Comstock's magazine 1119 - November 2019

n SEED ROUND: MEET THE FOUNDER TAGGART NEAL TAGCARTS by Russell Nichols MedCart1. My backup name for the startup was............................................................................ trial attorney. If I could have any other job, I’d be a......................................................................... a financial plan. A startup can’t be successful without......................................................................... “Grit: The The book that best represents my approach to business would be.................................... Power of Passion and Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth. ............................................................................................................................. read. If I could give my younger self one word of advice, that word would be. . ..................... HOW COME MANUFACTURERS HAVEN’T UPGRADED MEDICAL CARTS? “Manufac- turers aren’t bad guys. The market just doesn’t know what it wants yet — because they haven’t seen it till now — so they haven’t demanded cart manufacturers change. Until now. Our research and directional data sup- ports this.” WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT TAGCARTS BE MADE BY VETERANS? “My dream is to help other veterans — and other disadvantaged Americans — by offering them the dignity and honor in building TagCarts, which will serve to heal Americans in hospitals across the country. Most veterans having been where they have and seen what they’ve seen, have a big heart for others. This is a way for them to channel that empathy and continue serving their fellow Americans, indirectly, one cart at a time.” For more on TagCarts, read Russell Nichols’ Startup of the Month column at comstocksmag.com. 98 comstocksmag.com | November 2019 In acute-care settings, medical carts are supposed to make nurses’ jobs easier. But the current hospital environment consists of carts that may hinder productivity, says Taggart Neal, president of American River Medical, a medical-cart reseller and distributor. His Sacramento-based startup, TagCarts, aims to upgrade to this health care staple to help nurses do what they do best. “We see the nurses as the superheroes of health care,” Neal says. “TagCarts is simply empowering them to be the best caregivers they can possibly be.” Medical carts are mobile storage units for health care equipment, supplies and medication, and may include workstations for access to electronic data. These carts use cord- and battery-power systems, which nurses have to monitor, bend down to plug in and replace batteries. These tedious tasks aren’t taxing individual- ly, but over time, they may cause fatigue and potential injury and prevent nurses from focusing on patient care, says Neal, who has more than 16 years of experi- ence in the industry. His patent-pending TagCarts include docking and charging stations that eliminate plugs and batteries that need to be swapped out. They also include surface wireless charging for mobile devices. In addition to Neal, the team consists of nine advisory board members. Neal expects to hit the target of the initial seed round of $1.5 million, which closes in November. As a U.S. Navy veteran, Neal set out to have the carts made exclusively by veterans.

Comstock's magazine 1119 - November 2019 | Page 98