Arizona-based Company is the First Nurse-led Company Selected by the MedTech Accelerator to Help Drive Healthcare Innovation
Phoenix, Arizona, March 20th 6:00pm MST: Phoenix based startup Navi Nurses is one of nine companies selected to participate in the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University MedTech Accelerator. The MedTech Accelerator, which is based out of the ASU Health Futures Center in North Phoenix invites a select handful of companies each year for mentoring and support to advance the healthcare solutions of tomorrow. Navi Nurses is the first nurse-led company to be selected.
Navi Nurses was founded by Jasmine Bhatti, a former Mayo Clinic registered nurse (RN). “Acceptance into the esteemed Accelerator program not only confirms the potential of our growing business, Navi Nurses, but it is also personally meaningful to me,” explains Bhatti “The nurses at Mayo Clinic who cared for my grandmother 16 years ago inspired me to become a nurse myself.”
Shortly after becoming a nurse in 2011, Bhatti went on to spend eight years working alongside the very same nurses who cared for her grandmother while also completing her graduate studies at Arizona State University. It was also at ASU that Jasmine was given her first seed money to start Navi Nurses through their Venture Devils program.
With both her personal and professional nursing experience, Bhatti was well positioned to drive thoughtful and innovative health care transformation by making it just as easy to order your food or a ride as it is to access a nurse for personalized and holistic care. Nationally, more than half of all people discharged from the hospital go home with no formal home care assistance. Those individuals as well as those who have access to home health care often seek clarification and supplemental support after being discharged. Despite hospitals’ best efforts to optimize the discharge process, people remain vulnerable and feel unsupported.
In the past two years, Navi Nurses has grown to more than 160 RN’s who provide compassionate, on-demand, and holistic care in the metro Phoenix area. Their care fills gaps for patients who have been discharged from hospitals feeling overwhelmed or simply in need of more support than is offered. It includes anything from going home after having a baby through end-of-life care, and everything in between. This thoughtful approach to care delivery has been supported by the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Venture Ready Program and the Flinn Foundation who have provided mentoring and non-dilutive funding.
“I’m beyond excited that Navi Nurses has joined our international group of highly innovative health care companies this year,” said Dr. Rick Hall, assistant dean of health innovation for Arizona State University and co-managing partner of the accelerator. “Nurses have been recognized for the past two decades as the most trusted profession in the United States despite immense stress and overwhelming workloads. Navi’s approach not only improves health outcomes through better continuation of care; it also benefits nurses by addressing work satisfaction and retention.”
The success of Navi Nurses is evident in not only improved patient outcomes, but in helping nurses find joy in their work again. With so many nurses leaving the profession at an alarming rate, Navi Nurses has the potential to not only disrupt healthcare, but also re-imagine new ways that nurses work in the future. In early 2022, Navi Nurses was awarded a $1.5 million dollar grant from the American Nurses Foundation’s Reimagining Nursing Initiative to further validate these findings and scale the program.
Participating in the Accelerator will allow Navi Nurses to have access to world-class industry experts who can help inform and guide their tech-enabled solution. With their support, the potential for Navi Nurses to expand beyond Phoenix and scale across the nation will become much more tangible.
For more information about Navi Nurses and media inquiries, please reach out to Jasmine at jasmine@navinurses.com or 480-482-1891.
If you are interested in booking services, please visit www.navinurses.com, call 480-482-1891, or email expertcare@navinurses.com.
