Innovative Infant Phototherapy Device Wins at InnovateHER Challenge Event
TheraB Medical to Advance to National Semifinal Round
LANSING, Mich. – The Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) is excited to announce the winner of the local InnovateHER business pitch competition, TheraB Medical. LEAP partnered with the Lansing area Tech Thursday networking group to host a local event in conjunction with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)’s InnovateHER Challenge. The event, held yesterday evening at the EAST Lansing Technology and Innovation Center (TIC), was the third local InnovateHER Challenge competition LEAP has spearheaded in the region, in as many years.
The InnovateHER Innovating for Women Business Challenge is targeted at local entrepreneurs and innovators whose products and services better the lives of women and families. Winners of local InnovateHER competitions are eligible to enter a nationwide business competition that brings top local winners from across the nation together.
“Our role at LEAP is to make sure there is a diverse range of opportunities for entrepreneurs in our region to take advantage of. Programs like InnovateHER represent the type of opportunities that fill a specific market need and client base, ” said Tony Willis, LEAP’s New Economy Division Director.
Thursday evening at the TIC, Alexa Jones, CEO and Co-founder of TheraB Medical, competed against five locally-based businesses, coming out on top to claim the $1,000 award along with a one-year membership to the TIC. TheraB Medical is a medical device company that has developed an infant swaddle that cures jaundice with phototheraputic treatment. This innovative technology provides a more efficient and holistic treatment option for infant jaundice, which is a prevalent condition among newborn babies.
“I was very eager to participate when I learned LEAP was hosting a local competition connected to the national InnovateHER challenge,” said Jones. ”I’m excited about the possibility of competing on a national level and am looking forward to taking TheraB forward even further.”
As a local division champion, Jones will move on to a national semi-final round, and possibly the final round of competition to vie for a slice of $70,000 in SBA prize money funded through a gift from the Sara Blakely Foundation. The 2017 National InnovateHER competition will be held in Washington DC in September.
Category: Press Releases, Entrepreneurship