EAST LANSING, Michigan–XLerate Health selected local East Lansing start-up V.E.R.N. Health to participate in XLerate’s highly competitive health start-up accelerator program in Flint, MI.
VERN Health detects emotions in real-time communication to support actionable insights in telehealth, customer service, and more. It is a subsidiary of VERN AI, which offers emotional detection in multiple industries. VERN stands for Virtual Emotion Resource Network. The start-up is headquartered in downtown East Lansing’s Marriott University Place Building.
In addition to participating in the accelerator, VERN is actively working with established clients, including Michigan State University Credit Union. MSUFCU has participated in pilots that integrate VERN to improve online customer service in the financial tech industry. Also, VERN is part of several innovative solutions in partnership with Boise State University’s GIMM Lab which include an autism therapy for children using AR/VR Technologies. VERN Health is a subsidiary that focuses exclusively on the healthcare and wellness industries.
VERN Health is one of 6 start-up’s participating in Xlerate Health’s 2021 Flint cohort. Louisville, KY-based XLerateHealth’s mission is to cultivate innovative, impactful healthcare start-up companies in areas of the country, including the Midwest, where health innovation often goes underfunded. As part of the Flint accelerator cohort, executives from VERN, along with five other early-stage start-ups, are working intensely over six weeks with a team of mentors to support its further development and commercialization.
“XLerate Health represents an exciting opportunity to expand VERN’s reach to customers and investors in the healthcare and wellness spaces,” says CEO Craig Tucker, who earned bachelor and master’s degrees in telecommunications from Michigan State University. “Our hope is that we will expand on the use of VERN for purposes of assessment and diagnosis, as well as to improve customer service in the healthcare industry.”
Tucker and the VERN team will have the opportunity to pitch VERN to investors during the final “pitch day” on September 22, 2021.