AI-Powered Multimodal Ophthalmic Screening and Predictive Analytics
In the ever-evolving world of health innovation, some breakthroughs don’t just come from a new drug or therapy – they emerge from the power to see differently.
Netramind Innovations, a dynamic spinout from the University of Pittsburgh, is doing exactly that. Advancing the frontiers of disease detection through the synergy of artificial intelligence, routine eye scans, and clinical insight to save, predict and restore eyesight.
➤Founded In:
2024
➤Based In:
Pittsburgh, PA
➤Industry Vertical:
Digital Health
The Technology : Translating Visual data into Predictive Insight
Netramind has developed a comprehensive, AI-powered multimodal ophthalmic screening and analytics platform that transforms routine eye scans into actionable insights for both clinical workflows and research environments.
Routine ocular imaging contains a rich set of biomarkers that enable early disease detection. Netramind’s platform extracts and quantifies these signals, combining them with clinical data and analyzing them through proprietary AI models trained to detect disease earlier and predict progression.
Founders (L-R)
Co-Founder
For researchers and pharmaceutical partners, Netramind provides scalable, automated tools for image analysis, endpoint generation, and patient stratification across large datasets. In clinical settings, the same platform enables non-invasive, repeatable assessments that support earlier diagnosis and more personalized decision-making.
The result is a scalable, non-invasive approach to disease detection and monitoring, improving sensitivity, enabling more precise stratification, and supporting individualized care. The platform’s current focus includes Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Myopia; two rapidly growing global conditions with broader neurodiagnostic applications on the horizon.
From Lab to Market: The LifeX Journey
Netramind’s path to commercialization unfolded through a deliberate sequence of LifeX engagements, each building on the last. It began in spring 2024, when Netramind was invited to present at LifeX PitchCraft and participate in the LifeX Startup Summit. Structured feedback from investors, operators, and domain experts sharpened the team’s understanding of what scaling from scientific discovery to market readiness would actually require.
What was clear by that point: Netramind had exceptional clinical and technical foundations, but like many clinician-led ventures, the founding team needed experienced operational leadership to translate that science into commercial momentum.
During the summer of 2024, LifeX deepened its engagement to support Netramind through the LifeX Connect Program, a curated process designed to identify and deploy fractional executives within high growth potential companies with heavily academic teams.
LifeX introduced Netramind to Justin Shaka, an experienced medical device founder with direct experience in eye-screening technologies for disease detection, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, and ties to Pittsburgh’s innovation ecosystem. Though based in Boston at the time, Justin’s alignment with Netramind’s technical domain and growth stage made the match immediately compelling.
❝ LifeX Connect created a perfect match between our scientific vision and business execution. Partnering with Justin Shaka as our Entrepreneurial Lead gave us the structure, energy, and entrepreneurial mindset we needed to accelerate our progress.❞
– Jay Chhablani, CEO Netramind Innovations
Fractional Executive Leader
Accelerator as the Operating Platform
In Fall 2024, Netramind joined the LifeX Accelerator with Justin embedded as a fractional executive leader. Rather than serving as a traditional mentor, Justin operated in an executive capacity, working alongside the founding team to guide decision-making across commercialization, organizational structure, and execution priorities.
Within the Accelerator, LifeX functioned not as a classroom, but as an operating platform that allowed executive leadership, scientific insight, and commercialization strategy to evolve in parallel. LifeX provided the surrounding infrastructure, expert access, and strategic accountability needed to sustain momentum, while allowing leadership responsibilities to scale organically within the company.
❝ Participating in LifeX has been a fruitful and rewarding experience for us thus far. We would not be where we are without the support to date❞
– Jay Chhablani, CEO Netramind Innovations
Sustained Leadership and Commercial Momentum
As the Accelerator concluded in December 2024, the Netramind team made a deliberate decision to retain Justin Shaka in a fractional leadership capacity, reflecting the strong strategic alignment developed during the program. In 2026, Justin relocated to the Pittsburgh area, where he continues to work with Netramind while also engaging more deeply with the Pittsburgh startup ecosystem.
Since completing the Accelerator, Netramind has translated its clinical and technical foundation into measurable commercial progress, including initial product sales of its research tools, and successful external fundraising from such key partners as LifeX Ventures and R.K. Mellon Social Impact Investment.
For clinician-founded and academically rooted ventures, the path to commercialization is rarely linear. By building a system that prioritizes timing, fit, and depth of engagement, LifeX enables companies like Netramind Innovations to move forward with clarity, confidence, and momentum — while keeping innovation anchored in Western Pennsylvania.
❝ Our investment in Netramind reflects the team’s expert domain knowledge and disruptive approach to early-detection and predictive modeling for the growing populations impacted by Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Myopia. Their technology addresses a critical unmet need, and we have confidence in the team’s ability to execute on scaling this breakthrough platform❞
– LifeX Ventures