NYU Technology Opportunities & Ventures Hosts 2nd Annual HealthVenture Exchange: Pitch and Problem Solving

April 22, 2025 –

On Tuesday, April 22, Technology Opportunities & Ventures (TOV) hosted the second annual HealthVenture Exchange: Pitch and Problem Solving event, in partnership with the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute. The event gathered researchers, students, investors, and mentors from across the NYU community and the New York City innovation ecosystem to support emerging healthtech startups and foster collaborative problem-solving.

The event began with a presentation from the spotlighted startup, CaroRhythm, co-founded by NYU students Nisha Maheshwari (Tandon ’25) and Lokesh Sharma (Tandon ’28). CaroRhythm is developing CaroSense, a wearable device designed for continuous outpatient stroke monitoring. The technology addresses a pressing gap in post-stroke care by providing non-invasive, real-time insights that could reduce recurrence rates and improve patient outcomes. A standout within NYU’s entrepreneurial landscape, the team is a past winner of the NYU Stern Berkley Center Challenge, a participant in the Tech Venture Accelerator, and is currently preparing for a $900,000 pre-seed raise to fund research and pilot studies.

The CaroRhythm team delivered a concise pitch outlining the problem their innovation seeks to solve and their product roadmap. The pitch was followed by a panel conversation featuring Dr. Paul A. Testa, chief health informatics officer at NYU Langone Health, and Robert Maxwell, angel investor with Mid Atlantic Bio Angels and president of Ferox Therapeutics. Both panelists shared insights from the fields of informatics, healthcare delivery, and investment strategy, providing guidance to the CaroRhythm founders and attendees alike.

Following the panel’s feedback, CaroRhythm shared two challenges their startup is facing: identifying economic buyers and champions to convert studies into pilots, and brainstorming ways to demonstrate both financial value to payers and clinical value to providers. Attendees then broke into facilitated discussion groups to workshop these challenges, offering solutions and perspectives based on their expertise.

“The feedback from the panelists at the HealthVenture Exchange helped us challenge some of our riskiest business assumptions, leading us to refine our business model and identify important questions to answer while moving forward,” said Maheshwari. “The questions that came up while we were walking around and engaging with audience members highlighted concerns from medical industry professionals and offered great suggestions for identifying champions and collaborators. Overall, the feedback and networking we were able to do at the HealthVenture Exchange will help us grow as a company and ensure that we meet the needs of our stakeholders.”

The HealthVenture Exchange series is part of a broader initiative by TOV and the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute to advance commercialization at NYU. By showcasing promising startups and encouraging cross-functional collaboration, the program aims to support the next generation of life-changing technologies. Attendees left with new connections as well as a sense of shared purpose—to build solutions that meet pressing healthcare needs and improve lives.