CLARA

University of Washington, Foster School of Business

MBA Founding Student Name(s): Melinda Yormick, RN, Foster School of Business Executive MBA (2024). Melinda is a Registered Nurse.

Brief Description of Solution: CLARA is Waze™ meets air traffic control, providing hyper-accurate indoor navigation for patients and staff, including real-time positioning of staff and resources. By harnessing precision mapping and concurrent data, CLARA streamlines hospital operations, enhances patient care, and reduces friction in rapid delivery of care.

Funding Dollars: The $200K pre-seed closed in December 2023; the current seed round is underway.

Having closed a $200K seed round and actively piloting at the University of Washington, we are looking to close seed capitalization, which will help us finish our MVP and support strategic land/expand GTM.

What led you to launch this venture? My founder’s journey began with a tragedy—a patient who lost his life not due to his procedure but because essential equipment and clinicians couldn’t reach him in time. This is not an isolated issue, but a global standard that leaves patients at risk daily. CLARA exists to change this, providing real-time, precise location data for people and equipment, coupled with the first workflow orchestration software tailored to clinical environments.

Inspired by a tragic loss, my mission was to make hospitals safer and smarter. CLARA isn’t waiting for others to set the standard; we’re defining the connected, intelligent care environment for the future.

What has been your biggest accomplishment so far with venture? My greatest achievement with CLARA is assembling a powerhouse team of experts. Our team includes finance leaders, senior technologists, clinician leaders, and physician executives. Together, we are creating a remarkable product and business that will redefine the future of work for clinical settings worldwide.

Five of eight early team members are graduates of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business Executive MBA program, including:

• Sireesha Panchagnula– COO
• Zach Litvack, MD – Advisor
• Brandon Tudor MD – Advisor
• Amitesh Kumar – Finance/Risk Advisor

What has been the most significant challenge you’ve faced in creating your company and how did you solve it? The most significant challenge I’ve faced with CLARA has been conveying my vision to others. It’s tough to translate a complex, groundbreaking idea into something people can grasp and get behind. Everyone has their own preconceived notions and often jumps to conclusions based on what’s already out there.

CLARA isn’t just another piece of technology; it’s a fundamental infrastructure platform, a digital fabric tailored specifically for clinical environments to optimize hospital operations. This innovation touches every aspect of healthcare, and making this clear has been crucial to gaining acceptance and support.

For me personally, the key to overcoming this challenge has been identifying common questions, developing clear communication, and being patient with myself in effectively telling CLARA’s story.

How has your MBA program helped you further this startup venture? The University of Washington’s Executive MBA program was instrumental in shaping CLARA’s growth and success. It provided me with the strategic mindset and business acumen to navigate the complexities of building a startup. The access to business plan competitions, entrepreneurial coursework, and a diverse cohort of experienced professionals was invaluable. It helped me refine CLARA’s business model, sharpen our value proposition, and forge connections that continue to impact our trajectory.

Additionally, the program’s focus on practical, real-world applications and case studies in finance, negotiation, and leadership meant I could immediately apply what I learned to CLARA. My professors’ and classmates’ support and insights were crucial in overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities. The network I built through the program continues as a source of mentorship, collaboration, and inspiration. Overall, the program was a cornerstone in CLARA’s journey, providing the tools and support necessary to realize my vision.

What founder or entrepreneur inspired you to start your own entrepreneurial journey? How did he or she prove motivational to you? I continue to be inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit that surrounded me growing up. My parents ran a small-scale apparel operation, my aunt and uncle launched successful gymnastics studios, and my nana owned a busy salon at a time when many women didn’t even work outside the home. The common thread among these inspiring business owners was their creativity.

To me, building a business is like playing three-dimensional chess, where dynamic thinking is essential to navigating complex challenges and meeting the needs of all stakeholders. Seeing my role models dedicate themselves to their craft and their customers continues to be incredibly motivating. This background has shown me that spotting and filling a market opportunity is my normal. It also taught me that it’s my responsibility to solve problems when I see them, even if others are content with the status quo.

As a business-minded clinician, I aim to ensure patients have access to safe, efficient care, help administrators achieve significant returns, and enable caregivers to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional patient care.

Which MBA class has been most valuable in building your startup and what was the biggest lesson you gained from it? Operations Management with Professor Yong-Pin Zhou and Statistics for Management with Professor Shaosong Ou have been especially valuable in guiding Clara’s development. These classes taught us how to streamline processes, manage workflows, and make data work effectively—skills that form the foundation of CLARA’s functionality.

In Operations, we learned how to optimize systems to run smoothly. This shaped how CLARA was designed to fit seamlessly into healthcare workflows, making daily challenges easier for staff. Statistics provided insights into gathering and using data in ways that matter, allowing Clara to offer hospitals actionable information for improving efficiency and planning.

These classes together shaped our approach, helping CLARA become more than just software; it’s a tool that empowers healthcare teams to work together more effectively, cut down on wasted time, and adapt as needs change. This foundation has enabled us to create a product that genuinely supports healthcare providers in delivering the best possible care.

What professor made a significant contribution to your plans and why? Professor Benjamin (Ben) Hallen made a significant impact on CLARA and me personally as a founder. His willingness to meet with me and share knowledge before enrolling in entrepreneurial classes meant a great deal; I will never forget that feeling of validation as an innovator. His expertise in entrepreneurship and venture creation provided invaluable insights that shaped our business strategies. He challenged me to think critically about our business model and pushed me to refine our value proposition.

Beyond the classroom, Professor Hallen offered mentorship that helped navigate the early-stage hurdles of building a startup. His guidance in startup competition and pitch preparations, along with his willingness to be a sounding board to a new founder, was instrumental in our success. He was always encouraging, reminding me that the real goal is to solve a problem for the world and not to win a competition. His influence is evident in my confidence as an entrepreneur and the strong foundation and innovative approach CLARA embodies today.

How has your local startup ecosystem contributed to your venture’s development and success? CLARA owes much of its success to Seattle’s vibrant startup ecosystem. I founded the company just weeks before starting business school at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. This allowed me to approach the Executive MBA program with a strategic mindset. Leveraging startup competitions, coursework, and cohort engagement, CLARA flourished. Our Executive MBA student team earned the Hollomon Health ‘Best in Digital Health’ Award from the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship.

During the program, CLARA joined the Washington State Technology Innovation Accelerator Program, which provided startup-specific content, fostered local business relationships, and facilitated learning alongside other founders.

Before graduation, CLARA was accepted into the CoMotion Labs Hardware Incubator at the University of Washington. This innovation space enabled us to set up and test various hardware for our critical use software service, leading to our first pilot opportunity within the University of Washington’s Mass Spectrometry Lab.

What is your long-term goal with your startup? CLARA isn’t just about solving one problem; it’s an infrastructure that fundamentally transforms how hospitals operate. By streamlining emergency response coordination, improving navigation across complex campuses, and enhancing administrative oversight, CLARA optimizes the entire network of care. This leads to faster, safer care and supports health systems in achieving a sustainable cost structure.

Looking to the future, CLARA’s broader impact will be profound. As hospitals face growing demands for efficiency and precision, CLARA’s scalable platform aims to offer a sustainable model for high-quality care delivery. Beyond supporting individual workflows, CLARA’s data-driven insights allow healthcare systems to anticipate needs, streamline operations, and redefine patient care.

Designed as a future-proof platform, CLARA’s infrastructure supports extensibility, integrating with hospital-preferred third-party tools and adapting to innovations like AI and predictive analytics. This foundational flexibility means CLARA evolves alongside healthcare to meet the long-term needs of those delivering care.

As an entrepreneur, I plan to the end; my long-term goal is to guide CLARA through strategic success, bringing our long-term roadmap to life. Why? Because CLARA isn’t just a platform; it’s a pathway to a sustainable and supportive future in healthcare. I am passionate about continuing to lead this transformative journey on a global scale to evolve what society will accomplish through the digital future of ‘inside.’

Looking back, what is the biggest lesson you wished you’d known before launching and scaling your venture?  No lesson will be the only lesson you need to learn before starting a company. You need to commit to making moves and learning as you go. If you have a job to do, the best time to start is now. Do your diligence, find the right advisors, and don’t be afraid to make your most significant contribution.

I started out listening to many podcasts and fireside chats and networking like a maniac. One key lesson was to be very aware of high-cost and high-stakes mistakes and always seek advice when you are faced with high-impact decisions.

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