Kelly Smith is making another startup leap as the founder of Hedfirst, a new telehealth company aiming to help patients that need migraine medication.
Hedfirst offers specialized prescription medication for different migraine treatments that are tailored to a patient’s needs. It works with licensed providers in most U.S. states and delivers medication within 2-to-3 business days.
Smith, a longtime Pacific Northwest entrepreneur and tech industry vet, said Hedfirst is “just the start” of a broader health tech roadmap.
“We’ll expand into other disease states, adding prescription medications, supplements, and non-prescription products,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Soon, we’ll launch AI tools to tackle hard-to-diagnose conditions. Patients often face a ‘diagnostic odyssey,’ seeing eight doctors before answers — it’s costly and impacts all stakeholders. Our AI will cut through faster, arming patients with insights.”
The company is coming out of Curious Office, the startup incubator Smith launched in 2007.
Hedfirst uses back-end software powered by another new company that Smith is helping lead called Teligant.
Smith is bootstrapping Hedfirst and Teligant. “We’ve seen startups stumble by raising too much, too fast,” he wrote. “Staying lean keeps us sharp. We may raise capital later, but for now, our money keeps us focused.”
Smith, who is based in Idaho, was most recently chief digital officer at nutritional supplement beverage company Athletic Greens. He held the same role at Hagerty, a classic car insurer, and MGM Resorts International. Smith also helped lead Starbucks’ digital and mobile app expansion.
Smith founded several Seattle startups, including RocketVox (sold to ThePlatform), ImageKind (sold to CafePress) and Zapd (sold to RealSelf).
He’s teaming up on Hedfirst with the company’s chief medical advisor Dr. Alexander Mauskop, founder of the New York Headache Center and a neurology expert, and Daria Smith, co-founder and COO at both Hedfirst and Teligant.
Hedfirst competes against various telehealth startups, including those focused on migraines such as Cove, as well as other players including Ro, Lyra, and Amazon One Medical.
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