MedStartr Finally Brings Crowdfunding To Health Projects

...sadly, you know who really isn’t benefitting from the crowdfunding boom? Healthcare startups. Brian Dolan of MobiHealth points out that, in fact, Kickstarter officially prohibits health, fitness, and medical projects. Healthcare is absolutely jonesin’ for innovation, and there are tons of cool health companies trying to change the world — some of them even a little sexy and consumer-facing.

That’s why serial healthtech entrepreneur Alex Fair and founding Kickstarter product manager Mike Pence have set out to give health-focused entrepreneurs and projects a Kickstarter of their own. Medstartr, which launched in beta today, is a crowdfunding platform designed specifically for healthcare companies, providing startups with a vehicle to market their wares, generate awareness and raise capital — direct from strangers, investors, and Doogie Howsers alike.

Sure, support for healthtech startups — and their small victories — are worth noting just on principle. But, MedStartr isn’t aiming just to be a lazy port of Kickstarter/Indiegogo to healthcare. Fair was inspired to create Medstartr not only because of the rejection his healthtech ideas found on Kickstarter, but also because of the much-ballyhooed JOBS Act. The legislation legalized funding in startups by non-accredited investors and has likely changed early-stage investing for good.