Novy, a Midwest venture studio focused on building health care software companies across the United States, has entered a new stage of go to market with the addition of two industry hires and a push for startup idea applications.
The Cedar Rapids-based venture studio launched in November 2023, making Novy the first of its kind in the state. Venture studios are differentiated from incubators, accelerators and traditional venture capital firms by the high level of strategic involvement and hands-on, day-to-to-day support provided from day one.
“Rather than solely focusing on capital investment with no proactive mentorship, or ongoing guidance with no funding, venture studios provide both,” Novy founding partner Eric Engelmann said in a news release. “The proven methodologies venture studios utilize have been shown to increase startup success rates from 10% to an impressive 60%.”
Novy, meaning “new” in Czech, was designed to partner with founders from ideation through Series A by co-founding, funding, and growing their companies over the course of 18 to 24 months. The studio has a six-stage process each portfolio company will follow designed to optimize business formation across ideation, validation, creation, growth, spinout, and successful exit.
This month, Novy added two more industry experts to their core team – Process Leader Sarah Wallace and Vice President of Marketing Jess Greiner.
Ms. Wallace previously worked for Google, Ask.com, and Midwest startup Boardable, where she gained deep expertise in tackling operational challenges software companies face.
Prior to joining Novy, Ms. Greiner held leadership roles across marketing, sales and human resources within technology and health care at LightEdge and OpenLoop, one of the Midwest’s fastest-growing virtual care startups.
Both Ms. Wallace and Ms. Greiner will be involved across each phase of Novy’s studio model, from applicant attraction to idea selection to startup scaling. They are joining Novy’s three founding partners, Eric Engelmann, David Tominsky, and Krista Martin. Together, the group brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the health care, software and investment sectors.
With its newly-expanded headcount, Novy is actively seeking applications for founders and startup ideas to run through their first round of evaluations, beginning in April. A commitment of support from Novy for anyone selected would come with $1 million in direct capital, two full-time executives, in-house product development, and a full suite of back-office support, including finance and human resources, bringing the total investment to about $2 million.
Anyone who is a founder, professor, graduate student, or corporate leader with a new health care software software idea is invited to submit an application for consideration on Novy’s website. The venture studio will begin validating their top 25 ideas next month.
Founded in 2023, Novy is a venture studio that provides capital, guidance, and executive talent to innovative health care software startups across the country.
