If you missed Sprint Accelerator's demo day, they put on quite the show

Roughly 1,700 people gathered Thursday for the Sprint Accelerator’s inaugural demo day.

The energy inside the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts was palpable Thursday as about 1,700 people poured into the space. The tittering of the crowd created a dull roar, muffled only by the many levels of the Center’s atrium, still audible from inside the venue’s plush auditorium.

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The crowd gathered not for a performance or theatrical spectacle, but to see a group of entrepreneurs share their story. As the lights dimmed and the 10 teams that traveled from around the world to be part of Sprint’s Mobile Health Accelerator powered by Techstars prepared to step into the spotlight, the city’s entrepreneurial community waited in anticipation to see what each had built over the last 90 days.

Shortly after the teams arrived in March, we wrote about the 10 companies looking to change the landscape of mobile health. Now, just three months later, their stories will once again diverge. While none of the startups were originally from Kansas City, a handful are considering making the city their permanent home. Others will return to their hometowns with new connections, strategic partnerships and maybe even an affinity for KC barbecue.

Sitting among the event’s other attendees last week, it wasn’t hard to be blown away by the progress each company made and the change—no matter how big or small—each is starting to make in the lives of their users.

And Sprint is taking notice. During the event, CEO Dan Hesse took the stage and declared the inaugural run of the program a success. So much so that it’ll be repeated again next year with a second class.

If the crowd during the Accelerator’s demo day is any indication, you can expect to see big things from members of the inaugural class. Three of Techstars’ co-founders—David Cohen, David Brown and Brad Feld—were in attendance, along with investors and community leaders from across the region. While none of the companies have explicitly announced funding deals yet, the coming months will likely reveal even more partnerships and a number of sizable investments.

If you weren’t able to attend, don’t miss out on the opportunity to see what the 10 companies have been building and what to expect from them moving forward:

	Sickweather (Baltimore) Social health network providing sickness forecasting & mapping. Sickweather will be featured as an essential app in the “Help & Fitness” section of the Apple App Store. The startup also leveraged its connections with Sprint and soon there will be a Sickweather widget pre-installed on all Sprint phones. The app typically beats CDC information by six weeks.
	LifeLine Response (Chicago) Personal safety app that uses natural human reaction to alert authorities. Even more impressive than its download numbers or valuable meta data is that LifeLine Response has already been able to prevent four assaults, with the terrifying stories to back the data. Also impressive is that Apple has tried to get both of its patents, says CEO Peter Cahill. Sounds like LifeLine Response is on to something.
	Fitbark (New York City) Activity tracker for dogs to redefine the way pet owners know their pups. Did you know there are currently more dogs than children in the U.S.? Woah. And Fitbark knows we’re willing to shell out major bucks for our pooches—Fitbark says about $2,500 per pet each year. Already they have “tens of thousands” of pre-orders for the $99 device from more than 40 countries.
	AkibaH (San Jose, Calif.) Disrupting diabetes with a BLE-enabled smartphone case glucometer. It’s hard not to be blown away by AkibaH. Their patent-pending smartphone case has a built-in glucose test kit, meaning diabetics no longer have to lug around a bulky kit with them wherever they go. Complete with an app to track test results along with information about diet and activity levels, CEO Haroon Ismail says AkibaH has been called “the biggest innovation in diabetes since insulin.”
	Yosko (Cambridge, Mass.) Hospital solution that provides efficient patient care coordination. With U.S. hospitals spending $12 billion annually due to wasted physician and nurse communication, Yosko is helping take the confusion and inefficiency out of hospital paperwork. Those errors have made hospitals some of the deadliest places in the world, according to Yosko. Through partnerships with Microsoft BizSpark and Allscripts, the startup is minimizing the percent error in hospital handoffs.
	Ollo (Brisbane, Australia) Wearable smartphone for healthier, safer families that monitors well being. Ollo’s Loop seems to be the solution to clunky, outdated communication devices for the ever-expanded “silver generation.” The device is sleek, almost futuristic, and is available in a variety of colors. Not to mention it’s a functioning cellphone—no buttons, keypads or tiny screens—compatible with a mobile app for families to stay connected.
	Prime (San Francisco) App to instantly and automatically get health records from any doctor. Just like Jimmy John’s, Prime’s ability to get all of your medical records quickly and digitally is freaky fast. Couple that with their digital, shareable intake form—goodbye, redundant hospital forms—and it’s no wonder Prime users have inputted more than 50,000 medical records already.
	Symptom.ly (Salt Lake City) Symptom tracking platform for insurers, doctors and patients. Originally from Salt Lake City, Symptom.ly announced they’ll be relocating to KC after demo day. Its eAsthma Tracker is currently in a beta test program with medical partners like Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital. CEO Derek Bereit walked through a typical situation where a parent rushes their child to the doctor, and leaves with a massive bill.
	Tenacity (Boston) Changing behavior and transforming the workplace through peer accountability. Currently focusing on large call centers, Tenacity is out to change habits through peer reinforcement and a little bit of guilt psychology. Don’t let down your co-workers—and even deny them a cash bonus—by failing to achieve your personal and professional goals. During demo day, Tenacity announced a pilot program with Sprint call centers.
	Medicast (Palo Alto, Calif.) Doctors on demand. Delivers doctors to home, office, or hotel within two hours. Basically the Uber of the medical world. Submit a request and have a pre-approved physician come to you, no matter the location, within two hours. Medicast is currently available to Miami and Los Angeles residents, with San Francisco and New York markets coming soon.