Company

The Ulevo Health product is a lightweight, personalized device, worn on the ankle, above the knee, wrist, or above the elbow. The product automatically detects and reduces muscle spasms - which are often associated with neurological disease, spinal cord injury, and other conditions - with vibrations. This patented technology is intended to alleviate the most disabling aspect of spasticity, the involuntary muscle spasms that occur constantly. These contractions interfere with bodily functions, exacerbate pain, limit rehabilitation, disrupt daily activities, and lower the overall quality of life. The wearable device will deliver vibrations to target regions of a subject by determining the vibration parameters that will reduce muscle contractions in any body position whatsoever and without limitation.

Operational Management

Jack Karabees, CEO

Was formerly President of telehealth software and service provider Consult A Doctor from start-up through several rounds of institutional venture funding and acquisitions, led by Morgenthau Ventures, and through their acquisition by Kleiner Perkins-backed and publicly traded Teladoc (TDOC). Prior to the Teladoc acquisition, Karabees led 3 previous healthcare start-ups from early-stage through funding including Series A and/or Series B. Lead investors included Hambrecht and Quist, Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB), Redpoint Ventures, Barclays (BCS), Microsoft (MSFT), Blackstone (BX) and Nextera (NEE). In all previous companies, customers and alliance partners, included providers, patients, payors, self-insured employers, national medical distributors, and retail & online pharmacies.

 
 

Dr. Christopher Rumana, Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Christopher Rumana is a board-certified neurological surgeon who earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. He completed his surgical internship and neurosurgical residency at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Following his training, he was an attending neurosurgeon in Tallahassee, Florida for over 20 years. During this time he held many roles, including in his medical group practice where he was President of Tallahassee Neurological Clinic, and at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital where he was Chief of Neurosurgery, Chairman of the Medical Staff, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare. He retired from the active practice of medicine in 2018 and moved into various business and entrepreneurial roles. He currently is Chairman of the Board of Directors for two international medical companies, and is a board member and medical advisor for several others. Additionally, he is Chief Medical Officer for Ulevo Health.

Dr. Jorge Bohorquez, Inventor and Chief Technical Officer

Dr. Bohorquez is best known as one of the world’s experts on the effects of vibration on spinal cord injuries and those suffering from neurological disease. His worldwide work in biomedical engineering has resulted in the patents and technology which first attracted the attention of the Ikove Startup Nursery in Columbus and ultimately led to the creation of Ulevo Health. It is that intellectual property and those patents and technologies which power and enable Ulevo Health’s products. He is a 30+ year professor of bio-mechanics & biomedical engineering, a published expert on effects of vibration on spinal injury, and has published works worldwide in biomedical engineering.

 
 

William Holmes, Chief Financial Officer

Bill is the CFO at Ikove Venture Partners and is also a multi-unit franchisee and fitness trainer with The Exercise Coach in the Cleveland/Akron, Ohio area. Bill began his professional career with 15 years in financial services with several firms including public accounting, investment banking, and turnaround consulting. He has had a passion for startups and entrepreneurial businesses throughout his career. Over the last 20 years, Bill has held executive roles with privately-held manufacturing companies in automation, lead acid batteries, food processing, and industrial products.

Bill is an active CPA in Ohio and earned his BBA in Accounting from Cleveland State University. He is a member of the Cleveland Chapter of Financial Executives International (FEI) and has served on the boards of several companies and nonprofit organizations throughout his career.

Amy Jackson, Director of Human Resources

Amy is the Director of Human Resources for Ikove Venture Partners. Amy graduated from the College of Mount Saint Vincent with a BA in Psychology. Prior to joining Ikove, Amy was Director of Operations and Due Diligence Manager at a Foreclosure law firm in Maryland. Amy spent 4 years working for law firms in the default industry during which time she gained experience in legal compliance, operational oversight and improvement, process development and implementation, and office management.

 
 

David Moritz, Head of Legal

David Moritz is General Counsel at Ikove Venture Partners, and also serves as corporate counsel for several of its startups. He studied law and electrical engineering at The Ohio State University and is licensed to practice law in Ohio and California. David has experience in startup law, intellectual property, and civil litigation.

Angela Selimi, Accountant

Angela Selimi is an accountant for the Ikove Startup Nursery. She graduated magna cum laude in Accounting and Business Administration from Franklin University.

She has experience in accounting management positions with small businesses in different industries; including manufacturing, restaurant and retail trades, and construction. In each, she has helped to improve operations by developing systems and processes that enhance reporting.

 
 

Beth Filippi, Graphic Designer

Beth Filippi is a graphic designer at Ikove Capital. Beth believes that design is a problem-solving tool and makes a company more valuable. She’s committed to staying current with design trends and constantly challenges herself to learn more. She graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design with a degree in Illustration and a minor in Advertising Design.

 

BOARD & ADVISORS

  • Flavio Lobato

    BOARD MEMBER

    Flavio Lobato is Co-founder and Principal at Ikove Capital. He has over 25 years of experience in high finance. He is a serial entrepreneur and has led the launch and funding of over 20 startups. Flavio serves on the Board of several startups, acts as Co-Head of Fintech at Harvard Angels of New York and student advisor at the Harvard I-Lab. He has written extensively about venture capital and macro topics.

  • Abe Joseph - MS, MBA

    BOARD MEMBER

    Business leader with over 25 years of experience building global organizations to deliver the right products and services to improve peoples lives. Previously lead American College of Cardiology (ACC) Accreditation Business, more than doubling business and offerings, including heart failure (HF).

  • Rodolfo Bellesi

    ADVISOR

    Rodolfo Bellesi is Principal and Founder of Ikove Capital. Prior to Ikove, Rodolfo was Senior VP of Technology at MB Capital Group, a Private Equity and Real Estate Group focused on proprietary deals in Northern Brazil. He was also Founder and President of BR Trading Consultoria LTDA, and acted as General Country Manager for the mining conglomerate Energold Brasil. Additionally, he worked at Teradyne in Boston, MA as an Application Engineer and Project Manager. Rodolfo earned his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Ohio State University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Para.

  • Dr. Robert Lee

    ADVISOR

    Dr. Lee is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and former Dean of the Department. He is also former Director of the Simulation Innovation and Modeling Center in the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University. Dr. Lee is also Co-Founder and CTO of Ikove Venture Partners.