How Berkeley became a leading launchpad for startups
Opportunity
1 in 4 people will have a stroke
62% don't know the signs
By the time patients reach the hospital, the critical window is often already lost.
- Stroke occurs at home, not under medical supervision
Detection depends on the patient noticing symptoms
Every delay compounds irreversible damage
10 minutes = 2 months of healthy life lost
Solution
AI that calls for help when you can't
Code Blue turns everyday devices into real-time stroke detection systems and automatically calls for help the moment something is wrong.
It provides:
Passive, always-on monitoring
Real-time detection of FAST symptoms
Instant emergency response
No user action required
Designed to work where strokes actually happen, at home.
Product
How Code Blue Works
No devices. No behavior change. Just detection.
1. Live normally
Runs passively on devices you already use. No wearables, no check-ins.
2. Detects instantly
Identifies stroke symptoms in real time using vision and voice.
3. Acts immediately
Calls emergency services and routes to the right hospital.
From detection to treatment in minutes
Customers
Built for patients. Adopted by physicians.
Patients don’t choose alone. Doctors do.
71% of patients rely on physician guidance
92% follow a recommendation
78% of physicians are ready to prescribe
Adoption starts in the clinic
Business model
$300 to prevent a $68,000 outcome
Sold through insurers as an annual subscription.
~$300 per patient per year
HSA and FSA eligible
Focused on high-risk populations
Insurers spend over $68,000 per patient per year on post-stroke care.
Earlier detection reduces severity, cost, and long-term care needs.
Code Blue is a cost-saving intervention, not an added expense.
Traction
Early validation. Strong pull from healthcare systems.
Clinical validation and expanding studies
- 29 out of 30 patients recruited, currently in 100% agreement with physician diagnosis (UCSF)
Kaiser Permanente initiated a 1,000-patient study based on those results
Clinical results are driving institutional demand.
Backed by Berkeley SkyDeck
Patents filed
Leadership
A team that understands the problem
Built from personal experience with the pain of stroke.
Ashmita worked on AI-driven neuroimaging at UCI Neuroscience.
Mike spent 14 years at Apple and Samsung, working on Siri and building real-time health and sensing systems used by millions.
Deep expertise across AI, healthcare, and consumer technology.
UCSF · Kaiser Permanente · Berkeley SkyDeck
Competition
No solution detects stroke at home
- Wearables track the wrong signals
Clinical tools stay in the hospital
Stroke detection happens too late.
Code Blue makes it immediate.
Vision and strategy
From stroke detection to at-home neurological care
Start with stroke.
FDA clearance by 2027
First insurance customers
Scale to 5 providers, 30,000+ patients, $10M+ ARR
Then expand into dementia and mental health.
One platform for continuous neurological care at home.
Impact
Making stroke damage obsolete
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people survive a stroke only to lose the ability to walk, speak, or remember.
The difference between recovery and permanent disability is measured in minutes.
Most people lose those minutes.
Code Blue is built to give them back.
Funding
Raising $3M to reach FDA clearance and first customers
From validation to deployment.
Complete Kaiser Permanente study
Advance FDA clearance
Launch multi-site clinical trials
Onboard first insurance customers
Backed by Berkeley SkyDeck.
In discussions with leading healthcare investors.
Summary
A note from the founders
We started Code Blue because we believe no one should lose years of healthy life just because the people around them didn’t recognize what was happening.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people survive a stroke only to lose the ability to walk, speak, or remember.
We’ve built the technology. We have clinical evidence. We have the partnerships.
Now we need the resources to bring it to the people who need it most.
If you’ve been affected by stroke, or care about someone who has, this is your chance to be part of the solution.

