Emocha Pitch Deck (2020): 19-Slide Breakdown

Emocha Health presents a compelling case for its Digital Medication Adherence Program by focusing on the gap between medication 'possession' and actual 'ingestion.' The deck is heavily rooted in clinical evidence, citing 15 peer-reviewed studies and partnerships with institutions like Johns Hopkins and the NIH. By targeting high-stakes patient groups—specifically transplant recipients—Emocha demonstrates a clear ROI through reduced hospitalization costs and graft failure rates. While the deck excels at proving the clinical 'why' and the product 'how,' it is notably silent on traditional ventu…

Key takeaways

• The company is a Johns Hopkins spin-out with a 50-person team including nurses and pharmacists (Slide 2).
• Emocha differentiates itself by measuring 'ingestion' via video rather than 'possession' via pharmacy records (Slide 4).
• Non-adherence in transplant patients ranges from 20% to 70% across kidney, heart, and liver cases (Slide 5).
• Hospitalization costs from rejection episodes are cited as ranging from $4,000 to $11,000 (Slide 6).
• The platform includes a patient-facing app available in 22 languages with features like symptom capture and financial incentives (Slide 10).
• Clinical evidence shows adherence rates of 92-95% for Tuberculosis and 98% for Hepatitis C (Slide 12).
• The company lists six major transplant partners, including the University of Virginia and the University of Miami (Slide 16).
• Analytics show a 92% average adherence rate for currently active patients across a sample of 75 total enrollments (Slide 17).

Frequently asked questions

What is Emocha's core product?

Emocha is a Digital Medication Adherence Program that combines video technology with human engagement. Patients use a mobile app to record themselves taking their medication. These videos are then reviewed by a clinical team—including pharmacists, nurses, and adherence coaches—to confirm ingestion and provide ongoing support and symptom management.

How does Emocha validate its clinical claims?

The deck relies heavily on external validation, citing over 15 peer-reviewed studies. Slide 12 specifically highlights data from partners like the NIH and CDC, showing adherence rates above 90% for Tuberculosis, Hepatitis C, and Asthma. They also provide four specific academic references on Slide 13 to support their claims regarding transplant patient outcomes.

Who are the primary users and customers for Emocha?

While the patients are the end-users of the mobile app, the 'customers' or partners are health departments (450 currently served) and transplant teams at major universities. The platform provides these teams with analytics and reporting to help them manage high-risk populations more effectively post-discharge.

What problem is Emocha trying to solve in the transplant market?

The deck identifies that 40% of organ rejections are linked to medication non-adherence. Non-adherent patients have a 7x greater risk for late rejection, and 2/3 of these patients will experience graft failure. Emocha aims to minimize these avoidable costs and protect the 'second chance at life' for transplant recipients.

What key information is missing from this pitch deck?

The deck is missing several standard venture capital components. There is no slide detailing the business model (pricing/revenue streams), no financial projections or historical growth data, no competitive landscape analysis, and no 'Ask' slide specifying how much capital they are raising or how they intend to use it.

Emocha pitch deck: the facts

Company

Emocha

Year

2020

Slides

19

Sector

Healthcare

Emocha pitch deck PDF

The full Emocha deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the emocha Health (now Scene Health) pitch deck was used for

This deck is a 2020 healthcare pitch from emocha Health, a Johns Hopkins–affiliated digital health company focused on medication adherence using video-based Directly Observed Therapy and human engagement. It appears to have been used to support emocha’s pursuit of a $6.1M+ National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to deploy and test its digital medication adherence platform in transplant patients, complementing earlier NIH grants for tuberculosis and opioid use disorder studies. The slides emphasize transplant patients’ non-adherence and challenges, positioning emocha as the first comprehensive digital medication adherence program applying a CDC-endorsed public health practice to confirm dose-by-dose ingestion, particularly in post-transplant care. The deck predates or coincides with emocha’s subsequent private-market fundraising efforts (including a later $6.2M Series A) and focuses on validating and scaling its evidence-based model through grant funding rather than traditional equity alone.

Business model: Digital medication adherence platform combining asynchronous video check-ins with human clinical support for patients on complex medication regimens, working with public health departments, health plans, and transplant centers.

Investors

National Institutes of Health (primarily the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; other NIH

Headquarters

Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Round: Grant (NIH Small Business Innovation Research and related mechanisms, not an equity financing round).

Year: 2020–2021 (NIH transplant-related grant funding effort spanning a 2020 focus on transplant adherence and public announcements of the $6.1M total in January 2021).

Raised: $6.1M in total NIH funding reported by January 2021 to deploy and test emocha’s digital medication adherence platform in transplant recipients.

Lead investor: National Institutes of Health (NIH), via NIDDK and related institutes for transplant-focused Small Business Innovation Research and associated awards.

Industry: Digital health / healthcare technology, focused on medication adherence and remote patient monitoring.

Total funding: As of early 2021, emocha Health had raised at least $1M in a 2017 seed round plus a $6.2M Series A equity financing, in addition to multiple NIH grants including a total of $6.1M related to transplant adherence and other NIH-funded projects.

Use of funds as presented: Deployment and evaluation of emocha’s video-based Directly Observed Therapy medication adherence platform among transplant recipients, including a randomized clinical trial with Johns Hopkins University, the University of Miami, and the University of Virginia to assess whether digital adherence support improves immunosuppressive therapy adherence and related outcomes.

What happened after the emocha Health (now Scene Health) deck

The $6.1M grant-focused effort associated with this deck culminated in emocha securing substantial NIH funding to evaluate its digital medication adherence platform in transplant patients and contributed to a broader trajectory in which emocha combined non-dilutive grants with venture capital, including a later $6.2M Series A, to scale its video-based Directly Observed Therapy model across multipl

• By January 2021, emocha reported securing a total of $6.1M in NIH funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Di
• In May 2021, emocha closed a $6.2M Series A equity funding round led by Claritas Health Ventures, with participation fro
• Prior to this deck and fundraise, emocha had raised a $1M seed round in 2017 from investors including Kapor Capital, Bal

What the emocha Health (now Scene Health) deck got right

• Clinically grounded differentiation via CDC-endorsed Directly Observed Therapy. The deck frames emocha as the first comprehensive digital medication adherence program that combines video-based Directly Observed Therapy with human engagement and explicitly notes that its model leverages a CDC-endorsed public health practice, which positions the company as both clinically grounded and differentiated from generic reminder apps.[slide_3_ocr]
• Clear, high-stakes use case in transplant adherence. By quantifying that non-adherence ranges from 20% to 70% across kidney, heart, and liver transplant recipients and detailing multiple barriers (timeliness, complexity, side effects, copays, social support, transportation), the deck clearly articulates a high-cost, high-need population where improvements in adherence could materially affect outcomes and costs.[deck_slide_5][deck_slide_7]
• Compelling challenge to standard adherence metrics. The deck’s critique of Medication Possession Ratio—stating that possession does not equal ingestion and emphasizing the inadequacy of possession-based metrics—helps investors and grant reviewers understand why emocha’s dose-by-dose observation approach is necessary and not just incremental.[slide_4_ocr]
• Strong alignment with evidence-based, non-dilutive funding strategy. Positioning this raise as a grant-backed initiative, with NIH as the primary funder for a randomized clinical trial in transplant populations, signals to evaluators that emocha is pursuing rigorous evidence generation and non-dilutive funding, which can de-risk both clinical and commercial aspects of the business.
• Balanced human-plus-technology model for behavior change. The deck’s focus on human engagement alongside technology—highlighting that emocha’s model involves human support confirming dose-by-dose ingestion—addresses a common concern that digital tools alone may not change behavior, reinforcing the credibility of the solution in complex, vulnerable patient populations.[slide_3_ocr]
• Existing public health and NIH-backed validation trajectory. Emocha leverages a track record with public health departments and prior NIH grants, as evidenced by external reports on tuberculosis and opioid use disorder projects, which supports the deck’s claims that its approach is not purely theoretical but has been tested in real-world public health settings.

What could have been stronger

• Limited quantified outcomes in transplant population. The deck emphasizes that non-adherence among transplant patients ranges from 20% to 70% and lists numerous patient-level barriers, but based on the provided slides it does not clearly quantify emocha’s own clinical or economic outcomes (e.g., improved adherence percentages, reduced rejection episodes, or cost savings) in this population, which can leave investors and grant reviewers wanting more concrete evidence of impact beyond problem framing.[deck_slide_5][deck_slide_7]
• Differentiation not fully supported with on-slide data. While the deck asserts that possession does not equal ingestion and critiques Medication Possession Ratio as inadequate, it relies heavily on conceptual arguments about emocha’s dose-by-dose observation rather than providing detailed comparative data or published studies directly in the slides shown, potentially undercutting the strength of its differentiation for readers unfamiliar with the underlying research.[slide_4_ocr]
• Solution mapping to patient barriers is implicit rather than explicit. The slides that focus on transplant patients’ challenges present an extensive list of barriers (timeliness, complexity, copays, social support, transportation), but they do not clearly map each barrier to specific features, workflows, or clinical processes within emocha’s product, creating a potential gap between problem articulation and solution mechanics for evaluators.[deck_slide_7]

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

• Grant-makers and investors will focus on emocha’s claim to be the first comprehensive digital medication adherence program leveraging a CDC-endorsed public health practice, since this suggests both regulatory alignment and a defensible niche in a crowded digital health landscape.[slide_3_ocr]
• The deck’s emphasis on transplant non-adherence rates of 20% to 70% and detailed post-transplant challenges positions a clearly defined, high-cost use case where adherence improvements could plausibly generate significant clinical and financial value, which is attractive for outcome-focused funders.
• External funders like NIH will pay close attention to emocha’s existing track record with public health departments and other NIH-backed studies, as indicated by subsequent press releases describing its role in tuberculosis and opioid use disorder adherence, because these demonstrate operational exp

Risks that stand out

• Reliance on grant funding from NIH and similar agencies for core program development, including the $6.1M cited for transplant-related work, may expose emocha to funding-cycle risk and create uncertainty about how quickly grant-funded pilots can translate into commercial scale with sustainable unit
• The transplant focus described in the deck targets a relatively specialized but high-cost population; if adoption among transplant centers is slower than anticipated due to workflow changes or reimbursement constraints, revenue growth in this vertical could lag behind the clinical promise.[deck_slid
• Because the deck positions emocha as measuring ingestion through video-based Directly Observed Therapy, there is inherent dependence on patient engagement and technology access; in populations facing transportation, financial, and social-support challenges, maintaining consistent video check-ins may

Questions this deck invites

• What specific adherence improvements (e.g., percentage-point increases in dose-level adherence or reductions in missed doses) has emocha demonstrated in transplant patients in pilot or early studies, and how do these compare with standard c
• How does emocha’s video-based Directly Observed Therapy integrate into transplant clinics’ existing workflows (e.g., staffing, scheduling, EHR integration), and what is the incremental burden or cost on clinical teams?
• What are the long-term engagement rates for transplant patients using emocha’s platform, particularly after the initial post-transplant period when motivation may wane, and how does engagement correlate with clinical outcomes like rejection
• How is grant funding from NIH (including the $6.1M total reported for transplant-focused work) allocated between product development, clinical research, and commercial deployment, and what is the path from grant-funded projects to scalable,
• What is emocha’s regulatory and reimbursement strategy for transplant adherence solutions (e.g., use of remote patient monitoring codes, value-based contracts with health plans, or disease-management fees), and how does this interact with t

What founders can take from the emocha Health (now Scene Health) deck

• Anchoring a digital health pitch in a specific, high-stakes clinical context—here, transplant patients with 20% to 70% non-adherence—helps translate a broad platform story into a focused, economically important use case that resonates with both grant committees and investors.[deck_slide_5][deck_slid
• Contrasting standard adherence metrics like Medication Possession Ratio with a more rigorous ingestion-focused method allows a company to challenge incumbents and frame its approach as a necessary evolution, strengthening the rationale for both clinical and financial support.[slide_4_ocr]
• Linking a product model to a CDC-endorsed public health practice, as emocha does with dose-by-dose Directly Observed Therapy, can reassure funders about clinical validity and regulatory alignment, especially in areas where safety and adherence are critical.[slide_3_ocr]
• Using grant funding from institutions like NIH to underwrite rigorous randomized clinical trials, as emocha did for transplant adherence and other conditions, can provide the evidence base needed later to justify commercial expansion and venture capital rounds.
• Detailing the lived realities and multifactorial barriers faced by patients (timeliness, cost, social context, transportation) can make a deck more compelling by humanizing the problem and demonstrating that the solution is designed for real-world complexity rather than idealized scenarios.[deck_sli
• Sequencing non-dilutive funding (NIH grants) before or alongside equity financing, as emocha’s trajectory illustrates, can be an effective strategy for de-risking clinical innovation and preserving ownership while building evidence in regulated healthcare markets.

emocha Health (now Scene Health) pitch deck: common questions

What does emocha Health do?

emocha Health is a digital health company that provides a video-based medication adherence platform combined with human clinical support to help patients with complex regimens consistently take their medications as prescribed, particularly in chronic and high-risk conditions such as tuberculosis, opioid use disorder, and post-transplant care.

What fundraise was this emocha pitch deck used for?

The 2020 deck is centered on a grant-funded initiative to improve medication adherence among transplant recipients using emocha’s digital Directly Observed Therapy model; the company subsequently reported securing a total of $6.1M in NIH funding to deploy and test its digital medication adherence platform in transplant patients via a randomized clinical trial with Johns Hopkins University, the University of Miami, and the University of Virginia.

Who funded the $6.1M associated with this emocha deck?

For this specific fundraise, emocha’s primary capital source was the National Institutes of Health, with the NIH (particularly the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute on Drug Abuse) providing Small Business Innovation Research and related grants totaling $6.1M to fund deployment and evaluation of emocha’s digital adherence platform in transplant and other patient populations.

What problem is emocha’s deck focused on solving?

The deck highlights the problem of medication non-adherence among transplant patients, citing non-adherence rates of 20% to 70% across kidney, heart, and liver transplant recipients and detailing post-transplant challenges such as regimen complexity, side effects, copays, transportation barriers, and limited social support, arguing that possession-based metrics like Medication Possession Ratio are inadequate compared to emocha’s dose-level observation.[deck_slide_5][deck_slide_7][slide_4_ocr]

What happened after this $6.1M grant-focused deck—did emocha raise more capital?

After this deck, emocha continued to secure both grant and equity funding: by January 2021 it reported a total of $6.1M in NIH funding for its transplant adherence platform, and in May 2021 it closed a $6.2M Series A round led by Claritas Health Ventures with participation from Healthworx, Kapor Capital, and PTX Capital, supporting expansion of its digital medication adherence services.

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-21 from the pages below.

• emocha Health raises $6.2M Series A, plans hiring to ramp up...
• emocha Raises $6.2 Million for Patient Engagement Program - Mercom Capital Group
• Johns Hopkins spinout Emocha Health closes $6.2M...
• emocha Secures Funding from National Institutes of Health to...
• Press Release | emocha Awarded NIH Funding to Help Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Affected by COVID-19 | [Scene] |
• NIDA Funds Health Tech Startup Fighting Opioid Addiction — Dreamit Ventures
• Emocha Pitch Deck to Raise $6.1m Grant Round
• emocha Mobile Health Receives $1M NIH Grant to Evaluate Their...

Emocha pitch deck slides

What each slide of the Emocha pitch deck says

Slide 2

Snapshot Standard of Care for 450 Health Departments Validated by over 15 peer-reviewed studies Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins spin out Nurses, pharmacists, public health technologists = 50-person team

Slide 3

emocha Health' emocha is the first comprehensive Digital Medication Adherence Program Human Engagement 'emocha's model leverages a COC-endorsed. public health practice to confirm dose-by-dose adherence

Slide 4

emocha Health' Defining Adherence Possession does not equal ingestion Possession ° Medication Possession Ratio (MPR) is 'emocha measures adherence by a standard but inadequate way to observing of every dose of measure adherence. medication ingested.

Slide 5

A significant portion of transplant patients are non-adherent to their anti-rejection medications Non-adherence ranges from 20% to 70% across kidney. heart, and liver

Slide 7

emocha Health' Post-transplant, patients face myriad challenges. Timeliness Complexity Correct Dosing Side effocts. Medication copays and costs. Understanding of regimen Lived environment, Social social support, substance issues Forgetfulness. Determinants Information Avoidance of Health Transportation issues / Present biss: discounting future ability to pick up. negative outcomes and health

Slide text above is read directly from the Emocha deck PDF embedded on this page.

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