Stephen Chen is the founder and CEO of Scanwell Health. With over 20 years of experience in diagnostics, Stephen’s current focus is making healthcare more accessible through smartphone-enabled, at-home testing. Stephen also founded Petnostics, which offers at-home urine test products for pets, and pitched it on Shark Tank, receiving a deal from Kevin O’Leary and Lori Grenier. Stephen attended the University of Michigan and Harvard Business School. He currently resides in Orange County with his wife and son.

What inspired you all to create this company?
Founded by Stephen Chen, Scanwell was created with the belief that everyone should have access to quality, proactive healthcare. By creating smartphone-enabled, cost effective diagnostics, we’re able to deliver on our vision of making at-home testing available to millions of people and changing the way we diagnose and treat infections and monitor chronic diseases. Most importantly, we feel that there is a huge opportunity for smartphone technology to transform health care in rural and developing areas in the U.S. and internationally, where infrastructure for care is limited. The company is working to further advance its technology to address major public health issues like malaria and other infectious diseases.

What distinguishes your company and product in the market?
Our flagship product is the first and only FDA cleared over-the-counter urine testing app and test kit for urinary tract infections (UTIs). We have a number of additional diagnostic tests in the pipeline, ranging from strep throat to blood tests for monitoring chronic disease. Scanwell tests are more convenient and cost effective than traditional diagnostics; smartphone-enabled testing allows results to be delivered immediately, and eliminates the need for additional hardware.