Stories of entrepreneurship and innovation are alive and well here in Warsaw, Indiana, the Orthopedic Capital of the World®. And yet, like so much in Kosciusko County there are still many more “well-kept secrets” to be shared.
Local medical technology (medtech) startup, GemViz, is adding value to the ever-evolving medical device landscape with service offerings that complement the local geographic area and beyond.
GemViz is a medtech development company providing digital technology solutions to deepen healthcare insights and improve patient outcomes.
GemViz was founded by the trio of Mike Cusick who serves as chief executive officer, Jody Claypool, chief operating officer, and Vinay Tikka, chief technology officer. With more than 70 years of combined experience, the founding team has unique and extensive backgrounds in the medical device industry from business marketing, product development and medical software.
Coincidentally, the GemViz team of Cusick, Claypool and Tikka met at a KEDCO event, where they first began discussing their ideas for the business. It may not have been the proverbial big idea that started on a napkin, but early conversations did happen over beers at HopLore Brewing in Warsaw.
“Jody and Vinay had developed some great ideas and IP (intellectual property), and wanted to go further with it. The three of us continued our discussion and determined it was a great opportunity to develop a solution for the marketplace,” said Cusick.
GemViz services include development and market strategies to move innovative ideas from concept to commercialization in the medtech sector.
“We’re currently working on a software platform that consolidates patient information so doctors and patients can both access the information needed to improve patient engagement, make solid diagnoses, and improve outcomes,” said Cusick.
“As a community with strong roots in medical devices, particularly the orthopedic sector, we’re excited to support startups like GemViz, that are focused on delivering medtech solutions that complement our strengths in implants and instruments,” said Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO) CEO Alan Tio. “We have a strong backbone in devices, and there are plenty of opportunities to expand our focus to include technology support as well.”
With initiatives supporting entrepreneurship and the medical device sector, KEDCO continues to listen to the community to identify needs and solve problems. Last year, KEDCO announced a partnership with NEXT Studios to bring a medtech business accelerator to Kosciusko County. The Kosciusko MedTech Accelerator Studio was developed to help build a pipeline of medtech startup companies to complement existing product development and manufacturing capabilities.
GemViz participated in the accelerator program last fall. Working one-on-one with program partner NEXT Studios, led GemViz to uncover new insights and refine its business model.
“We found the experience with NEXT Studios to be invaluable, especially in our early-stage development. Their process made us challenge our initial concept and business model, allowing us to quickly refine our offering to be much more attractive in the market, saving us considerable time and resources,” said Cusick.
KEDCO continues seeking opportunities to bridge gaps, create partnerships, and support new ideas and innovation in Kosciusko County. In the coming weeks, KEDCO will launch a program that utilizes local expertise to build and bring ideas and startups to life.
“The ‘Market Maker Program’ pairs up local entrepreneurs and companies, or what we reference as ‘providers’ and ‘developers’, to bring ideas or IP to fruition,” said Tio. The program connects local entrepreneurs and companies with experienced developers from key industries while also offering access to business resources, capital, and opportunities to build valuable relationships through collaboration and partnership.”
Claypool who has an extensive background in engineering and development, worked alongside KEDCO to help structure the program.
“This program serves as a conduit for putting great ideas into action. ‘Providers’ share the idea, and ‘developers’ take the idea from concept to solution,” said Claypool. “The program provides secure, low-risk and cost-effective development pathways for local entrepreneurs and innovators.”
“We’re excited to support both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs with this new offering.” said Tio. “We understand that companies at all stages of development have ‘to do lists’ that exceed their capacity, so our matchmaking will help to connect those providers with developers that can offer extra capacity”.”
Learn more and stay connected with GemViz at www.gemviz.io and via Linkedin. Stay connected with KEDCO at www.kosciuskoedc.com and via Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin @kosciuskoedc.com. Hear more about the GemViz story and the Kosciusko MedTech Accelerator program by tuning in to Episode 49 of the Clearly Kosciusko podcast (bit.ly/KEDCOpodcast).
