Li Jiang, PhD of VitaScan
An exclusive Tech Tribune Q&A with Li Jiang, PhD, the founder and CEO of VitaScan, which was honored in our:
Tell us the origin story of VitaScan – what problem were you trying to solve and why?
Before founding the startup, we began developing the technology in 2012 at Cornell University, with the goal of improving access to health testing in underserved settings. We specifically focused on nutrition deficiencies since they can be extremely prevalent, have foundational impact on your health, are challenging to test, and in many cases, can be easy to treat if only people knew that they were deficient. This was also around the time of the early smartphone boom, and we saw this as the perfect platform to help democratize test access. VitaScan was founded in 2016 to continue the vision.
VitaScan rapidly and easily tests for important nutrition related biomarkers from a finger prick of blood. Functionally, VitaScan works like a glucometer. The user deposits a finger prick of blood onto our test cartridge and inserts the cartridge into the reader. In minutes, the reader analyzes the test and reports your body’s concentration of the biomarker tested.
What was the biggest hurdle you encountered in your journey?
This is probably a common answer but funding in the diagnostics space is challenging for a startup. There are relatively fewer investors, and it can require significant capital to cover tech development, clinical trials, manufacturing scale-up, and FDA clearance, all before we can sell our first product.
What does the future hold for VitaScan?
In the near term, we plan to get FDA clearance for our beachhead product and develop partnerships allowing us to better serve our communities. With our easily scalable technology and optimized test design, VitaScan is exploring partnerships with contractors for mass production. We then plan to expand nationwide. In the context of a pandemic, many medical services are put on hold, but our test is easy to use in clinical and home settings, so we are hoping to help improve the overall health status of the population in this way.
What are your thoughts on the local tech startup scene in Ithaca?
With top tier schools in the area, Ithaca has always had a wealth of talent and ideas. However, there has always been a tradeoff between the perks of Upstate New York, such as lower startup costs, and the larger network and resources available in metropolitan areas. Within the last decade though, there has been a strong push to improve local resources that foster tech innovation. Numerous incubators and accelerators have opened or scaled significantly, including the McGovern Center (our home), Life Changing Labs, Rev, eLab, and the Praxis Center, just to name a few. Entrepreneurship at Cornell has also been created to connect startups to many resources. Ithaca’s tech scene today is very different from a decade ago, and VitaScan has had the privilege to be among the first cohort involved with this growth.
What’s your best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
It’s OK to fail. Use it to adapt your approach while staying consistent with your core values and vision. Keep in mind that we often compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.