Seattle startup Litesprite, which develops mobile games that treat mental health disorders, took home the crown at the inaugural TRAILS competition hosted by healthcare innovation hub Cambia Grove.
Litesprite’s technology uses mobile gaming to deliver treatment for a variety of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. A recent study on beta users of Sinasprite, Litesprite’s first game, found that it helped battle symptoms of those diseases.
The TRAILS competition put a number of innovative healthcare startups through the ringer before selecting five finalists to present at Cambia Grove’s Startup Day. Following the pitches, Litesprite and CEO Swatee Surve were selected as the winner by a panel of industry judges.
As its prize, Litesprite will now have the chance to work with the University of Washington Medicine’s Primary Care Innovation Lab to test and develop its technology in a real-world setting, with help from medical professionals working inside the health system.
“For us, the win is important because it will build on our current evidence base that includes clinical validation, cost savings, and qualitative feedback on workflow improvement,” Surve told GeekWire in an email interview. “It will help us further answer the economic impact and we can also start to quantify the workflow improvements we’ll realize.”
