STARTUP STARS
Each year, the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC) awards up to $150,000 to the most innovative companies seeking to commercialize new technology that creates sustainable and growing businesses in the state of Arizona. Winning companies leverage their awards to grow their businesses and facilitate the state’s economic development goals. The AIC has been serving Arizona’s startup ecosystem since 2011, resulting in more than 2,000 applications and 110 awarded companies that are striving to become the industry giants of tomorrow.
In this edition of TechConnect, we showcase five awardees of the 2021 Arizona Innovation Challenge in the Bio and Life Sciences sector. Another five will be featured in the next issue.
The company differs from most AIC winners in that it neither developed groundbreaking software or a new product. Its service, however, fills a vital niche. “We have a compelling story. Almost everyone can relate to feeling lost or scared when navigating health care,” Bhatti says. The timing was also good. The stress of the pandemic caused many nurses to walk away from bedside care. “This allows nurses to practice in a way that is relevant. The social impact is a significant component of why they picked us,” she says.
Navi Nurses co-founders Ayan Said (left) and Jasmine Bhatti
Navi Nurses: Helping patients navigate the health care system
TechConnect | SPRING 2022 | 07
As a night shift charge nurse, Jasmine Bhatti would often take calls from patients who had left the hospital that day. They had their discharge papers in hand but were overwhelmed and couldn’t absorb all the information. Some were taking medications that interfered with their ability to think clearly. They needed help. A decade later, while working on her doctorate at Arizona State University, the memory of those nights came back during a discussion about how she would change health care. Navi Nurses was born not long after to send nurses to people’s homes to help them after a hospital discharge. Two years later, it’s an awardee in the Arizona Innovation Challenge (AIC), the Arizona Commerce Authority’s business-plan competition for innovative startups.
Navi Nurses provides concierge nursing care. Clients can have a nurse come to their home from one hour to around-the-clock care. They provide high-quality nursing services while also educating the patient, helping with medication, assessing the social and home environment, and communicating with the medical team as needed. The nurses are independent contractors actively employed in a clinical setting, and Navi Nurses matches a nurse’s expertise to the patient. “If we have a patient who just had plastic surgery, we’ll send a nurse familiar with plastic surgery. If the patient is recovering from a heart attack, we’ll send a cardiac nurse,” Bhatti says. Bhatti is grateful for mentorship from the Arizona Commerce Authority and the AIC. “It’s helpful in filling in gaps in our knowledge. I’ve learned so much. I have greater clarity in how I present what I’m doing. I’m learning about capital and how to approach investors,” which she’ll begin doing this year. The award that goes with winning the Innovation Challenge will be used to hire business and marketing experts. “We’re clinical experts,” Bhatti says. “We know we need other people to accelerate our growth.”