Inova has a free education program for health-focused entrepreneurs

Inova has a new program for entrepreneurs who are at the initial stages of starting health technology companies.

Starting this fall, the health system is providing a free education program that’s designed to introduce steps such as messaging, project management, vetting the marketplace and preparing to pitch investors, according to Inova. The seven-week sessions will run once in the fall and once in the spring.

Along with helping to shape a business, the program could be an entry point of sorts into Inova’s wider effort to galvanize new startups around health and wellness. The education program is being run through the Inova Personalized Health Accelerator in Fairfax, Va., which will also launch an application process for its 4-5 month program this fall, Technical.ly DC reported. While the two initiatives are distinct, Personalized Health Accelerator Director Michael Thomas indicated in a statement that the seven-week program could be a path to the accelerator’s longer program in the future.

“Our goal is to attract and educate emerging entrepreneurs with a vision for the next generation of personalized health products and services,” Thomas said in a statement. “Unlike other programs, we will be laser focused on what it takes to create a health startup, and we expect that many of the investments IPHA makes will be in companies that complete this program.”