Philly startup Eye Guide will rep the Eagles at Super Bowl pitch competition

Heading from Philly to Minnesota this week hoping to bring home the glory? Yes, the Eagles, but also Delco native Patrick Carney, CEO of a startup called Eye Guide, makers of a medical device capable of detecting brain injuries.

See, Eye Guide will face two other startups in 1st and Future, the NFL’s Super Bowl startup competition aimed at athlete safety and performance. Happening Feb. 4 ahead of Super Bowl LII. The prize is a cool $50,000, acceptance into the Texas Medical Center Accelerator and two tickets to the big game.

At the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, a panel of judges will hear pitches from nine startups as part of the event, organized jointly by the NFL, Comcast-NBCUniversal and the Mayo Clinic.

Here’s a quick vid on how the detection tool works:

Carney, 53, said it was an honor to showcase the company’s Focus product at a venue like the pitch competition.

“For a Philly kid it’s a great opportunity,” he said. “But we also need to win because we need to watch the Eagles bring the trophy home.”

The company, a tech-transfer startup from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, is currently spread between Philly, Texas and Arkansas. For 2018, the company plans to make Philly its main outpost.

We're thrilled to announce EyeGuide was selected by the @NFL @comcast @NBCUniversal @LIFT_Labs & @MayoClinic as one of nine finalists for the 2018 1st and Future Super Bowl competition! https://t.co/kfjDvBUmh0 pic.twitter.com/0TIB5ccWZO

— EyeGuide (@eyeguide) January 25, 2018

Carney joined the company as CEO in August. The four-employee startup has deployed the technology to “strategic partners” and is currently developing its commercial rollout.