STARTUPS & INNOVATIONS

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES

Teledentistry upstart Denteractive Solutions Inc. of Newport Beach, which allows patients to communicate with dentists via text or video, is offering its platform free to dentists during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Enrollment and subscription fees are being waived; patients are still being charged for add-on features such as video medicine, the company said.

Denteractive connects dentists with potential patients; it serves as a lead generation tool for dentists and offers consultation, follow-up and emergency services to patients remotely.

Chief Executive Reza Izadi came up with the idea after realizing that much of his work didn’t need to be done in the office. He is a board-certified endodontist and runs a private practice in Lake Forest and Whittier.

Izadi and Chief Technology Officer Adrien Abbasi built out the platform in 2015. 

The teledentistry market remains fragmented and relatively untapped, compared to telemedicine, according to Abbasi.

Denteractive has garnered more attention in recent weeks and began discussions with large dental and insurance companies, he said.

The company has raised nearly $800,000 in seed funding from angel investors and dentists. It is currently seeking additional funds.

Irvine-based Tahmo Inc. is developing a wearable thermometer system with StartUp Health Holdings Inc., a health-focused network that connects companies with investors and partners. 

Tahmo’s single-use, wireless thermometer system “can benefit nurses and doctors who need to track body temperature remotely in order to reduce the risk of becoming infected,” said Tahmo founder Arif Quronfleh.

The system provides notifications to communicate patients’ current conditions with caregivers and healthcare professionals, and its sensors monitor body temperature spikes, according to Quronfleh. 

The company also released a temperature and humidity monitoring system for the home in 2018. The consumer-facing system helps homeowners keep track of specific surroundings such as storage for musical instruments or wine.  

Quronfleh launched the 3-year-old company following a career in the medical device industry; his résumé includes positions at San Diego-based Integra NeuroCare and Quest Diagnostics in San Juan Capistrano. 

The company is now raising a $1 million round to spur product development. 

It’s also applied for a COVID-19 grant through the National Science Foundation and is in discussions with medical centers to conduct trials for early detection of the virus in healthcare workers with its wearable device.

LAUNCH

Costa Mesa-based Gocious LLC has launched a beta version of its software for product manufacturers. 

Companies can sign up for free and invite their team to use a shared workspace to define requirements for a product line and assess product-market fit. Features to compare pricing and competitors are in development. 

The software will be available on a subscription basis following a free trial period.

The company has decided to provide its product for 12 months for free to nonprofit organizations and companies looking to develop products for COVID-19-related uses. 

Product discussions currently take place over spreadsheets and PowerPoints, so Gocious was created to provide a collaborative space to plan features and configurations at a high level, according to Chief Technology Officer Maziar Adl. 

Adl said the platform can serve makers of a variety of complex products, from computers to bikes to power tools.

Gocious was spun out of an established UK-based research enterprise in 2017, providing the initial angel round of “millions” to fund the company through 2020. The 11-person company plans to raise another round this year.

CoverCrow Inc. in Huntington Beach has released a job-matching website for court reporters and reporting agencies.

The cloud-based platform launched in California, which has nearly 5,000 freelance court reporters. 

Founder Cassandra Caldarella, a court reporter for Orange County and Los Angeles, created the platform to give both parties a “bird’s eye view” of job opportunities as they become available. 

Since the privatization of the industry in 2012, court reporters have turned to freelance work offered on a first-come, first-serve basis via email blasts from agencies and Facebook group postings, said Caldarella. 

The CoverCrow platform provides settings to help reporters find work closer to home and view postings in real time, even when reporters are on the job, added Caldarella.  

The stenography industry spans court and deposition reporting; television captioning; and CART reporting for the hard of hearing.

Caldarella said she expects the industry to continue to grow as more lawsuits arise due to COVID-19.

FINANCING

Insight Medical Systems Inc. in Laguna Hills has raised $1.3 million in seed funding. 

Part of the investment came from the Tech Coast Angels’ OC TCA 20 Fund; the company is seeking about $200,000 to complete the round.

IMS is developing an augmented reality surgical navigation system that combines tracking cameras, a hands-free interface and 3D display to provide surgeons with tracking and visualization capabilities in the operating room. 

User interface features and information are displayed directly in the surgeon’s field of view without the need to look away from the operating site and are a natural extension of the user’s sensory system, the company says. Immediate access to information can streamline surgery, enable less invasive approaches, reduce risk and improve patient outcomes, the company said. 

IMS is focusing on orthopedic procedures, while several Orange County companies are producing augmented reality headsets for the visually impaired and exploring medical uses. IMS estimated its addressable market will reach $1 billion by 2021. 

The company is led by Chief Executive Nick van der Walt; Chief Technology Officer Matt Ryan; Jonathan Nielson, vice president of research and development; and Chief Medical Officer Andrew Hartman.

The executive team formed after leaving Aliso Viejo-based OrthAlign, the developer of a navigation system for joint replacement surgeries.

PERSONNEL MOVES

E-commerce upstart and installation service provider Buy It Installed Inc. has named Todd Banhidy chief executive and opened a $4.5 million extension to its Series A round.

Banhidy was previously president and chief cognitive architect; Grant Van Cleve has transitioned from acting chief executive to executive chairman (see story, page 3).

The leadership change and re-opened round comes as Buy It Installed pivots to bring their “do it for me” offering to the automotive aftermarket. The change follow a pilot test with Jeep soft top provider Bestop Inc., which is now expanding to other product accessories and subsidiary sites.

There are other home improvement service providers but none currently focused on the auto industry, which gives Buy It Installed pole position in serving its approximately $3.5 billion addressable market, according to Van Cleve.

The company has raised $18.5 million to date, with existing investors including Tech Coast Angels, Skyview Capital and the Eldred and Tanti families.