Sling Health

What Sling Health does

Sling Health is a 501(c)(3) Missouri nonprofit corporation founded in 2013 at Washington University in St. Louis, operating what it describes as the nation's largest student-oriented medtech accelerator. Its core product is a structured 4-stage accelerator program (Identify Clinical Needs, Design and Prototype, Validate with Experts, Pitch to Launch) that moves student and clinician teams through Problem Day poster-pitch events, 5-mentor Design Reviews, and culminates in annual Demo Day showcases. The underlying technology is medical device prototyping methodology supported by clinical immersion and design-thinking facilitation rather than proprietary software platforms.

The organization distributes its program through a national chapter network spanning 17 top universities (Harvard, Yale, MIT, WashU, Texas A&M, Emory, University of Michigan, UCLA, LSU, among others). Sling Health provides mentorship, clinical partnerships, and direct funding allocation (over $900K to student-led prototypes) at no charge to participants. Its revenue mechanics are nonprofit: grants and sponsorships (including repeat support from WashU's Skandalaris Center in 2015-2018) rather than fees or equity. Customers are student innovators and clinician founders, with medtech investors and university medical/engineering schools serving as downstream partners; alumni ventures (Geneoscopy, CareSignal, Olera, Oculo Labs) have collectively raised over $220M in follow-on capital, anchoring the program's brand and pipeline.

Name

Sling Health

Legal name

Sling Health

Website

https://slinghealth.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sling Health is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating the nation's largest student-oriented medtech accelerator across 17 university chapters, providing structured mentoring, clinical access, and prototyping resources to student and clinician founders developing medical technologies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Nonprofit Grant Funding & Allocator: Sling Health operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incubator that allocates funding directly to support student-led prototypes and team initiatives. The organization does not charge revenue-generating fees but rather provides resources to student innovators.
2. Follow-on Capital Facilitation: Alumni startups that emerge from the program raise follow-on capital from investors after Demo Day showcase. Sling Health facilitates connections but does not directly profit from these investments.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sling Health is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit student-oriented medtech accelerator that equips student and clinician innovators with tools, mentorship, clinical partnerships, and funding to identify unmet clinical needs, design and prototype medical technologies, validate them with experts, and launch ventures. The program runs through a national chapter network of 17 top universities and culminates in an annual Demo Day showcase.

Product overview

Sling Health is a med-tech incubator offering a structured accelerator program with multiple interconnected offerings. The core program includes Problem Day (poster-pitch fair for identifying clinical needs), Design Reviews (5-mentor panel for prototype evaluation and Demo Day readiness), and Demo Day (annual showcase for chapter pitch competitions and national showcases). Student teams progress through a lifecycle from identifying clinical needs through design and prototyping to validation with experts and pitching for launch. The program is designed for student and clinician founders collaborating with healthcare professionals to develop medical technologies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Demo Day Annual showcase event where student teams present the medical technology solutions they have built over months of collaboration, including chapter pitch competitions and national showcases for visibility, funding, and partnership opportunities.
• Problem Day Poster-pitch fair and open house event where student teams collaborate with healthcare professionals to identify and present unmet clinical needs as the first stage of the accelerator program.
• Design Reviews Mentorship program featuring a 5-mentor panel that evaluates student team prototypes and ensures teams are prepared for Demo Day readiness, supporting the validate-with-experts stage of the accelerator.
• Med-Tech Accelerator Program A structured 4-stage accelerator program (Identify Clinical Needs, Design and Prototype, Validate with Experts, Pitch to Launch) that equips student and clinician innovators with tools, mentorship, and clinical partnerships to transform healthcare ideas into funded medtech startups, operated through 17 national university chapters.

Quantifiable outcome

• 59 teams launched and 14 spin-off companies created at WashU, raising $2.5M+ in external funding
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Washington University in St. LouisflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Founding institution host of Sling Health since 2013. WashU provides infrastructure, faculty mentorship, and academic resources. The program operates within the McKelvey School of Engineering and medical school, with Dean Aaron Bobick serving on the Board of Directors.
• Harvard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner hosting a Sling Health campus chapter for student and clinician innovators.
• Yale UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner hosting a Sling Health campus chapter for student and clinician innovators.
• MITcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner hosting a Sling Health campus chapter for student and clinician innovators.
• Texas A&M UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner with active student involvement. Several board members are Texas A&M alumni.
• Emory UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner hosting a Sling Health campus chapter.
• University of MichigancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner hosting a Sling Health campus chapter.
• UCLAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner hosting a Sling Health campus chapter.
• LSUcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational chapter partner hosting a Sling Health campus chapter.
• GeneoscopyminorOthersSling Health alumni startup developing non-invasive RNA-based diagnostics for gastrointestinal diseases. Reached Series B with backing from Labcorp and Morningside Ventures.
• CareSignalminorOthersSling Health alumni startup providing AI-driven remote patient monitoring for 30+ conditions. Acquired by Lightbeam Health Solutions to expand population health platform serving 42 million patients.
• OleraminorOthersSling Health alumni startup connecting families with elder care professionals through digital caregiving platform. Received $2.3 million NIH SBIR grant.
• Oculo Labs / Ai-Ris LLCminorOthersSling Health alumni startup awarded $260K NSF Phase I SBIR grant to develop ML technology preventing diabetes-induced vision loss.
• Lightbeam Health SolutionsminorOthersAcquired CareSignal, a Sling Health alumni startup, to expand its population health platform.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• IndieBio: IndieBio is the world's largest biotech accelerator, running multi-week programs with seed funding and lab infrastructure. It is comparable to Sling Health as a biotech/medtech venture creation engine, though it serves post-graduate founders and operates for-profit.
• StartUp Health: StartUp Health is a health-specific venture platform running long-duration, mission-driven accelerator programs. It is comparable to Sling Health as a health-focused venture creation platform with structured cohort programs and an alumni network, but operates at larger scale with a for-profit structure.
• Plug and Play Health: Plug and Play runs health-specific accelerator batches connecting startups with corporate partners and investors. It is comparable to Sling Health's accelerator + Demo Day + investor pipeline model, but at a much larger multi-industry scale.
• JLABS (Johnson & Johnson Innovation): JLABS is Johnson & Johnson's no-strings-attached life sciences incubator network offering lab space, mentorship, and industry connections. It is comparable to Sling Health as a medtech-focused incubator with structured programs, though it serves more mature ventures at greater capital scale.
• Y Combinator (Bio Track): Y Combinator runs a dedicated bio/health track that funds and accelerates early-stage companies including medtech ventures. It is comparable to Sling Health as a high-volume startup accelerator with Demo Day-style investor showcases, but at vastly greater scale and capital intensity.

Direct peers

• MedTech Innovator: MedTech Innovator is the largest medtech accelerator globally, running a structured program with mentorship, industry partnerships, and a showcase event. It directly parallels Sling Health's medtech-specific accelerator model with a Demo Day-style grand finals, but focuses on later-stage founders.
• MassChallenge HealthTech: MassChallenge HealthTech is a non-equity accelerator partnering startups with hospitals and industry mentors. It is comparable to Sling Health as a zero-equity, mentorship-driven health accelerator with structured cohort programs and showcase events.

Regional players

• Arch Grants: Arch Grants is a St. Louis-based nonprofit that provides equity-free grants to entrepreneurs who relocate their startups to the region. It is comparable to Sling Health as a fellow St. Louis nonprofit venture ecosystem builder, though it targets external founders rather than students.
• BioGenerator: BioGenerator is a St. Louis-based biotech/medtech startup creation engine that invests in and incubates life sciences ventures. It is comparable to Sling Health's mission of building St. Louis medtech ventures, though it focuses on more mature founders and takes equity stakes.
• Texas Medical Center Innovation: TMC Innovation is a Houston-based health accelerator and venture hub hosted at the world's largest medical center. It is comparable to Sling Health's clinical-anchored accelerator model with access to clinical problem identification, though it serves more mature health ventures.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SlingHealthNetwork
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sling-health
• Xx.com/SlingHealth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sling Health