Catching Up with SDSW Pitch Competition Champion & Incubator Alumni, James Hamet, Founder & CEO of Vistim Labs -

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Catching Up with SDSW Pitch Competition Champion & Incubator Alumni, James Hamet, Founder & CEO of Vistim Labs

Posted: August 31, 2023 by the Startup San Diego team

The Startup San Diego team caught up with the 2022 Startup Week Heavyweight Pitch competition winner and Startup Incubator Program Alumni, James Hamet, Founder and CEO of Vistim Labs, to find out how the startup has been doing since the victory and their plans for the future.

Vistim Labs

Vistim Labs , is an AI software decision-support tool that improves care for dementia patients. Critically, Vistim Labs addresses an important health equity problem by making dementia care more accessible to everyone: their product is fully reimbursed and can be used directly at the point of care. Clinical impact models show that their AI accelerates dementia diagnosis by 80% and reduces medical errors by 85%.

What Did the Pitch Competition Win Mean to You and Your Startup?

Winning 1st at the Startup San Diego pitch competition was our first major win at Vistim Labs. Not only did we win our very first non-dilutive grant at a time when we were pre-funding, but we also made a big splash with San Diego’s incredible ecosystem.

As for the $10,000 grant, it helped our startup, I was able to hire legal counsel on time to secure IP rights to close my round!

How has the Startup Incubator Program Benefited Vistim Labs?

The Startup San Diego Incubator program is a great opportunity for early-stage startups to find their legs and hit the ground running with expert advice and, most importantly: incredible mentors.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Rebecca Driscoll, Sara Cosenza, Elizabeth Dreicer, Pranav Sharma, Tara Falcone, and Taryn Goode – to name a few who helped me back then and continue to share critical advice and support to this day! Thank you once again.

Additionally, I’m grateful for meeting incredible startup teams like Adam Watson’s MeCo Diagnostics, improving oncology standard of care, Maria-Nicole Marino’s Panic Panties improving women’s personal care, and Caroline Zhang’s Knowtex for automated clinical notes, among many others.

Recent Wins for Vistim Labs

Since our first win with Startup San Diego, we’ve gone on to win multiple medtech prizes around the world, present at top conferences in our space, and more recently I am proud to share that we were accepted to join JLABS San Diego.

What Advice Do You Have For Early Stage Founders?

James Hamet, Founder and CEO of Vistim Labs

My advice to new founders is this: focus on digging the problem. Do not expect to know your market without interviewing actual customers. Do not expect your prospects to tell you their real problems. Expect to probe, through multiple calls, with multiple people to identify the core issue. I’ve always found it to be a sort of “aha” moment for both of us. Do not stop at what you think is the problem.

Every problem can be broken into smaller issues that create the problem. Chase it to the root. The biggest problem that can’t be separated into smaller parts. And then work your way back to a solution customers will pay for. Start with your niche and expand from there.

Find out more about Vistim Labs and their recent projects

Connect with Vistim Labs

Now, we are launching our first clinical product, CASBA, with dementia clinics in the next 90 days. If you know a neurology clinic that might want to offer CASBA to their patients, please contact us at [email protected]! Finally, we are raising a new round of funding to help us scale in 2024 and are happy to share details with interested parties.

Compete in #SDSW2023 Lightweight Pitch Competition and Founders Fight Club

For 2023 San Diego Startup Week, we’ll be hosting two pitch competitions, a Lightweight and Founders Fight Club. Sixteen startups will be selected to go head-to-head, and winners will go home with prizes and bragging rights. This is an amazing opportunity to get in front of the startup ecosystem and potential investors and promote your startup. Sign up to pitch by Friday, September 8th.