Nutrition app and health care start-upNuPlanit is gaining validity and attention after being accepted into national business incubator StartUp Health.

NuPlanit executives hope the incubator, which offers long-term coaching and mentoring in exchange for a financial stake in the company’s success, will broaden the Boston-based company’s outreach and aid the company’s growth.

“We get great promotion,” said Alaina Hanlon Adams, founder and CEO of NuPlanit, about the acceptance. “It adds some validity in the market where it’s so competitive with digital health and health IT. It’s a great program to be a part of and (it gives us) access to investors.”

The news broadens the audience for the nutrition company, which connects dietitians and their clients through a mobile app and also allows users to track their food intake using an individualized scoring system that values foods at different points depending on a person’s nutritional needs.

The app also tracks physical activity, and allows for virtual grocery shopping to teach users the right buying habits.

NuPlanit was one of four recently accepted companies into New York-based StartUp Health, a competitive process that occurs once a quarter. The company joins over 80 other mentored companies.

As part of StartUP Health, NuPlanit will present to investors and health care executives at the JPMorgan Health Care Conference, ongoing in San Francisco this week.

Originally created out of company PhenotypeIT, Adams pivoted the company to the new health care platform in June 2013.

Since, NuPlanit has partnered with 20 dietitian groups – both private practices and individuals – to develop their platform and bring users into the app.

Long-term, the company hopes to broaden access to their app beyond private practice dietitians, also incorporating nutrition management for employees as part of corporate wellness initiatives.

“Employers want to bring…a dietitian or nutritionist that their employees can consult with face to face. Our platform facilitates that solution, so when employee is out making decisions in every day life, they can check in with a nutrition counselor,” Adams said.

To aid in that growth, NuPlanit is also soliciting $50,000 on crowd sourcing siteIndiegogo. Financing closes Jan. 23. To date, the company has raised $6,430.

Adams said NuPlanit is offering memberships and other benefits to donors.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

From: http://www.bizjournals.com/