New businesses in women’s health and mental health won 2024 Startup of the Year honors at an Oct. 30 event at the Venture Dallas Summit at Dallas’ George W. Bush Presidential Center.
In the competition’s Early Stage category, consisting of startups with less than $1 million in revenue, Rosy Wellness was the winner. The award for Rosy, a women’s health platform that addresses a range of issues from low libido to menopause, was accepted by Dr. Lyndsey Harper, founder and CEO.
Rosy Wellness Founder and CEO Dr. Lyndsey Harper, center, accepted the 2024 Early Stage Startup award from Sentiero Ventures’ David Evans and J.P. Morgan’s Michelle Yeh. [Photo: Grant Miller Photography/Venture Dallas]
With a total of $5 million in funding raised to date from investors including True Wealth Ventures, Portfolia, HealthX, Cultivation Capital, and Mindshift Capital—Harper established Rosy as “the first physician-founded platform supporting women throughout their lifetime” to close the gender health issue gap.
In the competition, which was judged by venture firms from across Texas, Rosy Wellness earned top recognition among Early Stage finalists Basewell, Field Labs, Filial Health, Harbor, Lumin, Monument, Nurosavant, SWYE360 Learning, and Trapol8.
In the Growth Stage category, Kindly Human was awarded top honors, standing out among finalists including AirconAI, Backflip, Cercle.ai, Form Bio, Krista Software, TAP (Training All People), UpSmith, Worlds, and Zirtue.
From left: J.P. Morgan’s Michelle Yeh and Kindly Human Co-Founder and CEO Chris Eggers on stage at Venture Dallas 2024. [Photo: Grant Miller Photography/Venture Dallas]
The award for Kindly, a mental health platform delivering well-being support through its AI-powered “Uber for Empathy” approach, was accepted by Cole Egger, co-founder and CEO.
The growing company focuses on mental well-being and “individualized, empathetic peer support” for employees facing various life challenges,
David Evans, managing partner of Sentiero Ventures and a member of the Venture Dallas steering committee, explained that response to this year’s competition was so robust, the field in each category was expanded to 10 finalists, up from six.
The vigorous competition shows that Dallas has “a great ecosystem of companies that are going to do great things,” Evans said.
The winners were announced by Michelle Yeh, managing director and market executive for J.P. Morgan’s Austin-based Technology and Disruptive Commerce Group.
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