Jumpstart ezine highlights Embrace Pet Insurance launch

Last week we were fortunate to get a mention in the Jumpstart biweekly ezine right after we launched, which helped kickstart some local awareness. Jumpstart now has 18 portfolio companies and has only just started to add portolio company news to the well-circulated newsletter so you have jump up and down pretty hard to get noticed.

As a result of their article, I was interviewed for an article in the Cleveland newspaper, The Plain Dealer. Wall Street Journal, here we come :)

Every Dog Has Their Day

This week JumpStart announced an investment commitment in its 18th portfolio company - AnalizaDx. AnalizaDx is developing groundbreaking biomarker technology that could redefine early stage cancer diagnostics.

Cancer drugs are more effective when cancer is diagnosed in its very early stages. The AnalizaDx technology identifies cancer biomarkers based on changes in their structure and uses tests that are easy and relatively inexpensive to administer, thus enabling earlier stage detection.

And humans weren't the only ones getting great news this week. If you recall, in December of 2004, JumpStart announced an investment in Embrace Pet Insurance. Since making that commitment, founders Laura Bennett and Alex Krooglik, along with JumpStart executive-in-residence Mark Smith, have worked very hard to build the business, secure an underwriting partner, attract follow-on funding, and hire some very talented people.

All of their hard work resulted in the company reaching several major milestones. For instance, they just concluded a $725,000 round of financing, the overwhelming majority of which was raised from the local Angel Investor community. With this round of financing, Embrace has raised in excess of one million dollars to support the continued growth of the company.

Ultimately, their ability to sell pet health insurance in the U.S. market depended upon securing an affiliation with an underwriter. Pet health insurance in other parts of the world is a multi-billion dollar industry but is only a fraction of that in the U.S. As underwriters surveyed the potential of the U.S. market, Embrace was selected to be underwritten by certain underwriters at Lloyd's of London; their first foray into the U.S. market. 

With these major milestones accomplished, it is my sincere pleasure to announce that cats and dogs from coast to coast can now breathe a sigh of relief; provided of course their owners call (800) 511-9172. As of this week, Embrace is now selling health insurance policies for your beloved cat or dog. For the moment, you can only buy a policy by calling the number above; however, by year's end you will be able to purchase policies online at Embrace's website.

Getting to the point that they are now "open for business" was no small task. In addition to the very early stage (critical) dollars we invest, our business model also provides thousands of hours of assistance to our portfolio companies to accomplish the many vital tasks that are required to build a high-potential organization.

Whether it is a sophisticated financial product like insurance or a promising new biomarker technology, JumpStart portfolio companies are doing the hard work that is laying the foundation for tomorrow's economy, one cat (or dog) at a time.

Respectfully yours,

Thom Ruhe
Chief Marketing Officer, JumpStart Inc.
email: thom.ruhe@jumpstartinc.org
phone: (216) 363-3400