Pulse Charter Connect revolutionizes organ transport

You may not need to be a rocket scientist to run an organ delivery company, but you probably do need one to revolutionize the industry through innovation.

This appears to be exactly what entrepreneur Laura Epstein, an aerospace engineer by training, is doing with Pulse Charter Connect, the Chicago-based startup we were introduced to when Epstein and the company were members of the 2023 Techstars Physical Health Fort Worth accelerator group.

Organ transportation is a multibillion-dollar industry that, as Epstein described, is riddled with inefficiencies that result in delays and outright failures in the delivery of thousands of vital organs due to logistical mishaps.

Pulse Charter Connect is a concierge service between transplant centers and transport fleets that optimizes the efficiency of medical logistics.

And save lives.

“I was working for a charter company that flew in organs and surgical teams,” says Epstein. “I saw a lot of inefficiencies in communication and scheduling, so I decided to really dig into it to learn more about it, and that’s how Pulse Charter Connect was born.”

Pulse Charter’s digital scheduling solution, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, provides real-time data and insights that differentiate the company from traditional brokers, Epstein says.

Epstein founded the company in 2022 while pursuing an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Aviation has always been her thing.

A Long Island native, Epstein earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia. After graduating, she worked as an engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, D.C. She also holds a pilot’s license. Flying was something her father wanted to do but never did, she says, which perhaps fueled her own ambition to take to the skies.

Her father, on the other hand, founded his own logistics company.

“He was definitely the one who really pushed me to become an entrepreneur and do it,” she says. “I think since I had already done it in school, it was a little bit of an easier path. But then I had to choose between my belief in the mission and the opportunity cost of being in a different role.”

“That was the really difficult part of deciding to do this full-time. But I knew it would work out and I’m confident we can still reach our five-year goal.”

It has evolved from idea generation in 2022 to an operational company in 2024.

With more and more transports, revenue is starting to increase, she says. The team has grown to four full-time employees and six part-time employees.

Techstars Fort Worth helped her company, she says.

“I really enjoyed my time at TechStars,” says Epstein. “We met a lot of interesting innovators in the space. We were also able to make connections with some investors in the region who ended up investing in the company.”

She took a tour of Cook Children’s Medical Center to view the fleet and aircraft scheduling.

“It was especially great to be part of the Fort Worth community.”

She also works under contract with a medical facility on the West Coast.

Suffice it to say, things are looking up for Pulse Charter Connect.

And also life itself.