A software company that says it has devised a way to measure the efficacy of supplements for brain function has released an introductory version of its product called the Nootropic Research Kit.
Nootropics refers to any nutraceutical taken with the intention of improving cognitive function. A nutraceutical is an isolated nutrient capable of providing health benefits beyond the basic nutritional value found in a food source. Vitamin B12 and the antioxidant glutathione are examples.
Modern AlkaMe Inc., which is based at incubator EvoNexus at The Vine, released an in-home research kit for users to track the effectiveness of brain supplements they take. It’s a scientific approach based on measuring indicators including blood pressure, heart rate and day-to-day habits, such as exercise, said co-founder and Chief Executive Garrett Ruhland.
Modern AlkaMe sells users nootropics intended to help them achieve greater cognitive function. The company has more than 50 of its own nootropics, including the herbal supplements rhodioala and ashwagandha. It ultimately plans to partner with nutraceutical suppliers in order to focus exclusively on its software.
The company already has licensed its software to medical, research and retail companies that want to measure how their products are impacting users, Ruhland said. It’s also working with some ready-to-drink coffee companies that have expressed interest in including nootropics in their products, he added.
The company’s next release will be an app enabling users to integrate all of their third-party health data, such as blood tests, to give a more comprehensive set of results and feedback, Ruhland said. The app will use machine learning to observe how a user reacts to certain supplements and recommend supplements for future use.
The company has raised a small amount of angel funding and is looking to close a seed round for $1.5 million in advance of doing a Series A raise next year, Ruhland said.
He just returned from a trip to San Francisco, where he closed some funding, the amount of which he declined to disclose. He may move the company to San Francisco when it’s ready to move out of EvoNexus, he said.
Dusty Patent Gets Life
The Seal Beach-based MORE Foundation, along with the University of California-Irvine’s ANTrepreneur Center, kicked off MORE’s first entrepreneur competition Oct. 5 at The Cove, the physical home of UCI’s innovation institute.
The Fast FWD Business Competition brings together students, community members and mentors in the commercialization of intellectual property. Participants form teams and participate in five weeks of workshops and mentoring to develop a strategy for bringing to market an unused patent. The winning team will get the opportunity to license the patent so that it can start the proposed business without delay.
That will shorten the early phase of the company, when entrepreneurs typically spend 12 to18 months identifying their markets, obtaining provisional patents, and pulling together their teams, said David Ochi, executive director of the ANTrepreneur Center.
“By exposing the patent to all contestants at the same time, everyone starts on a level playing field, enabling a fair competition for all,” he said.
The MORE Foundation was founded by a group that includes business leaders, entrepreneurs and inventors.
UCI ANTrepreneur Center opened in 2014 to help students start ventures. It provides free mentorship along with learning opportunities, resources to help students scale their businesses, and connections to the greater Irvine entrepreneurial network.
Products Hit Target
A company with the goal of empowering girls to embrace business, entrepreneurship and technology recently got its products on the shelves at Target stores, well in advance of the holiday shopping season.
Middle School Moguls, based at The Cove, formerly was called iBesties. The name refers to characters in the story the company created as a theme for its books, dolls and online elements. The target market is girls ages 6 to 10.
Gina Heitkamp and her sister, Jenae Heitkamp, started working on iBesties full time in August 2014 after winning UCI’s Business Plan Competition. They have closed on more than $1 million in funding to date, Gina Heitkamp said.
Bits & Pieces
VYRL recently won the Influencer App of the Year award from the Internet Marketing Association at Impact2016 in Las Vegas. VYRL’s app allows Instagram users with 5,000 or more followers—known as influencers—to collaborate with and cross-promote each other. VYRL is based at Chapman University’s Launch Labs incubator. … SugarsGone has moved out of its co-working space at the Eureka Building and into the Newport Beach office of K5 Ventures, an early-stage venture.
