Mark Rippen | CEO | Alertgy, Inc.
INTRODUCTION:
Diabetes is one of the most threatening lifestyle diseases of this century. Constantly not maintaining sugar levels can have disastrous consequences on the metabolism and other organs. Alertgy is one company which can prevent the above from not happening.
ABOUT THE COMPANY:
Alertgy, Inc. Incorporated as it is called had its inception in 2017. Currently, it only operates in one office located in Melbourne, FL. Alertgy is a pioneer in 100% non-invasive continuous blood glucose monitoring technology.
THE PRODUCT ALERT:
– Through the use of its patented radio frequency sensor Alertgy’s DeepGluco wearable device can accurately measure blood glucose in real-time, up to 3 times per minute. Most importantly, using the proprietary AI algorithm, DeepGluco can provide invaluable, up-to-the-minute life-saving alerts to the users and their designated HCPs.
– The present DeepGluco wristband can be readily integrated into an existing smartwatch form factor, and future versions can be further reduced in size. These will become available to consumers following FDA approval.
Unlike other CGMs, Alertgy has eliminated the interstitial lag as well as painful and uncomfortable side effects of patches, needles, and implants associated with.
– Marc Rippen, CEO
THE USP ALERT:
What makes Alertgy unique from other glucose monitoring devices is that it is a wearable device non-invasive, inexpensive, measures real-time blood glucose versus interstitial glucose and also measures last year’s sugar instead of days.
THE BREAKEVEN POINT:
Even though Alertgy’s philosophy is Better health through technology it still does not have enough funding to bring the technology to the market and is working to find the right investors.
THE PAST ALERT:
In the words of the CEO:
I have always enjoyed solving complex technical challenges for my customers. With degrees and formal education in chemistry, physics, microbiology/immunology, management, and engineering areas, I can identify out-of-the-box solutions to what appear to be impossible problems, with a practical solution. From Army officer to Engineer Program Manager at Pratt & Whitney, to being the Director of Technology Transfer Center at FIU College of Engineering, where I supported the commercialization of technology and pursued venture capital for start-ups to take technology to market. I also co-founded an internet technology company and took it from start-up to public in 2 years with 1 million dollars in seed funding. Most recently I was the Engineering Manager of Innovative Technology for Concurrent Technologies Corporation, then Director of Engineering at SRI, where I managed 10-30 million dollar Applied R&D contracts. My innovations there earned the coveted SRI Gold Nugget Award for developing significantly paradigm-shifting technologies and patents to show for it. I was able to solve critical problems for DARPA, SOCOM, Navy, Air Force, NASA, and the Army over my professional career. From the design, development, and validation of a 9-man submersible jet/submarine to the development and demonstration of advanced electromagnetic sensors and rf communications systems for maritime applications, the teams I lead took existing academic research and applied it practically. I started Alertgy when my wife almost went into a diabetic coma. This was the defining challenge in my life, which appeared not to be well focused until now. I could now connect all the dots and have realized that this was my training for the job I now have to bring a noninvasive continuous blood glucose monitoring and alert system to those that need it and make it inexpensive enough that anyone can use it. I want to bring this product to market and develop applications for many other diseases that we can diagnose with the same product.
The most difficult part of this is raising money for a medical device company is almost impossible as most VCs only want software big change companies and don’t want to invest in devices or manufacturing infrastructure.
– Marc Rippen, CEO
THE TEAM ALERT:
Alertgy, drawing on Marc’s past military background is his 12-person A-Team of folks who are true experts and professionals in what they do, working together to accomplish the mission impossible. The team’s management mantra is to lead through example. Recognize the strengths in the team and address the weaknesses as needed. The team never looks to blame for failure; it looks for a solution to solve the problem with a Win-Win attitude towards approaching opportunities and learns the most from failure. The team has won awards for the best company to work for it challenges people to grow themselves through their work.
What I value most about Alerty is that Alertgy is on a mission to save lives, and improve the quality of lives of over 2 billion people in the world. It is a noble and worthy undertaking. We are driven to meet the needs of our fellow human beings. It’s not about getting rich those that were motivated by this don’t last, it’s those that care about the long-term benefit that makes the company great.
– Marc Rippen, CEO
MEET THE CEO:
THE ALERT LEADER:
I don’t expect anyone to do anything I would not do. I am encouraged by the good that this technology will do in people’s lives. Practice what you preach, manage expectations, honesty, integrity, grit, creative thinking, never be afraid to fail, learn from failure and never give up shares Rippen.
THE DAYBREAK ALERT:
Rippen’s typical day is checking the calendar, having a cup of coffee, checking emails and then doing several pitches, having meetings with his managers and strategic partners and then wrapping the day off with a walk and helping his wife with dinner.
On his day off Rippen reads science fiction, fixes things, and goes sailing. He loves music, good food and good company. He’s most passionate about motorcycle riding. Jules Verne was one of his favourite authors as according to him he got into the science of things.
Knowing that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, Rippen dedicates a certain amount of his time to friends and family. He has learned that it takes balance and some personal time to decompress to best be able to do the job I do and to let go and delegate.
It’s interesting to note that today’s science was yesterday’s fiction. When I was tasked with developing the conceptual design and then demonstrating the viability of a flying submarine or submersible jet aircraft, I got a lot of my ideas from science fiction. These ideas create the vision that is needed to be able to lead the development team to make the impossible practical. I am proud to say my team was successful in the conceptual design and demonstration of its viability through model testing of a flying sub…. Based on a voyage to the bottom of the sea….
– Marc Rippen, CEO
THE FORWARD ALERT:
While signing off Rippen concludes:
Starting this company and putting my retirement savings into it is the biggest risk I’ve taken. I think that we can help NASA manage radiation sickness, muscle and bone loss and body fluid shifts through non-invasive monitoring of their astronauts in upcoming Mars missions. I see the company sponsoring research in other applications for our technology for Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other diseases with biomarkers we can detect with our technology.
To have contributed to empowering people to improve their health and quality of life. The success of my company in providing this to people is the manifestation; the end game is I made a difference where I could.
– Marc Rippen, CEO
