Ryan James

Post-pitch story

Ryan James and Dopl Technologies want to bring a specialist's skill to places that don't have specialists. Their idea is a telerobotic ultrasound: a technician at a rural clinic holds the device while an expert sonographer hundreds of miles away guides the scan remotely. In much of rural America, the alternative is a long drive or no scan at all. Dopl pitched on Season 12, Episode 11, which aired in October 2024. Earlier that year it had already picked up a win. In April 2024, the company took first place at the Flywheel Investment Conference, which came with a $150,000 investment offer from the Flywheel Angel Network. GeekWire covered the Seattle startup that spring. Medical devices move slowly, and Dopl is no exception. GeekWire reported in early 2025 that the company had held several conversations with the FDA and saw a path toward clearance. As of the latest summaries we could find, though, its flagship device, the Dopl Traverse, was still in development and not yet on sale. That makes Dopl a story still being written. The need is real, the early backing is real, and the next big milestone is a regulatory one. When the Traverse gets FDA clearance, the rural clinics this was built for will be the ones to watch.