Prevently.com launches this Friday, aims to become "Facebook of Health"

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Prevently.com is a new startup co-founded by former Harvard University students and Kairos Society Fellows Laurence Girard (CEO) and Kristen Faulkner (COO) and will be launching fully this Friday October 25th. The website provides its growing userbase with health content, health products, telemedicine, an online personal health record, as well as social networking. Observers are calling Prevently "The Facebook of Health," wondering if this new Harvard startup is the next big thing.

Prevently.com licenses consumer health content from Harvard Medical School. All the content is reviewed by physicians for scientific accuracy and focuses on prevention and wellness.

The health products section is similar to "An online version of Whole Foods" - including healthy food, personal care products, and supplements, all of them peer-reviewed by physicians for safety and quality.

The telemedicine portal allows users to book sessions with registered dietitians or pay a subscription fee for their dietitian or primary care doctor to monitor their online personal health record and contact users via an online inbox or live video consultation if unhealthy behaviors are noticed.

The personal health record allows users to sync and upload data from wearable fitness devices such as FitBit, Jawbone UP, Nike Fuel Band, iHealth Labs, Withings, and iBGStar. Notifications are sent to the users' doctor or dietitian if they are not exercising enough, not sleeping properly, gaining weight, or other unhealthy symptoms are detected.

Lastly, each user has a social networking profile which allows them to join groups with other users and work towards health goals.

The founders are currently in a selective incubator program called COMETS at Launchpad in Mineola, NY for which 63 companies applied and only 3 were accepted. Their goal is to have a tremendous social impact and to provide an online wellness platform that can potentially impact millions of people. They hope to take the company public one day through an IPO.

"This isn't only about money - it's about saving lives. Seeing people die from preventable cardiac arrest while volunteering in my local emergency room inspired me to find a solution for preventing this from happening and that's what we're trying to do at scale at Prevently," the founders said. "Facebook's goal is to make the world an open and more connected place, while Prevently's goal is to make the world a healthier and more connected place. Prevently will one day hopefully help 1 billion people improve their health and prevent disease the same way that Facebook helped 1 billion people stay more connected."

"In the U.S., Prevently is about preventing that 50 year old father with a wife and two kids from dying from a heart attack when that problem could have been prevented through simple diet and lifestyle interventions. It's about helping people, not money - and our current healthcare system is failing to provide the solution we need as a nation."

About Prevently
Girard and Faulkner are currently working full time on Prevently at their incubator in Mineola. Prevently has raised close to $1M in seed-funding to date from 50 angel investors which allowed them to build their initial prototype which is launching on Friday, October 25th. The company's advisory board consists of graduates of Harvard Business School, a cardiologist from Harvard Medical School, as well as other prominent physicians and business leaders from throughout the country. Their legal counsel is Cooley LLP. For more Information, visit http://www.prevently.com or email laurencegirard@fas.harvard.edu.

CONTACT:
Laurence Girard
Phone: 6179810920

SOURCE Prevently