When Mitch Foster talks about healthcare innovation, he doesn’t start with buzzwords. He starts with reality. After more than three decades in medical devices and surgical robotics — including co-founding a spine and brain surgery robotics company that successfully exited — Foster has seen firsthand how difficult it is to translate promising technology into real clinical impact.
The science can be sound and the demand can be obvious. But without the right economics, regulatory strategy and capital, innovation stalls. That lesson shaped the founding of Mindset Medical, a Phoenix-based digital health company pioneering software-only, contactless vital sign monitoring, using nothing more than the camera on a smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Turning Academic Research into Clinical Reality
“We originally set out to improve patient-reported outcomes,” Foster says. “But in healthcare, if something isn’t reimbursed or doesn’t fit into existing workflows, it doesn’t scale, no matter how elegant the solution.”
The breakthrough came at Arizona State University’s SkySong innovation center, where Foster and his team encountered research from ASU biomedical engineer NJ Tao, Ph.D. Using a technology known as remote photoplethysmography (rPPG), Dr. Tao’s lab demonstrated that vital signs such as pulse rate could be measured remotely by analyzing subtle changes in skin color captured on video. Mindset licensed Dr. Tao’s intellectual property and reduced the promising research to clinical practice.
Drawing on their background in surgical robotics, the team engineered the technology to work reliably across lighting conditions and skin tones. The result is software that turns more than 300 million smartphones into medical devices. Mindset has since secured two FDA 510(k) clearances in less than a year and is advancing toward the “holy grail” of virtual care: non-contact blood pressure monitoring.
Why Smart Capital Matters: The Xcellerant Connection
Innovation alone doesn’t build companies. That’s where Xcellerant Ventures enters the story.
Recognizing the potential of Mindset’s platform, Xcellerant Ventures (XVC) invested in the company through its initial fund, bringing more than just a check to the table. Backed by operators and physicians with deep healthcare experience, Xcellerant is designed to support companies navigating regulated, technically complex markets.
For Mindset, the partnership has been critical. “Smart capital matters in healthcare,” Foster says. “Xcellerant understands regulatory pathways, commercialization and how to build companies that last. That changes the conversation entirely.”
Expanding the Playing Field: Enter Jetstream Venture Fund
The success of partnerships like Xcellerant and Mindset has paved the way for a new chapter in Arizona’s investment landscape. While Xcellerant’s early funds targeted institutional-level opportunities, the firm’s leadership recently launched the Jetstream Venture Fund to allow retail investors and other professionals access to this asset class.
Jetstream is an innovative interval fund designed to open the door for individual investors — not just ultra-wealthy institutions — to back the next generation of high-growth companies. By lowering minimums and removing traditional barriers, Jetstream aims to align a broader base of local capital with the region’s exploding innovation sector.
Phoenix’s Moment as a Med-Tech Hub
This evolution reflects a broader shift underway in Greater Phoenix. Long known for real estate and lifestyle appeal, the region is increasingly organizing its wealth, talent and institutions around innovation.
With Mayo Clinic’s expanding presence, ASU’s growing biomedical programs and funds like Xcellerant and Jetstream actively deploying capital, the pieces are connecting. “You can feel it,” Foster says. “Engineering, biotech, regulatory expertise, it’s all here. The difference now is alignment.”
With the right mix of innovation from founders like Foster and accessible “smart capital” from vehicles like Jetstream, Phoenix’s med-tech future is starting to feel less like a stretch and more like momentum.
Mike Shufeldt is general partner at Jetstream Venture Fund/Xcellerant Ventures.
