Watch 5 finalists go head-to-head as they pitch their startup, competing for the title of 2025 Emerging Startup of the Year & $10,000 in Cash Prizes!

Pitchers and judges for Tech Tech 2025 will be announced soon!

General Genomics
Midland, TX
General Genomics Inc. is a bioinformatics company harnessing the power of AI and machine learning (ML) to build a platform (Curo46) using algorithms on genetic markers, healthy history, and medical information to determine an individual’s health risks, appropriate preventative measures, customized treatment programs and more.

Kinnos
Brooklyn, NY
Kinnos’ colorizing platform, Highlight®, colors bleach and bleach wipes a vivid blue to let us see our disinfection. It instantly improves users’ ability to correctly cover the entire surface being disinfected, then fades to remind them of the elapsing contact time. Its visual feedback function overcomes training barriers (education and language) common in hospital cleaning teams, leading to greater patient safety. In both 2020 and 2021, Highlight was named a Best Infection Prevention Product by Newsweek.

NEVAP
San Jose, CA
NEVAP makes breathing tubes that remove pathogens during mechanical ventilation. Our device is proven to reduce time on mechanical ventilation, the cost of treatment, and mortality in critically ill patients.

Prep Tech
Lafayette, LA
Prep Tech is a Louisiana-based medical device company with two products lines. ULTRAPREP streamlines/reduces OR time. ISOCUBE protects healthcare professionals and hospital visitors from COVID contamination. With assistance from the US Army, Prep Tech recently became the st company to receive an FDA EUA for two protective barrier enclosures as an adjunct to existing PPE.

Protean BioDiagnostics
Orlando, FL
Protean is an innovative precision medicine diagnostic company with a focus on accelerating access to precision cancer treatments. Protean has developed the Oncology MAPS(TM) system and a unique menu of tests and services to facilitate access to precision diagnostic lab services and the complex data they generate. Protean has developed the Oncology MAPS(TM) a comprehensive, integrated precision medicine diagnostic system that can bring the latest advances of precision medicine to patients anywhere.

Bruce D. Greenstein
LHC Group EVP, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer
Bruce joined LHC Group in 2018. As chief strategy and innovation officer, he leads the company’s value-based contracting, ACO management company, and alternative payment and delivery model strategies. He also oversees the company’s operations for technology and for the innovations business segments, as well as LHC Group’s healthcare vision initiatives. Mr. Greenstein previously served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in Washington, D.C. He has an extensive healthcare industry background in both government and the private sector, having served as President-West for New York-based Quartet Health, CEO of Blend Health Insights, and as Managing Director of Worldwide Health for Microsoft. Mr. Greenstein was a Cabinet Member in Louisiana, serving as Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals. He also previously ran Medicaid-managed care and waivers and demonstrations at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Christy Lenahan
NP Coordinator & Associate Professor, UL Lafayette
Christy Lenahan is a board-certified emergency and family nurse practitioner with extensive experience in the emergency room setting as a registered nurse and nurse practitioner. She is an associate professor of nursing and serves as the nurse practitioner clinical coordinator at UL Lafayette. Christy also owns and practices in a medical spa in Youngsville, Louisiana, and has advanced aesthetic experience.

Monte Danos
Field Marketing Director, Cox Business Southeast Region
Monte Danos is Field Marketing Director for Cox Business in the Southeast Region. In this role, Monte oversees day-to-day marketing operations and product management for business telecom services in the Louisiana and Florida/Georgia market areas. He partners closely with the respective markets’ sales, service delivery, field service, and engineering teams in driving the overall objectives of the organization. Most recently, Monte served as Sr. Product Marketing Manager for Cox Business Louisiana, where he managed the commercial voice, data, transport, and video product lines in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. Before joining Cox Business in November 2010, Monte held various product roles on the Cox residential marketing team, including Manager of Video Products for all Louisiana markets, as well as Director of Product Management for the Baton Rouge and Lafayette systems prior to statewide consolidation. Monte has more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. A graduate of Louisiana State University, Monte holds a BA in Mass Communications. His early career as a television news reporter included assignments with the FOX, NBC, and CBS broadcast affiliates in Baton Rouge.

Mike Dozier
Chief Information Officer, Ochsner Lafayette General
Mr. Dozier has been a part of Ochsner Lafayette General (OLG) since 2014 as the Chief Information Officer. Under Dozier’s leadership, Lafayette General has become a leader in technology across the state of Louisiana and has brought Ochsner Lafayette General numerous innovative strategies and organizational alignment around IT. Dozier has also led OLG to be a best places to work in Computer World and Healthcare IT News publications and led OLG to be named CHIME Most Wired for Hospitals and Ambulatory. In 2020, Mr. Dozier was tasked with leading our Ambulatory and Retail strategies related to care delivery and consumer focused strategies. Mr. Dozier began his healthcare IT career in 2001 where he served in various roles in IT for Porter Health System in Valparaiso, IN. From 2008-2011, he served as the Director of IT/Infrastructure for Valley Health System in Hemet, CA, the Director of I.S. at St. Tammany Parish Hospital, Covington, LA. from 2011-2012, and the Chief Information Officer at Southeast Health, Cape Girardeau, MO. from 2011-2014. Dozier earned a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Purdue University in 2005 and a Master’s in Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2007. He is also a member of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, HIMSS, and the Louisiana Hospital Association.

Josh Sommer
Cox Communications, Vice President of New Growth
Joshua Sommer is the Vice President of New Growth for Cox Communications. He leads strategy, business incubation, and investments: The New Growth division pursues innovative and disruptive business concepts and technology to spur new revenue streams. He is a passionate intrapreneur that disrupts the status quo. Sommer believes in innovation and the advancements it can bring to humanity. In his rapidly shifting career path, Sommer has worked across the entire high-tech ecosystem: components, products, provider, and professional services companies. Sommer entered telecommunications with Qualcomm and Kyocera, where he focused on product strategy for companies such as Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, and Vodafone. Throughout his career, he has launched more than 200 consumer products. He joined Cox Communications in 2008 as part of the team preparing to launch a nationwide wireless service. Following his first stint at Cox, Sommer joined Accenture to assist with a joint venture between Comcast and Verizon Wireless to develop innovative converged solutions. This became the foundation for the evolved Xfinity suite of products. Sommer returned to Cox Communications in 2015 to lead strategic products and partnerships and helped formulate the Comcast relationship that leveraged the company’s additional product development resources for faster development cycles and more compelling experiences for Cox customers. While earning his degree at San Diego State University (SDSU), Sommer played football as a middle linebacker. He also was a founding father of the Phi Kappa Theta chapter there and served two terms as chapter president. Sommer is a highly involved mentor for STEM Atlanta Women and Atlanta’s TechStars, as well as many other startup programs around the nation.

Charles Edwards
CEO/ Advance Telehealth Consulting Solutions L.L.C. and One Telemed, LLC
Charles Edwards is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Advance Telehealth Consulting Solutions, LLC and One Telemed, LLC. Under his leadership, Advance Telehealth has become the telemedicine vendor for a number of the Medicaid MCOs in Louisiana and One Telemed has become the Telepsychiatry provider majority of the Medicaid MCOs in Louisiana. One Telemed has grown to be the largest Telepsychiatry provider in the state of Louisiana servicing over 15,000 individuals across Louisiana. One Telemed, LLC was just recently voted Junior Achievement 2021 Small Business of Year. In years prior, Charles has spent 18 years in mental health. He served as a Community Liaison and a Regional Director of Community Relation for one of the largest mental health providers in the state of Louisiana. It was through that experience; Charles developed a heart for those in underserved communities that did not have access to care. He understood that utilizing the traditional way of providing services would not be an effective way to resolve the need for a growing mental health crisis. In August 2013, Charles pioneered the movement for Telepsychiatry services and started Advance Telehealth, a telemedicine technology company. In September 2017, he decided to start a provider company and founded One Telemed with a goal in mind to improve patient outcomes. Charles is a native of Lafayette, LA and a graduate of Acadiana High School that attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Charles has the heart to serve and considers himself grateful to be in a position to bring hope to individuals in need.