Meet Wilman Vergara of KNOSIS Health in Gilbert

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wilman Vergara.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Wilman. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I moved to Arizona from Miami, FL to attend Arizona State University in 2008 as a first generation college attendee, the change was quite difficult at first having been raised in South Florida for most of my life. The youngest of three from a family of Colombian immigrants, I understood early on to appreciate all the sacrifices my parents and grandmother made for my sisters and I to succeed in the U.S. However, never in a million years would I have imagined myself being in the position that I am today, an aspiring entrepreneur trying to disrupt and revolutionize the health and wellness industry.

Having worked in healthcare for over 11 years, I grew increasingly frustrated with our current system and how people have no real control over their out of pocket healthcare costs. At Arizona State, I graduated with my B.A. in Global Health after being awarded a research grant and recognition for my work on the Affordable Care Act. A full two years later I enrolled at ASU’s Masters in Health Innovation (MHI) program where my passion, creativity, and ambition led to the inevitable: the creation of my startup KNOSIS Health.

The program was rigorous as it was challenging, finding the answers to questions I had as well as building a network of contacts and resources I knew I would need to leverage in the future to position myself for success. The day I graduated from the MHI program, I met Dr. Rick Hall who from the very beginning has been integral to the success I’ve had as it relates to resources and notoriety received for KNOSIS. Through the various contacts and resources provided by Dr. Hall, I now have a friend and Co-Founder, Dr. Nezar Dahdal, participated in Venture Devils, ASU’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, appeared in various publications and launched our app on the iOS app store.

We’re currently part of the SparkLabs Frontier Global Accelerator program where we’ve developed great relationships and have sparked interest in our technology in Brazil, the Middle East, and Asia.

Has it been a smooth road?
The entrepreneurial journey is not for the faint of heart. Through my learning and experience in the healthcare industry, I was better prepared than most. However, my emotional intelligence is put to the test daily when things seem to be going great, I’ve needed to take a step back and be pragmatic in my decision making. Having a Co-Founder as understanding and as involved as Dr. Nezar “Nas” Dahdal has been KNOSIS turning point. Providing funding as well as his expertise in the medical field, Dr. Nas went head first into this entrepreneurial journey with me, for which I am eternally grateful.

After the first iteration of our mobile app was featured in Phoenix Magazine and received little fanfare, the strategic partnership I was able to establish that gave us exclusive rights to proprietary technology that would give us the edge an innovative startup in the industry. The biggest struggle has been securing significant funding that will get us to the next level where we can leverage our exclusive partnerships and contacts to change behaviors and revolutionize how people think and track their health and wellness.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
KNOSIS Health is an innovative mobile health (mHealth) application that seeks to encourage healthy lifestyles through games, challenges, and User Financial Incentives (UFIs). Users can create an interactive Avatar by taking two pictures of themselves and uploading them onto our platform where Artificial Intelligence calculates a user’s body measures within a half inch margin of error!

Once a user creates their Avatar, they can then sync their personal fitness tracker onto our platform to be able to participate in our UFI program, where local as well as national businesses offer users discounts and other incentives to meet their fitness goals. For example, let’s say “123 Smoothie” is offering a 50k step challenge that if you reach 50k steps in 5 days you get 50% off your next purchase. So now we’re offering business the ability to increase customer engagement and loyalty all the while encouraging people to exercise.

We offer a unique as well as versatile user experience where we work with the Corporate Wellness program, help local and national businesses, and insurance members or patients increase engagement and adherence. With the interest we have nationally as well as globally, we plan to cement our legacy within the health and wellness industry in 2020.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Gilbert is a great place to live and raise a family. I chose to set up shop and plant roots in the city because it’s growing and ripe with opportunity, I just hope it doesn’t lose it’s “town-like” feel with all the growth it’s experiencing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.knosishealth.com
• Phone: 480-559-9677
• Email: info@knosishealth.com
• Instagram: @knosishealth
• Twitter: @Knosishealth

Image Credit:
Harper Digital Photography

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