New initiatives strengthen Charlotte’s emerging health innovation ecosystem
Health innovation in Charlotte is entering a new chapter. Anchored by The Pearl innovation district and the newly opened Charlotte campus of Wake Forest University School of Medicine, new initiatives are helping position the Queen City as a growing hub moving new ideas forward.
"The integration within this innovation district is the secret sauce that makes it special and helps it work so well,” said Craig Scharton from Wexford Science and Technology, the developer of The Pearl as well as Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter. He leads Connect Labs Charlotte, which provides early-stage companies with resources like wet and engineering labs, shared equipment rooms and meeting rooms.
Scharton together with Hannah Maeda, former neuroscientist and a life sciences and healthcare commercial real estate broker with The Nichols Company, are leading the recently launched the K.I.N.D Health Innovation CLT Network. K.I.N.D., which stands for Knowledge, Impact, Network, and Discovery, aims to bring together those working on health innovation in the Charlotte area to pursue common opportunities and help each other with shared problems.
“Before we formed K.I.N.D Health Innovation CLT, there wasn’t a formal health innovation ecosystem in Charlotte,” said Scharton. “K.I.N.D. is about getting people in a room together — often folks who haven’t met or didn’t even know the others existed — and asking, ‘What could we do collectively?’
Building an interconnected community
“Every company has its own focus and challenges, but when you start to see where those challenges overlap and work on them together, you build something bigger than any one organization: a truly interconnected community,” said Scharton.
The network’s first goal has been to identify health innovators across the region and help them connect through quarterly gatherings. This approach is not only growing connections but also creates rapid, often unmeasurable impacts when chance meetings turn into valuable opportunities.
"What sets K.I.N.D. apart is that it is built collaboratively, with ongoing community input,” said Maeda. “Guided by a clear purpose — to be the most supportive and connected health innovation and life sciences network in the nation — we also leverage relationship mapping to visualize and strengthen connections across the ecosystem. This combination of community-driven input, purposeful mission and strategic connection-building will be key to K.I.N.D.’s lasting impact on the growing ecosystem.”
The Pearl has helped give this effort a magnetic center, helping to bring together companies that may have been operating in various business parks or neighborhoods around the city.
“Now they have a physical space to hold events or to meet with start-ups or companies like Advocate Health or Siemens Healthineers,” said Scharton. “The Wake Forest School of Medicine Charlotte campus also provides an influx of medical faculty, students and advanced medical technology that can spur new ideas and collaborations.”
New pre-accelerator program for health startups
The upcoming gBETA Charlotte Health program also demonstrates the growing momentum and resources available to support new Charlotte-region health startups. The City of Charlotte, in partnership with Advocate Health, is launching this health innovation-focused cohort.
Operated by gener8tor and funded by the City of Charlotte, gBETA Charlotte Health is a continuation of gBETA Charlotte, which launched in 2024. It is recruiting early-stage startups that are advancing healthcare and digital health solutions, with applications due February 22.
“We’re pleased to partner with Advocate Health to offer our region’s first-ever health innovation pre-accelerator program,” said Shahid Rana, director of Charlotte Economic Development. “Partnering with one of the nation’s largest health systems will provide gBETA Charlotte Health founders with access to mentorship, capital and resources needed to scale — further positioning Charlotte as a destination for health innovation.”
gBETA Charlotte Health is designed to help early-stage founders build healthcare and digital health innovations, gain traction, refine their business models and prepare for future equity-based accelerators and investment opportunities.
The free, seven-week, no-equity accelerator program will provide hands-on coaching, concierge programming, and access to a broad network of mentors, customers, and investors. During the program, participating founders will work from Connect Labs Charlotte.
“By hosting gBETA Charlotte Health at The Pearl — and more specifically within Connect Labs Charlotte — founders will be immersed within a vibrant, one-of-its-kind ecosystem that sits at the crossroads of world-leading research, academic excellence and enduring community impact,” said Dr. Rasu Shrestha, chief innovation and commercialization officer for Advocate Health. “Through access to clinical insight, industry expertise and a collaborative innovation environment, we’re excited to support entrepreneurs working to improve health care outcomes both locally and beyond.”
Corie Curtis, executive director of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center's Greater Charlotte Office, said The Pearl and Connect Labs are helping bring the region's innovation assets into focus.
"And the establishment of the K.I.N.D. Network has fostered undeniable momentum in the Greater Charlotte region, positioning us to actively shape a future where collaboration accelerates opportunity," Curtis said.
On April 24, 2026, in collaboration with BusinessOutside, K.I.N.D. Health Innovation CLT will host a connection walk that goes beyond traditional networking. For more details on this event or to learn more about the network contact [email protected].