Can social media save people with PTSD? One DC startup thinks so and so did judges at this weekend’s Eastern Foundry Cup. The Shark Tank-style innovation competition featured 14 teams pitching their ideas for dealing with PTSD. Qntfy was the overall winner for an algorithm it developed that analyzes people’s social media posting frequency and content for signs of their mental health status. The company won this gigantic $10k check. Pictured are Qntfy co-founders Alex Yelskiy and Glen Coopersmith, Eastern Foundry CEO Geoff Orazem, RAND Corp’s Charles Engel, The Cohen Group VP Mark Brunner (former adviser to Sen. Mark Warner) and Eastern Foundry managing partner Andrew Chang.
This was Eastern Foundry’s first competition, just six months after the incubator got off the ground to help companies break into the government contracting space. Sound-Off was a runner-up, taking home $5k. The San Antonio mobile IT company allows veterans to connect with and receive anonymous ongoing care from volunteer counselors and veterans through their smartphones. Arlington-based Sandboxx won the People’s Choice award for a solution that lets military service members and veterans connect with family members, friends and military units and send snail mail through the app’s Mailboxx feature.
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