What is I-Corps?

Stigma about feeling unwell. Not knowing when you need help. Lack of simple access to professional help. All of this is apparent in youth sports and through my experience as a youth soccer athlete and certified first responder, I witnessed this first-hand and set out to end this by founding Vistendo, which in a mix of Greek and latin means to see within.

A couple of months later, I stumbled upon the I-Corps course and was encouraged to attend by one of my mentors, Dr. Jawa. When I took the I-Corps course it emphasized that the number one priority is customers and figuring out exactly what they need. It pushed me to talk with potential customers and others that were affected by youth sport injuries and really understand their pain points. As a start-up company it is imperative to know if your solution meets their needs and by talking with as many people as you can, can you begin to narrow down the real pain points that every single customer has regardless of individual experiences. I-Corps even gave me the opportunity to attend the HLTH (pronounced “health) Conference, the largest conference in health innovation that brings together senior leaders from established payers, providers, employers and pharma services, as well as from disruptive startups, prolific investors, representatives from government, academia, health associations, business groups, media and industry analysts. Here I was able to expand my customer discovery, understand pain points from key health professions and venture advancement.

Since I-Corps, I continued to talk with as many different types of customers in the youth sport ecosystem, learning and refining our product continuously. Along the way, Vistendo was awarded over $1 million in SBIR Phase I and II grants with the US DHA (Defense Health Agency) to help end the suffering for service members and veterans in addition to youth athletes. With these grants we have assembled a top-level team of engineers and doctors to diagnose traumatic brain injuries (TBI) for military personnel and veterans whether on the field or in a hospital. Just like many sport injuries, TBIs are extremely difficult to detect but pose serious consequences if left untreated.

This year Vistendo will be launching our first product designed to interconnect athletes, athletic trainers, and the rest of the sports industry to end youth athlete suffering. Our app provides individualized health and injury care management for the athlete, and acts as a virtual medical assistant for certified athletic trainers to enable better care and outcomes.