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“Drones are cool,” says Mickey Cowden, “but the longer I worked with them, I realized I spent more time setting up the drones or troubleshooting hardware issues before I could do anything productive. I have spent a lot of time changing batteries, charging batteries, and offloading data. I got tired of doing that, and I thought, ‘this could be done without the person doing all the logistics.'”

So he founded Cowden Technologies, which has designed a smart docking station for drones, enabling remote environment management without requiring human supervision.

More on Cowden Technologies at https://cowden.tech/.

FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE

August 30, 2021 (Roanoke, Va.) – Four Blacksburg- and Roanoke-based entrepreneurs working with machine intelligence, drone docking stations, healthcare credentialing, and thermal sensing have been selected to RAMP’s Fall 2021 Cohort focused on technology startups.

The companies were selected in a rigorous application and interview process by RAMP, the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program for Southwest Virginia, to receive mentoring and other resources in the intensive 13-week program starting September 13.

• ArchiveCore (Lennox McNeary) has created a cloud-based software that uses distributed ledger technology to simplify healthcare credentialing.
• Corvus Labs (Spencer Leamy) utilizes machine intelligence to augment and enhance human performance.
• ThermaSENSE (Ali Roghani) provides real-time, accurate, and non-invasive measurements of internal temperature and properties of almost any object.
• Cowden Technologies (Mickey Cowden) has designed a smart docking station for drones, enabling remote environment management without requiring human supervision.

“Our team was thrilled to discover such a wealth of technology talent right here in our backyard,” said RAMP director Dr. Mary Miller. “The real-world education many of them received from Virginia Tech is truly inspiring and we look forward to helping them define and grow their entrepreneurial vision and their company mission in the weeks ahead.”

The startups will receive expert 1:1 mentoring with the region’s top entrepreneurs and executives, free office space with high-speed internet in downtown Roanoke, financial support and access to venture capitalists. At the completion of the course, the entrepreneurs will present to the community at “Demo Day,” tentatively scheduled for December 9.

This is RAMP’s sixth cohort since 2017. Previously held once a year, a 2020 grant totaling nearly $1 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration has allowed RAMP to expand to two cohorts per year with a spring focus on health and life sciences and a fall program on technology startups.

RAMP is an affiliate of Verge, a collaborative strategic alliance established to grow the region’s innovation economy. RAMP program partners include Roanoke City, Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council and Virginia Western Community College. 

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3 RAMP alumni each received $100,000 in Governor Northam’s inaugural round of Commonwealth Commercialization Fund awards!

Please join us in congratulating BEAM Diagnostics Inc CEO Sarah Snider; Itus Digital CEO Joe Nichols; and Jeeva Informatics Solutions Inc. (JEEVA) CEO Harsha K Rajasimha. 

They were among just 34 small technology-focused businesses in Virginia to receive grants in today’s announcement.

One of the biggest challenges in bringing a new drug to market is recruiting and retaining patients to participate in the FDA-required clinical trials.

Most trials require patients to travel to a brick-and-mortar site, which can be a burden. On top of that, 30% of patients are likely to drop out before the trial is over.

Jeeva Informatics — a RAMP startup participating in our Spring 2021 Health & Life Sciences Cohort — seeks to solve this with a technology that helps pharmaceutical companies navigate these challenges.

Led by founder and CEO Harsha Rajasimha and director of business development Sharlene Brown, Jeeva’s cloud-based software reduces patient recruitment time and drop-out rates, and by facilitating trials at a patient’s home, increases compliance by reducing the traditional travel burden.

More at https://jeevatrials.com.