Continued customer engagement: Even more than a year after the initial I-Corps program, customer discovery and outreach is still ongoing. Notable customer discovery efforts over the reporting period include a trip to Boston where clinical engineers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Medical Center were interviewed, two trips to California where professionals from UCSF Medical Center, Stanford Health Care, and Huntington Hospital were interviewed, and a trip to Minneapolis for an AEM forum where we were able to speak with leading experts in the field of medical equipment maintenance. Phone interviews have also been ongoing, and have uncovered likely early adopting customers.

Submitted NSF SBIR proposal: In July 2018, CMR Innovations, LLC, in conjunction with The George Washington University, submitted an SBIR proposal to the NSF. The lessons learned from I-Corps were referenced and relied upon extensively in the ?Commercial Opportunity? section of the proposal.

Engaged with past interviewees: We have followed up with several potential customers interviewed during the I-Corps program in order to garner feedback on technology-specific aspects of the project. Whereas in the original interviews we refrained from talking about our technology for fear of influencing interviewees? responses, we were now free to gather feedback on our envisioned value propositions and product features. These efforts revealed an enthusiasm for our post-pivot technology (specifically the reporting of equipment utilization data and impact events to a central monitoring station), but also made apparent the difficulty of displacing the status quo in the healthcare technology management field. One potential customer saw the need addressed by our technology, but was skeptical about the proposed implementation. In contrast, another potential customer embraced our ideas, saying that they addressed acute needs in the industry and he looks forward to seeing this technology installed in hospitals. He went on to write a letter of support for our grant proposals, and also provided us with a roadmap of how to overcome the status quo bias existing in the field. Other follow-up interviews provided insights on the particular form factor, battery life, and application requirements which should be kept in mind as we design a minimally viable product.  

Developed technology towards MVP:  We have continued developing our technology, but now do so with our customer interviews as a guide. The I-Corps process of gathering evidence through customer engagement has resulted in pivots not only to our business model, but also to the specific form and function of our technology. For example, our interviews provided clear evidence that we should focus on tracking the utilization of medical equipment and de-prioritize the environmental monitoring included in earlier prototypes. In response, more emphasis was put on developing the plug module component of our system, as it performs the utilization tracking function. However, further market research and customer engagement revealed that our design, which required the module to act as an intermediary between medical assets and mains (i.e. wall outlet) power, would necessitate many expensive tests and certifications, even prior to MVP deployment. In response, we have worked to incorporate non-invasive current sensing technology into the modules, which will allow them to provide valuable utilization data to our customers without being subject to the extensive regulatory standards surrounding power strips and plugs.

I-Corps interviews have also given us the information needed to build out an MVP which can be sold to early-adopting customers. Prior to I-Corps participation, we were focused on developing a predictive maintenance system which could adapt to any equipment in a healthcare facility. This remains our end-goal, but our interview evidence has shown that a comparatively simple Wi-Fi-enabled device capable of tracking the utilization of a handful of equipment types (particularly infusion pumps) will address many of our customers? pain points. The development of such a device can be done much more rapidly than the envisioned final version, permitting earlier market entry and revenue generation.

Participated in I-Corps GO: Towards the end of this reporting cycle, we have accepted an invitation to participate in the I-Corps GO program taught at GW. This program is designed to help teams who have completed NSF I-Corps to flesh out the parts of the business model canvas that are only briefly touched on in the national program. This means re-analyzing interview notes (and conducting new stakeholder interviews) in order to identify potential partners, key activities and resources, and a viable revenue-cost model. The program also helps teams navigate the essentials of running a startup (e.g. funding, legal, administrative) and to develop a plan for launching and scaling the product.

Patent Application: Our patent application has reached an adavnced stage because we have recently, as at May 2019, responded to USPTO's queries and requests for amendments. The indications are strong that our patent would be approved, soon. 

Last Modified: 06/07/2019
Modified by: Ekundayo Shittu