It Takes a Village: Steel Works Health Accelerator Launches Its Inaugural Cohort

Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. Behind every successful idea is a network of people offering guidance and encouragement. In an industry like healthcare, where the complexities facing startups are as vast as they are time-consuming, it truly takes a village.

That spirit of learning and knowledge-sharing is exactly what inspired the launch of the Steel Works Health Accelerator.

A Partnership with Nebraska Roots

The Steel Works Health Accelerator is a collaboration between CQuence Health, UNeMed Corporation and UNeTech Institute, three organizations with a shared commitment to advancing healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship in Nebraska.

“This program is about unlocking the potential that already exists here in Nebraska,” said Kyle Salem, PhD, CEO of CQuence Health. “It’s a structured pathway for founders to take promising ideas and turn them into credible, market-ready healthcare businesses. By building on intellectual property developed in our backyard, we’re not only strengthening Nebraska’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, we’re advancing healthcare solutions that have the potential to scale nationally and globally. That’s how we drive meaningful impact in healthcare.”

Each partner brings a unique strength to the program. UNeMed contributes to expertise in commercialization and translating academic innovation into real-world solutions. UNeTech provides entrepreneurial programming and support for early-stage startups. CQuence Health brings over 40 years of healthcare expertise and mentorship from professionals who understand the complexities of bringing new ideas into healthcare environments.

“I've seen a lot of brilliant researchers and innovators create cool technologies,” said Stephen Hug, Entrepreneur in Residence at UNeTech Institute. “It takes a village, and it takes a lot of resources. Pairing CQuence Health’s deep industry expertise with the research and commercialization strengths of UNeMed and UNeTech creates a powerful set of levers for early-stage innovation.”

The inaugural cohort has officially kicked off, bringing together six pre-seed healthcare startups for an intensive 16-week hands-on mentorship program designed to help early-stage founders navigate the complex path from idea to impact. Participants have the opportunity to learn from seasoned professionals and industry experts while building relationships with fellow founders who are tackling similar challenges.

Here’s a little more about the inaugural Steel Works cohort founders and the promising ideas they’re hoping to bring to market:

• Ashok Puri, MBBS, and Ron Kreuger, MD, with Deep Health Diagnostics, are using artificial intelligence to diagnose macular edema, a serious eye condition that leads to blindness. “Scans of the eye are very non-invasive and can give you so many insights,” said Puri. “AI has the ability to support precision medicine. By analyzing retinal OCT scans, we can generate simple, continuous scores that help doctors diagnose conditions, track treatment response and monitor disease progression.”
• Edward O'Leary, MD, with Aprendo Cardiovascular Solutions, has developed a training platform for teaching coronary angiography, a highly specialized procedure. “We’re trying to shorten the learning curve, increase understanding and be more efficient in a manner that appeals to students of today,” said Dr. O’Leary. “They’ve grown up in a digital world, and often struggle to interpret two-dimensional images of inherently three-dimensional anatomy. By teaching in 3D first, we make complex concepts more intuitive and easier to apply.”
• Elizabeth Beam, PhD, RN, and Tim Crane with RedSentrix, are working on powered air purifying respirators (PAPR). “The [current] systems are very clunky, partially because batteries and motors are heavy, and partially because of the regulatory standards that we have to meet,” said Dr. Beam. “And so we're really trying to push the technology that's available now to make something better.”
• Marcia Shade, PhD, RN, with Voice-It, is leveraging artificial intelligence tools to help patients more clearly explain their pain to medical professionals. “I co-developed Pain Chat, a large language model designed to help automate and improve pain assessment,” said Dr. Shade. “Because pain is subjective and often influenced by bias, we use conversational AI and natural language processing to capture the full patient experience and turn it into clear, actionable summaries. This gives clinicians better insight to make more informed decisions and ultimately manage pain more effectively.”
• Sheila Fields, MBA, CPLC, with RxNex Solutions, is partnering with Dr. Scott Campbell and his research team to bring forward an innovative digital tool designed to help healthcare providers make more informed decisions about antibiotic use. “Our goal is to produce a product where they can get information at the right time to mitigate the overuse of antibiotics and get the best solution the first time,” said Fields.
• Stephen Salzbrenner, MD, and Chris Henkenius with Breezmed, are helping doctors navigate the complicated prior authorization requirements from insurance companies. “Prior authorization is a widespread challenge in medicine and has become a real barrier to timely patient care,” said Dr. Salzbrenner. “Breezmed streamlines that process by helping providers select treatments that meet insurance criteria and submit authorization at the point of care, so patients can get the care they need, faster.”

A Program Built for Healthcare Innovation

Over the course of the 16 weeks, these founders will move through a series of modules designed to help transform ideas into credible, market-ready businesses. It is intentionally structured to guide startups through the most critical questions they must answer as they grow.

“We start by helping them clearly define the problem they’re solving and the value they create, because if you can’t articulate that, it’s nearly impossible to build momentum,” said Katie Paladino, Director of Growth at CQuence Health. “From there, the focus expands to understanding the broader healthcare landscape like market size, competitive dynamics and the complex network of stakeholders involved in healthcare decision-making.”

As the program progresses, cohort participants will explore the economic and operational side of building a company, reviewing pricing strategy, business models and a credible path to revenue. They’ll also develop their go-to-market approach while identifying key partners and evaluating funding strategies that align with their business stage and risk profile.

The program concludes with founders translating their strategy into a clear execution roadmap. Each company will outline a clear plan for how funding supports the work ahead before presenting their refined pitch to investors, experienced advisors and others in the healthcare startup community.

The Future is Bright for Nebraska

The Steel Works Health Accelerator was made possible through a grant aimed at strengthening Nebraska’s growing healthcare innovation ecosystem. By connecting entrepreneurs with the right mentorship, healthcare leaders and commercialization experts, the program helps founders move faster and more confidently through the challenges of building a healthcare company. And just as importantly, it creates a community of support.

Guided by a vision to improve healthcare access and outcomes, CQuence Health is proud to support local entrepreneurs and innovations, helping Nebraska-based startups develop solutions that can improve care globally.

For more information about the Steel Works Health Accelerator, visit www.unemed.com/steel-works-health-accelerator.