EMERGING TECHNOLOGY
medZERO | July 14, 2022
LG Electronics’ North American Innovation Center (LG NOVA) picked medZERO as one of the “Selected 20” startups advancing to the next stage of its Mission for the Future global challenge competition. The honor comes with $100,000 to help fund a collaboration for the next round of the competition.
The recognition is the latest for the Portland-based startup medZERO, an employer-sponsored financial wellness platform that gives employees a smarter way to pay for healthcare via on-demand access to funds to pay their out-of- pocked expenses over time at zero interest and zero fees.
In May, medZERO was one of six companies selected by the Meta Lab challenge, a prestigious competition sponsored by the Carolina Fintech Hub and MassChallenge, an international business accelerator program located in Boston.
Since securing $5.7 million in seed funding last year from Silicon Valley powerhouses True Ventures, Village Global and other angel investors, medZERO launched its app in November 2021 and has been hiring and has more than doubled its customer base.
Each of the 20 top contenders in the LG NOVA program were awarded $100,000 for proof-of-concept projects. medZERO was chosen in the Connected Health category as a company that is creating a new solution with potential to transform markets and industries, specifically as people change their perspective on new technology-based care.
“We are honored to make it to this round, LG recognized that our highly scalable, mobile payments platform leverages technology to give employees greater control over their healthcare services and spending.”
-Craig Froude, Co-Founder and CEO, medZERO.
Chosen from a group of more than 1,300 applicants, the Selected 20 will continue in the process to develop their ideas while working closely with LG NOVA’s team of innovation and entrepreneurial experts over the next couple of months—with the goal of being chosen as a Mission for the Future challenge “Top 10” finalist. To be named in August 2022, the Top 10 will have the opportunity to build their business in collaboration with LG on an accelerated path to success, with full access to LG expertise, mentorship, and from NOVA Capital Alliance and investments from LG.
Since its official launch in August 2021, the Mission for the Future challenge has invited innovators and entrepreneurs to submit their business ideas, technologies, and concepts that look to advance people, communities, and the planet. The initial “First 50” startups selected through the challenge program received access to basic business infrastructural support and networking after demonstrating exceptional proof-of-concept within emerging industries, as well as the potential for a successful partnership within the wider LG business.
Over the last few months, our work with the First 50 startups has helped us continue to refine our vision for the future as we look at new areas of growth for LG, said LG Electronics Senior Vice President for Innovation Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, head of LG NOVA. We’re inspired by all of those who have participated to date with groundbreaking, thoughtful tech innovations to drive and contribute to our collaborative community and guiding principle of ‘outside-in’ innovation. With this announcement, we’re sharing the results of our ongoing work in engaging with the startup and entrepreneur community to create impactful technologies that will lead society into the future.
About medZERO-
medZERO is a Portland, Ore., healthcare-focused fintech company (www.medzero.com) designed to make healthcare accessible, affordable and equitable. Our employer sponsored platform provides employees instant access to funds to pay their out-of-pocket healthcare costs with no interest and no fees. Repayment is made through automatic payroll deduction and for users with Health Savings Accounts medZERO payments are pre-tax allowing them to save up to 30% on all qualified medical expenses.
About LG NOVA-
LG NOVA, the North American Innovation Center for global innovation leader LG Electronics, is a team focused on bringing innovation from the outside to LG. LG NOVA is based in Santa Clara, Calif. The center’s mission is to build, nurture and grow innovations that impact the future.
About LG Electronics USA-
LG Electronics USA, Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics, Inc., a $63 billion global innovator in technology and manufacturing. In the United States, LG sells a wide range of innovative home appliances, home entertainment products, commercial displays, air conditioning systems, energy solutions and vehicle components. LG is 2022 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year-Sustained Excellence. The company’s commitment to environmental sustainability and its “Life’s Good” marketing theme encompass how LG is dedicated to people’s happiness by exceeding expectations today and tomorrow
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY,CYBERSECURITY
3M | September 09, 2022
The 3M Health Information Systems (3M HIS) division has achieved fully authorized Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) status for its 3M RevCycle health services platform (RHSP). 3M HIS is the company's first division with a FedRAMP-approved product. With this designation, 3M RHSP is published on the FedRAMP marketplace, allowing federal entities to more easily contract and work with the company.
3M RHSP hosts and supports key operations offered by 3M HIS, including natural language processing (NLP) support for medical coding, clinical documentation integrity, clinician input and medical coding edits, self-service reporting, and evaluation and management. 3M RHSP utilizes robust statistical methodologies to create a comprehensive NLP platform that suggests medical codes, assists with medical terminology, and eases the provider front-end workflow.
"We duplicated our commercial Health Services Platform to operate through Amazon GovCloud to achieve a fully authorized FedRAMP status, I am extremely proud of our federal markets team for achieving a FedRAMP ATO (authority to operate), which provides our platform with enhanced visibility, opens the door for us to secure cloud-hosted contracts with federal organizations, and makes it easier for us to add more products and solutions that are cybersecure and government approved."
-Kim Aiello, director of federal market solutions, 3M HIS.
The federal government is one of the largest buyers of cloud technology, according to FedRAMP. Cloud service providers (CSPs) offer innovative products that can help federal agencies save time and resources while meeting their critical mission needs.
FedRAMP is a government-wide program that promotes the adoption of secure cloud services across the federal government by providing a standardized approach to security and risk assessment for cloud technologies and federal agencies.
For CSPs, FedRAMP provides a standardized security framework for all cloud products and services that is recognized by all executive branch federal agencies. CSPs only need to complete the FedRAMP Authorization process once for each cloud service offering and perform continuous monitoring, with all agencies reviewing the same continuous monitoring deliverables, creating efficiencies across the government.
About 3M:
3M ( NYSE: MMM) believes science helps create a brighter world for everyone. By unlocking the power of people, ideas and science to reimagine what's possible, our global team uniquely addresses the opportunities and challenges of our customers, communities, and planet.
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGY,CYBERSECURITY
Carahsoft | August 24, 2022
Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, and 1Kosmos, the company that unifies identity proofing and passwordless authentication, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as 1Kosmos’ Master Government Aggregator® making its BlockID authentication platform available to the Public Sector through Carahsoft’s reseller partner network and NASA Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) V and Information Technology Enterprise Solutions – Software 2 (ITES-SW2) contracts.
The recent Executive Order on Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity (EO 14028) requires Federal civilian agencies to establish plans to drive adoption of Zero Trust Architecture. Carahsoft and 1Kosmos’ partnership provides access to the BlockID cloud-based service to help Local, State and Federal Governments adopt a Zero Trust approach to security by replacing passwords with identity-based multi-factor authentication (MFA). This service integrates with existing identity systems and combines indisputable digital identity proofing with advanced biometrics and passwordless authentication.
“The addition of 1Kosmos to Carahsoft’s Zero Trust Solutions group provides Government agencies with a user-friendly method of verifying the identity of individuals accessing citizen services and resources that eliminate passwords, Together with 1Kosmos and our reseller partners we have the strength and expertise to help Government agencies efficiently modernize enrollment, on-boarding and authentication for digital services, without replacing their existing systems.”
-Troy Meraw, Sales Manager at Carahsoft.
Carahsoft is a trusted source for resellers and systems integrators who help Government agencies solve complex security and identity management challenges, said Greg Cranley, VP Federal and Public Sector for 1Kosmos. This partnership makes passwordless, identity-based MFA readily accessible to State, Local and Federal Governments that want to adopt Zero Trust access principles for employees, contractors and citizens. Through our BlockID service, we are ensuring the cybersecurity of our nation’s information.
1Kosmos BlockID is a distributed identity cloud service that integrates identity proofing, verification and live biometrics authentication, enabling Government agencies to:
Provide workers and third-party contractors with a user-friendly enrollment, identity verification and on-boarding experience, as well as passwordless login.
Protect against identity impersonation, account takeovers and transaction fraud.
Modernize identity and access management (IAM) with identity-based authentication, advanced multi-factor authentication (MFA) and provide citizens a verified digital identity they control and use to access Government services.
To strengthen the Public Sector’s cybersecurity defense, agencies need to implement Zero Trust principles that safeguard networks at every entry point. Carahsoft supports solutions that help Government organizations understand Zero Trust frameworks, develop a Zero Trust strategy, and implement a Zero Trust architecture.
About Carahsoft:
Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State, and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience, and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators, and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry-leading IT products, services, and training through hundreds of contract vehicles.
About 1Kosmos:
1Kosmos enables passwordless access for workers, customers and citizens to securely transact with digital services. By unifying identity proofing and strong authentication, the BlockID platform creates a distributed digital identity that prevents identity impersonation, account takeover and fraud while delivering frictionless user experiences. BlockID is the only NIST, FIDO2, and iBeta biometrics certified platform that performs millions of authentications daily for some of the largest banks, telecommunications and healthcare organizations in the world. The company is funded by Forgepoint Capital and Gula Tech Adventures with headquarters in Somerset, New Jersey.
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