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August 2014

The problem: Back pain

Back pain is a very big problem. Out of all the big health issues that everybody talks about, you don’t hear much about back pain. But… Back pain is the most common cause of work-related disability, The second greatest reason for doctor visits, And the leading cause of reduced physical function in North Americans under age 50. That’s a big deal.

Most of these patients never fully recover. Why not?

Living with back pain is hard. Recovery is harder.  

Back pain patients spend a lot of money and time with rehab

professionals in a clinical setting:

Over 50 million hours and $8 billion last year in the USA alone.

Most of these patients never fully recover.

Why not?  

Recovery is hard because you can’t see it.

The biggest obstacle to recovery is when patients can’t see themselves making any progress. This is a really hard problem. Recovery takes time, and it’s really demotivating when days, weeks, or months go by without feeling like you’re getting anywhere. So people give up.

Patients get demotivated, quit therapy, and don’t recover.

When you can’t see recovery…

THIS IS A BILLION DOLLAR PROBLEM THAT NO ONE IS SOLVING!

 

Clinics lose their patients to disengagement, can’t help them get better, and lose revenue.

Disability, insurance, and workers’ compensation

payers get stuck with the bill long-term: tens of billions of dollars each year.

Introducing Backtrack.

The recovery tool for back pain.

See your recovery, with your own eyes.

What is Backtrack?

It’s a small patch you wear on your back, which talks to your smartphone and keeps track of how you move.

Feeling pain? Just give the patch a quick tap. Now Backtrack knows when you hurt, and what you were doing.

Making progress today? Moving more? Feeling less pain? That’s great! Backtrack helps you see your recovery.

See your recovery, with your own eyes.

Less pain, more activity, healthier movement. This is what recovery looks like.

Backtrack sees you in a unique and powerful way.

Existing wearables all track you as a single point in space. That’s good enough to track how much you’re moving, but can’t really show how you’re moving.

Backtrack sees you as a shape. It’s a more natural way to track activity, and gives you more insight into how you move.

This is what recovery looks like.

Less pain. More activity. More fluid, natural movement. Step by step, day by day.

Backtrack is the missing piece.

If patients can see that they’re making progress; If therapists can show patients their improvement; If clinics can keep their patients coming back; Then Backtrack solves a billion-dollar problem.

Target customer:

Clinics.

Backtrack’s road map:

1. Short term.

2. Medium term.

3. Long term. Target customer:

Early adopters.

Product: Wearable device + app.

Channel:

Kickstarter.

Value proposition: Help you recover.

Addressable market:

$1-10M

Target customer:

Payers.

Product: Devices + subscription software.

Channel:

Vendor partners.

Value proposition: Retain + treat patients better.

Addressable market:

$10-100M

Product: Software suite.

Partners:

Manufacturers + vendors.

Value proposition: Huge long term $ savings.

Addressable market:

$1B+

Fall 2013:

Winter/Spring 2014

Summer 2014

Our timeline so far…

-Full team of 6 assembled in Montreal -Research-grade prototype complete -Worn by first patients + beginning first clinical research study

-Alex & Alex meet; Initial idea for Backtrack is born -Early proof-of-concept prototyping -Early validation with clinics, researchers, and back pain patients

-$500,000 incubation investment with TandemLaunch, an early-stage incubator in Montreal, Canada -Prototype development and iteration -First IP written and filed

1. Build functional end-to-end MVP

2a. Pre-sale to early adopters via Kickstarter

2b. Start research trials: do the ground work

3. Approach clinics via channel partners

Now

Fall

2015

…and the short term agenda:

Before approaching the clinics on a large scale via vendor partners, we are validating Backtrack in two important ways: 1) Releasing an early version on Kickstarter, to get input and revenue from early adopters; 2) Establishing research trials, to scientifically evaluate Backtrack in the clinic.

Why this strategy?

Well, everyone seems to love the agile approach to healthcare innovation…

…But wearable health just doesn’t have strong enough scientific backing to be that clinically useful.

The startup that wins the rehab market will:

Correctly balance lean, agile development with rigorous, scientific validation; Solve real medical problems with market-driven, consumer-validated products; Unlock a whole new market in between ‘pure consumer’ and ‘pure medical’: similar to what AirBNB did for the hospitality industry; Solve a billion dollar problem and make a big difference in the world.

Alex Daskalov is a generalist software developer and lead problem-solver at Backtrack. After developing an interest in solving new problems with bio-sensing wearable technology, Alex cofounded Backtrack along with Alex Danco in the fall of 2013.

Meet the founding team:

Alex Danco’s background is in neuroscience: he completed his Master’s degree in the neurobiology of chronic pain in 2013, in the laboratory of Dr. Laura Stone at McGill University. Seeing a need in the market, Alex moved over to the startup world where he met Alex Daskalov in the summer of 2013.

TandemLaunch creates and finances early-stage companies in the consumer electronics field, in collaboration with universities and industry partners across the world. Backtrack has been an incubated investment at TandemLaunch since December 2013.

Meet the full team:

Alex Danco + Alex Daskalov, Cofounders.

Dr. Ladan Mahabadi + Alan Schoen, Data scientists and machine learning experts.

Kayhan Qaiser + Clara Knowles, App & hardware development interns

Dr. Geoff Dover, lead researcher Associate professor, Concordia University

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Thank you!

www.backtrackwear.com