July 25, 2016
Purdue startup to present assistive technology at international aging competition
LAFAYETTE, Ind. – SpeechVive, a company commercializing a Purdue University innovation that assists people with Parkinson's disease to speak more loudly and clearly, is in a worldwide competition for a chance to pitch their product in front of more than 1,000 venture capitalists and angel investors during the Aging2.0 Optimize conference Oct. 12-14 in San Francisco.
The Lafayette-based company recently won a regional pitch competition held by Aging2.0 in Minneapolis, and now will compete with other regional winners.
Founded in 2011 in Lafayette, SpeechVive markets their patented device to speech language pathologists at clinics and hospitals across the United States. It's currently available in more than 35 clinics and hospitals in 20 states, said Steve Mogensen, SpeechVive president and CEO.
The device resembles a hearing aid which plays sounds resembling crowd noise whenever the wearer starts to speak. The sounds turn off when the user is not speaking. The sound triggers what is called the Lombard effect, an involuntary reflex which causes speakers to increase volume and clarity of their speech in noisy situations.
This is beneficial to those with Parkinson's disease, which can cause patients to speak more softly and in mumbling tones that can be difficult to hear or understand.
The device is the result of years of research and design from a team led by Jessica Huber, a professor in Purdue's Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Services. She also is SpeechVive's chief technical officer.
"This contest could really help us by increasing public awareness of the device to those in need of such a device," Huber said.
According to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, as many as 10 million people worldwide, including as many as 1 million Americans, are living with Parkinson's disease. Approximately 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease every year.
A group of Aging2.0 finalists from 29 regional winners will be chosen from a 50-50 split of online voting by the general public and feedback from judges. Anyone can vote once daily through Aug. 19 by visiting www.aging2.com/gss/ and clicking on "Vote Now."
The winning companies will each receive complimentary exhibit space at the conference and stage time in front of the attendees.
Aging2.0 is a global innovation platform on a mission to accelerate innovation to improve the lives of older adults worldwide. It's run by a group of professional volunteers and has chapters around the world.
"In May we were able to close on a Series A round of funding along with being awarded a phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health," Mogensen said. "We are using the funding to rewrite our clinician software, focusing on VA medical centers, and building a telemedicine platform which will enable speech pathologists to program SpeechVive devices remotely over the internet."
More information about SpeechVive is available at www.speechvive.com
SpeechVive is a Lafayette, Indiana-based corporation formed in 2011. The company is dedicated to improving the quality of life for individuals with speech problems due to Parkinson's and other diseases by enabling them to speak more loudly and communicate more effectively with their loved ones.
About Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization
The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology-transfer programs among leading research universities in the U.S. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org
About Aging2.0
Aging2.0 is a global innovation platform on a mission to accelerate innovation to improve the lives of older adults around the world. Aging2.0 connects, educates and supports innovators through community building, events and programming. Over the past four years, Aging2.0 has hosted more than 300 events around the world, cultivating a robust ecosystem of entrepreneurs, technologists, designers, investors, senior care providers and seniors themselves. Aging2.0 is run by a small, dedicated, mission-driven team out of San Francisco and its more than 30 volunteer-run chapters extend from Australia and Brazil throughout Europe, Asia and the rest of the U.S.
Writer: Curt Slyder, 765-588-3342, caslyder@prf.org
Sources: Steve Mogensen, 612-723-7200, smogensen@speechvive.com
Jessica Huber, 765-494-3796, jhuber@purdue.edu
