COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted businesses across the world and changed how they operate. However, the Founder and President of Alertgy – Marc Rippen states that they are taking advantage of change instead of fighting it. According to him, the diabetes monitoring industry is behind the curve, and the time is right to use their technology to fill a critical need in the mature market: a non-invasive, low-cost digitally-enabled continuous blood glucose monitoring and alert system. Millions of diabetics around the world need an easier and simpler approach to manage and monitor their blood sugar, without the discomfort and hassle that today’s products bring.
“In the future, we believe we can reach new industries and customers by applying our patented technology to many other forms of diagnostics,” shares Marc.
The Reason Behind Algerty Inception
Marc holds degrees in microbiology, analytical chemistry, and aeronautics. He was a former army officer and, most recently, the director of Engineering for the Marine and Space Technology Division of Stanford Research Institute (SRI) International. He started as a material engineer at Pratt & Whitney, where he oversaw advanced research and development programs that supported the development of sophisticated materials for jet and rocket engines.
The visionary leader then worked as a field engineer for leading atomic and molecular spectroscopy companies, where he provided turnkey materials analysis solutions for a wide range of industries, including agriculture, environmental, manufacturing, and advanced research and development in leading research institutions.
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I motivate people by leading through example, by understanding what is important to them and giving them an opportunity to meeting their need through their work assignments.
“From there, I became the director of the FIU College of Engineering NASA tech transfer center where I helped companies utilize NASA technologies in the commercial arena. In this role, I helped small businesses raise venture capital and pursue SBIR and STTR programs to fund the commercialization of their technologies. From there, I co-founded an Internet start-up company and raised 1 million dollars and eventually was able to take the company public in an acquisition,” states Marc.
He further adds, “The inception of Alertgy was due to a tragedy, I found my wife nearly slipping into a diabetic coma and became unresponsive due to being in a prolonged low blood sugar state. After I was able to rehabilitate her, I found out that no technology existed anywhere that would alert me for future similar events so decided to do something about it and started Alertgy. “Alert” to alert me “g” for glucose “y” because we need it.“
Providing The First Truly Non-Invasive Continuous Blood Glucose Monitor
Alertgy is a pioneer in 100% non-invasive continuous blood glucose monitoring technology whose mission is, “Improving Diabetic Health Through Innovation”. Its DeepGluco wearable device can accurately monitor blood glucose in real-time, up to three times per minute, thanks to its proprietary radio frequency sensor. Most significantly, DeepGluco can provide users and their designated HCPs with invaluable, up-to-the-minute life-saving notifications by utilizing its patented AI technology.
Furthermore, it eliminates interstitial lag, as well as the severe and annoying side effects of patches, needles, and implants, which are common with conventional CGMs. The DeepGluco wristband can easily be fitted into an existing smartwatch form factor, and future versions can be further reduced in size. Following FDA approval, these will be available to customers.
Marc and his expert team were asked by NIH to submit a proposal to develop a device to allow for detection of the COVID virus as this has been identified as a potential application for Alertgy technology. Alertgy has the potential to become a leader not only in diabetic treatment, but also in diagnosis and monitoring for a variety of diseases and conditions, including COVID 19.
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My responsibility is to lead my team and enable each team member to provide their best effort.
A Multi-Faceted Leader With Extensive Experience
Marc states, “My job is 24/7 I am driven to making deep gluco available to the billions of people affected by diabetes globally today.” As the CEO of the company, the dynamic leader wears many hats and performs various responsibilities. He interacts with companies and researchers around the world, at all times of day to do this.
He also works with his technical teams daily to provide them with direction as needed and work to ensure that every team member has the opportunity to succeed at what they do. Besides this, Marc is in charge of identifying each person’s capabilities, assisting them in achieving their professional and personal objectives, and giving the vision required to steer the organization in the best direction. “I am responsible to my investors to insure they get a reasonable return on their investment and to provide the hundreds of millions of diabetics a system that will greatly enhance their quality of life and reduce the worry for their loved ones,” asserts Marc.
As the head of the NASA Tech Transfer Center at FIU College of Engineering, he assisted many companies in commercializing technology in the past. The visionary leader also founded an internet-based technology that he was able to take from seed to sale to a public company. Working as a field engineer for a decade, giving solutions to a wide range of industries in the application of molecular and atomic spectroscopy, provided a solid foundation in the application of spectroscopy to analyze a wide range of samples. “These experiences all gave me the background to do what I am doing today,” says Marc.
Future Roadmap
“Given that 1/3 of the world’s entire population are borderline diabetics, we can help them better manage their lifestyles to keep them from becoming diabetic,” shares Marc. Under the wise leadership of Marc, the company has the unique ability with its technology to significantly affect the lives of over 90% of the 420 million diabetics in the world population with a way to manage their disease easily and effectively.
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The combination of my education and experience allowed me the means to launch Alertgy and bring it to where it is today.
Marc and his expert team will assist the 2 billion people on the verge of becoming diabetic by providing them with the knowledge they need to avoid becoming diabetic by increasing their understanding of how their lifestyle affects their glucose levels. Algerty team will also save their lives as they will know when they become diabetic so they can seek proper treatment before the damage is done and they have to go to the hospital.
With automated notifications if their glucose levels are too high or low, they improve the lives of all people with diabetes. “We provide them with an effortless means to measure their blood glucose continuously without the need for invasive and expensive systems. The company will be pursuing an alert and surveillance application approval for this from the FDA,” states Marc.
According to the dynamic leader, there is no limit to what their technology can provide in terms of monitoring and diagnostics in the future. As per published research, their technology has the ability to track various metabolites and cellular indicators throughout the body for different diseases, positioning Alertgy as a leading diagnostic technology company.
Take Advantage Of COVID Pandemic
According to Marc, they have taken advantage of the pandemic’s challenges. For instance, they now conduct all of their fund-raising pitches digitally. This saves them lot of time and money on travel, and it allows them to interact with a lot more investors all over the world.
