He’s back.
Dr. Mark Williams, that is.
Selected in 2008 as one of just 10 “Science Innovators” by Apple in 2008 and with a background as a neuroscience professor, Williams has put together in stealth mode a new company called R65 Labs.
Its web site and Facebook pages contain little information, but some of the stealthiness of the venture has emerged through an SEC filing in which the new venture says it has raised just over $1 million in financing.
But the process has not been a fast one even for Williams, who has demonstrated his ability to grow and exit a startup, Modality. Modality developed “Brain Quest,” an educational game and more than 150 mobile apps before it was acquired.
Other searches disclose that the company is focused on mobile apps with an emphasis on analytics.
As hot as the mobile apps space is, however, R65 has been raising money for some eight months, having landed the first of 12 investors in June of last year.
R65’s goal is to raise $2 million, according to the filing.
Williams is a 1986 graduate of Davidson College and is listed as an “Entrepreneur in residence” at the school. The bio notes that Davidson has recruited former members of his Modality team, a startup that formed in 2013.
“The company is focused on digital health solutions that drive individual and group performance,” his bio says.
Modality launched in 2006 with a focus on mobile educational technology. Mobile reference technology firm Epocrates bought the company in 2008 after Modality earned interational exposure with apps sold through Apple’s app store. The firm built some 150 applications.
Williams’ entrepreneurship dates back to the launch of Pyramis Studios, a biomedical media communications group.
His bio as published at Davidson:
“Mark Williams ’86, Ph.D. has a passion for creating pedagogically sound, elegantly designed digital learning experiences. His passion surfaced early in his academic career and eventually led him to start Pyramis Studios, a biomedical media communications group, where he served as president and creative director. While at Pyramis, he authored and led the development of the Sylvius project, a popular suite of software applications for teaching the structure of the human brain to medical and graduate students. Williams also spearheaded the development of award-winning web design and animation for major universities and pharmaceutical companies.
“In February 2006, Williams founded Modality, Inc. to design and implement mobile educational technology solutions to problems he witnessed firsthand as a neuroanatomy graduate student and later as a medical educator at Duke University. Beginning with the launch of the Apple App Store in July 2008, Modality created more than 150 mobile applications spanning K-12 and higher education, health sciences, and consumer reference. In November 2010, Modality was acquired by mobile medical reference leader Epocrates, Inc. Williams led the expansion Epocrates’ mobile development and design capabilities as the head of User Experience.
“In 2013, Williams brought together a number of key Modality team members to start his third company, Durham-based R65 Labs. The company is focused on digital health solutions that drive individual and group performance.”
