FLINT – XLerateHealth, a Louisville, KY-based healthcare startup accelerator, has partnered with the University of Michigan to bring its Fast Forward Medical Innovation’s fastPACE biomedical entrepreneur program to XLH Flint.

FFMI fastPACE is a four-week biomedical innovation and commercialization project-based course designed for life science innovators with an early stage project.

More than 250 project teams and 500 team members have graduated from the fastPACE course and used their experience to secure upwards of $20 million in follow-on funding. Applications for Winter 2020 are open and the course will kick off on February 13th at the Ferris Wheel Building in Flint.

XLH launched its Flint accelerator in 2019 as part of its mission to cultivate impactful healthcare innovation in areas of the country where great innovation often goes unrecognized and underfunded. Six diverse healthcare and life sciences startups completed the 12-week bootcamp program in the inaugural year.

Bringing the fastPACE program to the Flint-Genesee region will help stimulate the local innovation economy, and serve as a primer to help healthcare entrepreneurs prepare for the XLH Flint Accelerator cohort set to kick off in the summer of 2020, XLH said in a press release.

“We are thrilled to partner with one of the most prestigious research institutions in the country to offer a new program for our entrepreneur community in Flint,” said Jackie Willmot, CEO of XLH. “As we head into our second year in Flint, Michigan, this program will open new doors for innovators looking to explore the commercial viability of a product and develop a successful business case for funding. The fastPACE program is another step forward to help stimulate and support healthcare innovation in the region.”

The fastPACE course features an expert teaching team from academia and industry, and blends in-person and online education to help participants prepare a successful business case for funding and development partnerships. Project teams are divided into educational tracks and assigned a teaching team member to capitalize on their unique experience and maximize mentorship opportunities. Results of the first fastPACE course were published in the Journal of Academic Medicine.

The course is open to life sciences and healthcare entrepreneurs in the region who have an idea to improve patient outcomes or enhance operational efficiencies in the healthcare system. Clinicians and healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, therapists, etc.), researchers, students, and postdocs are encouraged to apply. 15 projects per cohort are typically accepted.

Interested individuals should apply to fastPACE here: https://www.xleratehealth.com/ffmi-fastpace-course/. Applications for Winter 2020 are open and the course will kick off on February 13th at the Ferris Wheel Building in Flint.

Individuals interested in the 2020 XLH Flint Accelerator may apply here: https://gust.com/programs/xleratehealth-2020-louisville-ky