LaunchPad Alum and ModoScript Founder David Zuleta ’18 Shares Insights
David Zuleta grew up in the outskirts of Bogota and began his collegiate and entrepreneurial journey at Syracuse University. He came up with the idea of a secure medicine bottle cap to help prevent overdoses and help patients remember to take their medication. Today Zuleta lives in Miami and has continued to develop and iterate on the ModoScript solution.
ModoScript's mission is to deliver high-quality, data-driven, remote treatment monitoring for cancer and chronic conditions, ensuring equitable care for all patients. The company is currently developing a med-tech solution for business-to-business-to-consumer software that will help providers, biotech companies and health insurers remotely measure and monitor dispensing of oral specialty medications.
Zuleta reflected on his days as a young budding entrepreneur and working in the LaunchPad, “It was life changing. I am so grateful I was able to learn as a first gen Latino graduate and being given the opportunity by the LaunchPad staff to take a risk, get me into competitions and helping me grow as an entrepreneur.” Between campus pitch competitions and some grant funding he received from the Syracuse Tech Garden in downtown Syracuse, Zuleta accumulated $35,000 and was able to begin working on his prototype.
ModoScript’s solution consists of the first reusable locked-dispensing cap with fingerprint biometric recognition and vital sign capturing sensor combination (such as heart rate, oxygen levels, etc.) as dosage is dispensed. ModoScript’s device has a screen display to provide custom multilingual visual and vocal treatment interaction content at the point of medication consumption to support clinical trial participants and patients, while preventing accidental overdoses, underdosing and diversion. The device offers cellular connectivity to support patients in rural and metro areas, and an adapter system to integrate with standard medication packaging for scalability. ModoScript is currently raising a $2M round of funding for commercialization and bringing top quality individuals to the ModoScript team.
Zuleta spoke about the challenges for Latino entrepreneurs when accessing investment. “Less than 2% of all equity funding goes toward Latino founders, so seeing success stories was encouraging, because I had a lot of doors shut on me before my idea was even heard.” Zuleta also spoke about the med-tech industry noting “It is a tough industry; people’s lives are at stake, and their families are deeply implicated.” Right now, Zuleta’s priority is finding top quality individuals for his team. He learned that it is important to know your own value, even if you face rejection.
So far, the company has raised approximately $1M and is in Phase 3 clinical trials. Zuleta's advice to the next generation of LaunchPad entrepreneurs is this: “It’s difficult. Be ready for the roller coaster. Be ready for success. Your character will be tested and that is what allows you to be a better entrepreneur.”