Health-Tech Accelerator Backs Digital Therapeutics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tampa Bay Wave HealthTech|X Accelerator Unveils 2024 Cohort of 16 Digital-Therapeutics Startups Poised to Cut U.S. Healthcare Costs

Selected companies will receive 90 days of intensive go-to-market coaching, data access through USF Health, and introductions to national payers targeting $6.2 billion in addressable digital-therapeutics spending.

Tampa, Fla. – November 21, 2025
Tampa Bay Wave, the Florida nonprofit repeatedly ranked the state’s top technology accelerator, today announced the 16 startups accepted into the second year of its HealthTech|X program focused on clinically validated, software-based interventions. The cohort—drawn from 312 applicants across 18 countries—will spend the next three months in Tampa scaling FDA-registered algorithms, reimbursement strategies, and payer pilots that aim to lower medical spend for health systems and self-insured employers.

According to a 2025 IQVIA report, prescriptions of software-only therapeutics rose 47 % in the past 12 months, yet fewer than 4 % of U.S. physicians have formally integrated them into treatment pathways. “That adoption gap is precisely why we doubled the size of this year’s program,” said Linda Olson, president & CEO of Tampa Bay Wave. “Every startup entering HealthTech|X has either received De Novo clearance or is in pivotal trials, giving payers the real-world evidence they now require before adding a digital therapeutic to formulary.” A 2024 McKinsey study estimates digital therapeutics could reduce spending on cardiometabolic and mental-health conditions alone by $28 billion annually if deployed at scale .

The 2025 class includes companies decoding smartphone images of skin and urine to detect infections , an AI voice agent that closes behavioral-health care gaps , and a menopause-specific companion that personalizes hormone-replacement protocols . Combined, the group has already raised $83 million in seed and Series A capital and counts prior exits to Amgen, Teladoc, and Philips among its founding teams. Each firm receives a $50,000 non-dilutive grant funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, cloud credits from Microsoft, and legal structuring support from Foley & Lardner.

> “We’re not talking about wellness apps,” stressed Dr. Richard Munassi, managing director of the Wave accelerator and a physician-economist. “These are reimbursable products with clinically proven endpoints—think blood-pressure reduction, HbA1c control, or remission from major depressive disorder. In the next 90 days we will lock in at least 10 commercial pilots representing 1.4 million covered lives.”

Market momentum is accelerating. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized its “Software as a Medical Device” reimbursement pathway in March, while the FDA issued draft guidance in July streamlining real-world-data submissions for algorithm updates. Grand View Research projects the global digital-therapeutics market will climb from $15.1 billion in 2025 to $46.5 billion by 2030, a 25 % compound annual growth rate fueled by value-based contracts and employer demand for lower pharmacy spend .

Tampa’s growing life-science cluster—anchored by USF Health’s CAMLS simulation center, Moffitt Cancer Center, and a 3,000-acre medical precinct—offers startups access to 2.2 million de-identified patient records and a 300-clinician research network. “Being on-site allows us to iterate algorithms against diverse demographic data within 24 hours,” said Dr. Aisha Patel, co-founder of CurieDx, whose smartphone platform predicts strep throat with 94 % sensitivity. The company expects to submit a 510(k) amendment in Q1 2026 after completing a 1,200-patient trial under an IRB approved by Tampa General Hospital.

Demo Day is scheduled for February 19, 2026, at the Tampa Convention Center, where startups will present outcomes data to a room of 300 payer executives, pharmaceutical partners, and provider investors. Last year’s cohort signed six risk-sharing agreements within six months of graduation, including Embold Health’s contract with Florida Blue covering 2.3 million members.