Health care startup wins regional Comcast innovation contest

Health care startup wins regional Comcast innovation contest

An online public vote determines the six grand prize winners of the national Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs contest by Comcast Business. Photo via comcast.com

A local health care startup has been named a regional winner and a finalist for a national competition that awards more than $440,000 total to up-and-coming companies.

Comcast Business, a division of Comcast Cable, said this week that Grand Rapids-based VR Therapy and Counseling Center was awarded $10,000 as one of 30 regional winners in its Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs contest.

VR Therapy and Counseling Center now competes for the chance to be one of six grand prize winners chosen to receive an additional $20,000 and a trip to Comcast headquarters in Philadelphia to consult with business experts.

The regional winners were chosen based on essays that were submitted, outlining how the company would use technology to enhance their business.

Comcast Business chose a group of 15 startups and a group of 15 entrepreneurs to make up the 30 regional winners, which now go head-to-head in a public vote to determine the six grand prize winners.

In its essay, VR Therapy and Counseling Center describes its vision to build a behavioral reversal system, which would use virtual reality to create environments that allow therapists to simulate real-life interactions to enhance their interpersonal skills and effectiveness in challenging situations.

Public voting online is open until May 13, and the grand prize winners will be announced on June 6.