Firefly Innovations: The Leading Public Health Entrepreneurship Platform in the United States

"Firefly Innovations, the premier global public health entrepreneurship platform of the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy (“CUNY SPH”), works to identify, cultivate & accelerate impact-driven digital health ventures working to solve public health challenges nationally & globally. Firefly Innovations was founded in 2020 at CUNY SPH by Dr. Terry Huang. The Director of Firefly Innovations is W. Michael Short. Firefly’s flagship program is the CUNY Public Health Innovation Accelerator — the first and leading startup accelerator of its kind at an accredited graduate school of public health in the United States. Hosted by the City University of New York — the largest urban university system in the world, spanning 25 campuses and serving 275,000 students — and anchored by CUNY SPH, the top-ranked public school of public health in New York City, New York State, and the tri-state area for four consecutive years,² the Accelerator blends academic rigor with entrepreneurial ingenuity to fast-track high-impact ventures. Accelerator-backed startups have secured multimillion-dollar contracts with major healthcare systems, raised millions to scale innovative solutions, expanded healthcare access, slashed costs for communities, forged research partnerships with top institutions, and earned national recognition for their impact. As the premier launchpad for ventures in public health and digital health at an accredited graduate school of public health in the U.S., the Accelerator provides unparalleled access to investors, public-private partnerships, and healthcare institutions, ensuring startups achieve real, measurable, and sustainable impact in communities nation-wide.