhale the smoky scent of steam billowing out of the. Vessel’s chimney and are greeted by the evocative sound of the train’s whistle. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Hi, I’m Hailey, the founder of VacayIt. And we have created an audio guide to the world. We’re enabling travellers to make informed and independent decisions about where they want to travel. You’ll be able to pick up your phone wherever and whenever and listen to the stories, sounds and history clips of the world around you.

The release of VacayIt is timely with the rising popularity of audio such as podcasts and audiobooks, which right now is a largely untapped market within the tourism industry.

Our stories are hosted on the VacayIt app, which allows users to navigate according to their desired needs with the use of accessible features like map, text or voice search.

Spread across the country, our stories are created in collaboration with the leading destination marketing organizations on a local, regional state and national level. We are growing rapidly, bringing new stories to life every week, and we’re not planning on stopping anytime soon.

Currently within Australia we generate revenue via two active streams major event providers and destination marketing organizations. We’re generating 600,000 annual recurring revenue via these streams and estimate an attainable market of $3 million within Australia to increase our market opportunity and capitalize on first mover advantage, we will expand our services to New Zealand and Fiji first, followed by the US and UK and will add two new revenue streams on platform booking services and user generated content.

With our product and market adequate resources, increased market size and additional revenue streams, we see an opportunity to capture $20 million of the market within our first three years.

We have built a strategic and dedicated team at Vacayit, hiring experts in the area of accessibility, content curation, partnership management and development. The national and global support we’ve had for Vacayit so far proves that it’s already been a game changer for the tourism industry.

Not only are we changing the lives of our users, but we’re also revolutionising the way that tourism organisations market destinations.

We’re looking for smart investment so that we can hire strategically and build the technology that will enable us to scale rapidly, reach new audiences, and expand into multiple global markets.

Join us in creating an accessible future for the tourism industry now. Not in six months because everyone deserves a holiday.

DOWNLOAD A WORD VERSION OF THE TRANSCRIPT HERE.  

Follow Vacayit on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. 

Transcript

[00:02 – 03:45] Keith Kirkland

Haptic means touch and touch is a more inclusive way to communicate information. Hi, my name is Keith Kirkland. I’m a 42 year old black American male with shoulder length locs, and I’m the co-founder of Wear Works.

Several years ago, we got a call from a marathoner who was blind. He wanted to know if we could help him fulfil his dream of running in the biggest marathon in the world without being tethered to a guide.

WearWorks is a haptic platform company. We build products and experiences that use the skin as a communications channel to deliver information in a more intuitive and less obtrusive way. We took on the challenge and just eight months later, he made history as the first person who was blind to run in the New York City Marathon without sighted assistance. And he did it using our very first product, WayBand. And in this video you can see him finishing the race.

Navigation is inherently visual and we all use it almost every day. The space is dominated by Google through Maps and Waze, but they, like all mapping applications, rely heavily on visual cues, and visual based navigation is not always safe. Oftentimes it’s not practical. And for 285 million people worldwide living with a visual impairment, it’s a real problem. So we invented WayBand, a haptic navigation app and an optional wristband that gently guides you to your destination using only vibration.

The WayBand app can be used with your smartphone in your hand or it can be paired with our WayBand wristband for a hands free experience. The way it works as you type or say where you want to go, confirm and you’ll be guided to your destination using our patented haptic corridor. When you’re in the corridor, you feel nothing. Swivel slightly to the left or the right and WayBand will gently nudge you back on the right path using your own natural sense of touch.

We’ve tested with thousands of people and most can figure out the correct way to go within seconds without any instructions, it’s that intuitive.

We’re initially targeting young, blind and visually impaired students and professionals, and we’ve already pre sold half of our initial production to partners at Massachusetts Commission for the Blind Lighthouse Guild, Helen Keller, the New York City Department of Education, and several Paralympians. Through these influencers and channel partners, we have access to millions of potential customers that trust us.

Our team has the deep expertise in touch. Kevin is an internationally award winning industrial designer, and I worked on a suit that would allow a person to download and learn kung fu using only vibrations. We both have been exploring haptics for over nine years and we’re backed by a world class and diverse team.

We’ve done the hard R&D, proven the technology, built the team and made history. In addition to selling WayBands, we see a part of our business model being driven by licensing accessible haptic navigation.

We’ve already been in talks with organizations such as Airbnb, Disney and Google.

Haptics are going to change the world for everyone. Navigation is just the beginning of our journey and we’d love to have you along. We’re raising a Round. The WayBand app is available right now and this QR code will let you try it out on us for a month for free. Download it now and we’re looking for connections. The heads of accessibility and government, university schools, military and enterprise.

Thank you very much. And please keep in touch.

DOWNLOAD A WORD VERSION OF THE TRANSCRIPT HERE.

Follow WearWorks on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.