b.well finds connections inside and outside of Baltimore

b. well Connected Health’s recent moves within the city have pointed at growth for the startup.
In December, we saw founder Kristen Valdes pitch to close out M-1 Ventures, a program run by a host of partners like Johns Hopkins, UMB, Plank Industries and Brown Advisory in the last quarter of 2017 to help health and fitness startups. The company picked up $25,000 as Valdes pitched the consumer-facing platform.
b.well is designed to provide a single place to store and share health records and family health history from a variety of sources, as well as data from connected devices. With the data, it can provide connections to programs and services. Along with being offered directly to consumers, Valdes said it can be offered to health plan members or employees of companies.
The company also recently relocated to The Grid at the University of Maryland BioPark, which opened in December within the Lion Brothers Building in Southwest Baltimore.
Those local moves come along with more visibility nationally for the company, Valdes said in a recent conversation.
In recent months, the company has also been participating in a pair of national programs designed to help startups work with larger companies and potentially make other connections.
In 2017, b.well was also part of Plug and Play, a Silicon Valley–based program that helps match startups who are beyond the earliest stage. Valdes was picked as the People’s Choice winner at the program’s winter summit.

Thank you to @PlugandPlayTC and the corporate sponsors who made #WinterSummit possible! Lasting and impactful relationships built – a great way to send off the 2017 Health cohort. Now, onto new pilots! pic.twitter.com/87pF3iTyAv

— b.well Connected Health (@icanbwell) December 7, 2017

Around the time that was wrapping up, the startup was announced in the current cohort of MasterCard’s Start Path program.The financial company runs that program to provide mentorship to later-stage companies. While MasterCard doesn’t normally pick healthcare companies for the program, Valdes said there are similarities in the health and financial realms in the area of consumer education.
An event in Miami was part of the programming for that cohort.
“b.well was invited to pitch our healthcare solution to a large number of financial solutions and companies,” Valdes said, explaining the program. “Through the course of the program, we’re getting the opportunity to work directly with the companies that are interested in utilizing our product for employees or partnering with us in different ways.”
The company also recently closed a funding round of $3.2 million from a combination of new and existing investors, Valdes said, and will use the money to help scale.
Last week, the company also added a pair of new board members, including Joseph C. Kvedar, Vice President of Connected Health for Partners Healthcare and a Harvard University professor, and Cappello Group Managing Director Emma Cartmell.