A Colorado-based company has expanded into Louisiana following its participation in Louisiana Startup Prize Health.
On Thursday, Feb. 26, Startup Prize hosted a press conference to celebrate alumnus Jura Health, a Louisiana Economic Development (LEB)- certified healthcare company. Jura Health expanded into Louisiana following its relationship created in northwest Louisiana during Startup Prize Health.
In Brief:
- Colorado-based Jura Health expanded to Louisiana after participating in Startup Prize Health.
- The company uses at-home saliva kits to sequence genomes and deliver clinical reports to doctors in about five weeks.
- Founder Chris Moore said rare disease diagnoses often take six years, a delay Jura Health aims to shorten.
- Startup Prize leaders say the expansion strengthens northwest Louisiana’s emerging health innovation hub.
Colorado-based Jura Health expands to Louisiana after Startup Prize Health, aiming to speed rare disease diagnoses using at-home genome sequencing kits.
“This is a historic moment where we have our first Startup Prize, a health entrepreneur and his company moving to Shreveport from Colorado,” Gregory Kallenberg, founder of Startup Prize, said. “Which just shows that we are becoming a health innovation hub, which is something that could have national importance if not international.”
Chris Moore and his team at Jura Health participated in the Startup Prize in 2025. This company is revolutionizing the diagnostic journey for rare diseases by ensuring every patient receives speedy access to life-changing genetic insights and next-step care.
Jura Health takes an at-home saliva sample kit and sequences patients’ genomes, providing a full clinical report to the patient’s doctor within 5 weeks. Moore said, “We started Jura Health because it takes on average six years for kids with a rare disease to get a diagnosis.”
“We are excited to be able to use the product and the services that Jura Health is using, in particular with our autism patients,” David Callecod, CEO of Ochsner LSU Health, said. “This is just the beginning.” Callecod, who brings more than 25 years of experience as a healthcare CEO, is one of the mentors for Startup Prize Health.
Kallenberg said, “What is so amazing about Startup Prize and Startup Prize Health is the people who have surrounded it.” Startup Prize is a unique entrepreneurial competition that focuses on health and connects entrepreneurs with mentors and investors to help grow their health-related businesses.
Moore said, “Startup Health is this amazing connector to this amazing beauty.”
In 2025, Startup Prize faced a record-breaking year with more than 40 health-focused startups from 15 states across the country.
Registration for Startup Prize Health 2026 is open. For more information, visit startupprize.com/health.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Colorado health company expands to Louisiana, aims to speed rare disease diagnoses
Reporting by Makenzie Boucher, Shreveport Times / Shreveport Times
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