Curatio Returns to Dragon’s’ Den!

Dragon’s’ Den is a chance that any entrepreneur dreams about.

After pitching to the Dragons in February, we were happy to say, “yes!” when asked to do a follow-up episode. Returning to Dragon’s’ Den is exciting, but how did we secure the deal in the first place?

Let’s go back to the start of last year when we won the Dragons’ support.

Who: Lynda Brown-Ganzert, CEO and entrepreneur of Curatio

When: We applied to pitch to the Dragons in early 2016, and were chosen for Season 11 Episode 16.

What: Our goal was to secure an investment from a Dragon to support the global expansion of our app-based platform and to have them join our mission – no patient alone!

Why: Curatio is the world’s first social health prescription. We’re on a mission to connect patients and their families to individuals just like themselves going through a similar journey.

Winning!: After Lynda’s successful pitch, we received offers from all of the Dragons and walked away with our original ask of 350K for 5% of the business.

Here’s what Lynda has to say about the experience of pitching to the dragons:

“Dragon’s’ Den was an opportunity for us to share our mission and bring on some incredible investors to help us ensure that patients everywhere have the private, personalized support they need. While doing the show was very stressful for me personally, I knew I had my team behind me and the inspiration of the millions of patients and families we want to help support.” – Lynda Brown-Ganzert, CEO Curatio

What have we been up to since our original air date that the Dragon’s were excited about? It’s no secret Lynda is a star in Canada’s tech world, and in September she was awarded entrepreneur of the year from Startup Canada! We were thrilled to support her when she received the award. Even the Dragon’s’ Den film crew flew out from Toronto to capture the moment.

Curatio’s mobile app has thousands of users in over 31 countries, and we are well on our way to improving healthcare on a global scale.

Additionally, our team has been busy developing ThaliMe, the first mobile app specifically for Thalassemia patients and their families. We were excited to release the globally available app last week, and stay tuned for a blog about attending the Thalassemia International Federation Congress in Greece! The app will be available in multiple languages including Arabic, Greek, Italian and French. We’ve also grown our community for Curatio and added private communities for patients experiencing Type I Diabetes, traumatic brain injuries, menopause, suicide bereavement, and Crohn’s/colitis. We have also created a closed group just for caregivers. The menopause community has been very active in supporting one another, and users find that connecting to patients on a private platform is key in their journey.

Our Curatio family, moments before we devoured #bostonpizza

To celebrate our return to Dragon’s’ Den, we involved the entire Curatio community.

Our team relies on our social support network on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To celebrate, we hosted our first virtual get together by encouraging people to connect with friends and family to watch the episode and snap a photo to share on social media. We loved seeing pictures of the Curatio community from across the country. It was a  proud moment for all of us.

So you’re probably wondering, what’s next for Curatio?

Our focus for next year is on patient support programs and delivering a platform this is highly scalable, personalized and effective. With the support of #cbcdragons and our investment team, we know our mission to bring social connection and support to every patient is achievable.

Watch a clip from the follow-up segment here.

More about Dragon’s’ Den

One of the most successful Canadian reality programs, Dragon’s’ DEN reaches nearly one-quarter of all Canadians every season. Full episodes and exclusive behind-the-scenes content can be viewed at cbc.ca/Dragon’sden.

#curatio #dragonsden #bostonpizza #digitalhealth #curatiocommunity #healthtech  #canadianstartups #mobilehealthcare #mhealth #healthcareinyourhands