Resilient Lifescience received a $500,000 investment from the foundation for developing a patch worn on the stomach that monitors vital signs, detects a drug overdose, then administers naloxone — a drug that reverses the effects of opioids and other narcotics.
Carnegie Mellon and Harvard universities graduate Brad Holden, a former Marine, and former Google software engineer and Yale University graduate Charlie Proctor founded the company in 2022.
The winnings from the foundation's competition will be used to support research and further develop Resilient Lifescience's products, according to the company. Some 107,000 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Richard King Mellon Foundation's competition is meant to boost for-profit companies is seeking to achieve a social good, generally with an impact in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. "While four companies won this competition, there are many others we look forward to funding in the future, said Sam Reiman, the foundation's director, in a prepared statement.
Element Exo, formerly Maroon Assistive Technologies, a hardware startup that created an exoskeleton that makes lifting easier, was the second place winner with an investment of $400,000.
Sustainable Composites, the third-place winner, received a $300,000 investment. The company processes waste leather scrap into new products.
CodeJoy, which developed interactive, remote robotics and coding classes for students and educators, was the fourth place winner with a $150,000 investment.
The foundation, which plans to invest at least $50 million in for-profit companies over 10 years, held its first pitch competition in 2021 and so far has invested nearly $8.6 million in 33 companies.
A total of 92 submissions were received for the latest competition, which were evaluated by a panel of 32 national and local judges.
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