Cardiology Group Forges Ties With DC-Based Startup Incubator

It makes sense that one of the leading tech incubators with headquarters within shouting distance of K Street is drawing interest from the association world.

Last week, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) announced a new partnership with 1776  (opens in a new tab), the Washington, DC-based startup resource, joining AARP and the Consumer Electronics Association in providing financial support to the incubator. (Some big-name companies are on the list too  (opens in a new tab)—American Airlines, Microsoft, and MedStar Health are among 1776’s backers.)

The partnership expands ACC’s role as a partner in the 1776 Challenge Cup, an annual competition to discover startups working on solutions to challenges in four categories: education, energy, health, and cities. The competition, currently in its second year, takes place over several months at 16 regional sites worldwide, including Washington, Dublin, Tel Aviv, Sydney, and Beijing. Sixty-four regional winners will be invited to the incubator’s Challenge Festival in May, and winners there will continue to the Global Finals to compete for up to $650,000 in prizes.

“Forward-thinking, innovative startups can play a pivotal role in developing new ideas and technologies to help stimulate advances in medicine and science,” ACC CEO Shal Jacobovitz said in a news release  (opens in a new tab). “We are proud to partner with 1776 and Challenge Cup because these new companies have the potential to help us fulfill our mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve health.”

After taking part in the DC regional competition last month, Jacobovitz noted that the entrepreneurial contest matched his association’s innovation interests.

“Getting involved with 1776 is part of the college’s innovation agenda. It will be a place where our ACC staff innovation ambassadors will hone their innovation skills,” Jacobovitz told the ACC in Touch Blog  (opens in a new tab). “Also, it affords them the opportunity to mix with and learn from innovative people working on various problems in a novel way. Some of these solutions may have applications in our own business.”

ACC is one of four association partners  (opens in a new tab)that will assist with the 2014-2015 Challenge Cup. The others are the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the American Council on Education, and the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. The four organizations will invite finalists to their annual conferences, giving the people behind the startups an opportunity to meet with potential investors and clients.

The accelerator has already had some success in building out successful startups. In September, the ride-location-app company RideScout  (opens in a new tab), a 1776 member and smart-cities winner at the 2013-2014 D.C. Challenge Cup competition, was acquired by the German automotive giant Daimler  (opens in a new tab).

(via 1776’s Facebook page)