Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Matt Bitner-Glindzicz of nCase Technologies Is Helping To Change Our World
Good saves lives now. Great can wait until later.
As part of our series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Matt Bitner-Glindzicz — nCase Technologies.
Matt Bitner-Glindzicz is the co-founder of nCase Technologies, a St. Louis-based public health startup developing innovative tools to make life-saving medications like naloxone (Narcan) easy to carry and always within reach. Alongside his co-founder and fiancee, Dani Wilder, Matt leads the company behind NALOX-1, a discreet keychain case designed to remove barriers to overdose preparedness and save lives in the face of the opioid crisis. With an engineering background and a passion for practical design that drives real-world impact, Matt’s work sits at the intersection of harm reduction, human-centered product design, and social entrepreneurship.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Honestly, I never expected to end up here. After graduating with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, I went off to work for a space-tech company, designing sensors meant to find signs of life on Mars. That was my passion for years — until early 2024, when I, along with the rest of the company, was laid off. That same week, a few of my fiancée Dani’s medical school classmates were walking home one night when they came across a stranger overdosing on opioids. Just the day before, they’d been trained on how to respond to overdoses and given doses of naloxone — the simple nasal spray that’s 93% effective at reversing them. But 24 hours later, none of them were carrying it, they had all left it at home. All they could do was call 911. By the time paramedics arrived, the stranger was unresponsive.
When we heard their story, it immediately brought Dani back to 2019, when she lost one of her childhood best friends, Ian, to an accidental opioid overdose. If that alone wasn’t tragic enough, Ian and the people he was with all owned naloxone, too — but none had it with them in the moment that mattered most.
Those parallel tragedies lit the spark for nCase. We realized the barrier wasn’t awareness — it was convenience. But not just that — many people don’t carry it because of bulk, stigma, and a lack of durability. If we could make carrying naloxone effortless and overcome all these other barriers, we could save lives that would otherwise be lost in that gap between intention and action.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
One of the most powerful moments came when we finished our 120-person pilot study in 2024. We’d designed NALOX-1 to solve what seemed like a simple problem — that only 1-of-5 people who own naloxone actually carry it — and we believed it could make a difference. But, we knew we needed to test it and, when the real-world results came back, we were floored by just how transformative the impact really was.
Among those who previously owned naloxone, those who reported carrying it “often” or “always” jumped from 18% to 79%. Among those who had never owned it before, 65% reported carrying it “often” or ”always”. And, most striking of all, 10% of users (12 people) reported using it to save at least one life.
Even better: four of them had never previously owned naloxone, meaning those lives likely wouldn’t have been saved without NALOX-1. It was the first time we saw undeniable proof that thoughtful design can change behavior — and that behavior can save lives. It turned this from a product idea into a mission. Ever since, whenever the grind feels endless, I come back to that data set and remind myself that somewhere out there, people are alive because of what we built.
That will always be the greatest feeling and motivator in the world.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When we ordered our first batch of NALOX-1 prototypes for pilot testing, we thought we were playing it safe by choosing a dark navy — something that felt clean, medical, and neutral. But when the shipment arrived, we opened the box to find… bright pink. Like, hot pink.
After a brief moment of panic (and a lot of laughter), the manufacturer agreed to re-make the order in the correct color, which meant we suddenly had twice as many cases as expected — half navy, half pink. But here’s the twist: when we handed them out to testers, a lot of people, especially women, actually preferred the pink ones.
That might sound obvious in retrospect, but we’d been designing from a place of “what feels professional,” when the real goal should’ve been “what people actually want to carry.” It was a humbling reminder that your users don’t always want what you think they do. That happy accident ended up shaping how we approach product design — with fewer assumptions and a lot more curiosity.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
At nCase, our social impact comes from tackling one of the quietest but most persistent barriers in overdose prevention — the gap between owning naloxone and actually carrying it. Our mission isn’t just to distribute more medication; it’s to make carrying it second nature, like carrying your house key or your phone.
NALOX-1 helps normalize that behavior by removing the stigma and inconvenience that have long stood in the way. Every case in someone’s pocket represents a small behavioral shift — one that ripples through communities and makes overdose response a shared social norm instead of a rare act of preparedness. In short, we’re making saving a life as simple as carrying your keys.
Beyond individual users, we’re now working with hospitals, harm reduction organizations, and universities to integrate NALOX-1 into their take-home naloxone programs — turning what used to be a one-time handoff into a lasting habit. To us, that’s where the real impact lives: in the moments when design, behavior, and public health all line up to save a life before anyone ever needs to call 911.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
One story that’s stuck with me came out of St. Louis earlier this year. One of our early users — a commuter who’d gotten NALOX-1 through a local outreach event — was waiting for a Metro train when she noticed someone slumped over on the platform. She recognized the signs of an overdose, used her naloxone right there, and stayed with the person until first responders arrived. They survived the incident.
She told us later she’d never carried naloxone before getting the case, but having it right there on her keychain made it feel like part of her everyday life — not some medical tool she had to remember. Now she says she won’t go anywhere without it.
That story really brought things full circle for us. Dani’s friend Ian didn’t survive because no one had naloxone on hand when he needed it most. Hearing from someone who did — who was able to step in and save a life because of something we built — made all of it feel deeply personal again. It reminded us that this isn’t abstract public health work. It’s about making sure the next Ian gets another chance.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
First, we need to stop pretending harm reduction is controversial. The current administration hasn’t just stepped back from supporting it — they’ve actively slashed its funding and demonized the term entirely. It’s a political calculation that costs lives. Fact: harm reduction saves people. It keeps them alive long enough to recover, reconnect, and rebuild — but without sustained investment, we’re forcing communities to do that work with no safety net.
Second, we have to tackle stigma head-on. I can’t count how many times we’ve seen comments on our social media saying things like, “People shouldn’t do drugs,” or “If they overdose, that’s their fault.” That mindset is brutal — and it misses the reality that fentanyl is everywhere now. You don’t need to “do opioids” to be at risk. Carrying naloxone isn’t about endorsing drug use; it’s about being a decent human being who’s prepared to save a life. We need compassion to win out over judgment, at every level — from policy at the national level down all the way down to discourse in comment sections.
Finally, we need to make overdose preparedness a standard part of public life. Schools teach CPR. Offices have AEDs. There’s no reason naloxone shouldn’t be just as accessible and normalized. The more we build this into everyday environments, the more lives we’ll save before it ever becomes a headline.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
To me, leadership isn’t about always knowing what to do; it’s about creating calm and direction when no one does. When you’re building something from scratch, especially in a space as emotionally heavy as harm reduction, there’s no playbook. You’re constantly balancing hope, exhaustion, and responsibility.
Early on, I thought leadership meant having every answer ready. But I’ve learned it’s more about asking the right questions and staying steady enough that people feel safe following you through the unknown. For me, that means being transparent when things get messy, taking accountability when I get it wrong, and keeping our mission at the center even when the path forward isn’t clear.
Leading nCase with Dani has taught me more about real leadership than anything else. We’ve had to learn when to challenge each other, when to yield, and how to separate what’s best for the company from what feels comfortable personally. It’s not always easy, but that tension forces honesty, and I think that’s what leadership really is: having the courage to stay honest, even when it’s uncomfortable.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- Going viral isn’t a business strategy. Early on, I assumed that if we made great content and a few videos took off, the sales would follow. Some did, but then the algorithm changed, engagement dipped, and suddenly all that momentum evaporated overnight. Virality can spark awareness, but it’s not sustainable traction. Real traction comes from relationships, partnerships, and slow, deliberate growth.
- Your users will always surprise you. When our first prototypes came back from the manufacturer in bright pink instead of navy, we thought it was a total disaster. Turns out, a ton of people — especially women — actually preferred that color. It reminded me that what we think looks “professional” doesn’t always line up with what people actually want to carry. Listening beats assuming, every time.
- Caring deeply doesn’t mean burning out completely. Working in harm reduction means carrying the emotional weight of the stories you hear — the lives lost, the families grieving, the constant “not enough” feeling. For a while, I thought relentless work was the only way to honor that responsibility. But I’ve learned that if you burn out, the mission burns with you. Real impact takes endurance, not martyrdom. Even when I was bartending 35 hours/week to keep the lights on while we built this, I knew there had to be space to take care of myself. It’s not easy but it is necessary.
- Momentum doesn’t always mean money. You can have great data, media buzz, and a product people love — and still be waiting months for the funding to catch up. That gap can be brutal. I wish someone had told me that traction doesn’t automatically equal stability, and that building something meaningful usually means being uncomfortable longer than you expect.
- You’ll never feel “done,” so you have to choose gratitude anyway. The goalposts never stop moving. You think you’ll finally feel accomplished when you hit a milestone — a pilot, a grant, a new partnership — but each one just reveals how much more there is to do. I’ve had to learn to pause and actually recognize the wins before chasing the next one. It’s not about settling; it’s about remembering why you started in the first place.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The most common line we say at nCase Tech: “Don’t let great get in the way of good.”
As an engineer, I tend to obsess over perfection — every detail, every edge case, every hypothetical improvement. But startups don’t give you that luxury. If you wait until something’s perfect, it never reaches the people who need it.
That mindset completely shaped how we built nCase. We didn’t start with the world’s most advanced case — we started with something good enough to help save someone today. And that’s what matters.
Good saves lives now. Great can wait until later.
Of course, we’re always still innovating, constantly looking in every direction for how we can get more people carrying naloxone, how we can expand to other emergency medications, and, ultimately, how we can save even more lives.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I’m sure a lot of people would give this answer right now — maybe it’s just the recency bias — but I’d say Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of NYC. At a time when the federal government is actively backing away from harm reduction, cutting funding, and treating compassion like a liability, Zohran’s campaign did the exact opposite. Instead, he’s leading with it.
He talks about overdose prevention, housing, and care without hiding behind euphemisms or political safety nets — and that’s rare these days. He’s showing what it looks like to treat harm reduction and social services as common sense, not controversy. I think that kind of courage is exactly what we need to meet this moment.
At nCase Tech, we’re fighting the same battle on a different front: trying to make lifesaving action something ordinary people feel empowered to do. I’d love to talk with him about how you sustain that clarity and conviction when the national tone is so far behind.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
If I could start a movement, it would be to redefine harm reduction as basic human decency.
So much of the national conversation around drugs and overdose still treats compassion like it’s optional — or worse, political. But harm reduction isn’t radical. It’s not about condoning behavior; it’s about keeping people alive long enough to have another chance. That’s what empathy looks like in practice.
I’d want to see a world where helping someone survive isn’t controversial — where carrying naloxone is as normal as carrying a bandage or knowing CPR. And where we design our systems, our products, and our policies around care instead of punishment.
If that shift ever really takes hold, it wouldn’t just save lives — it would say something profound about who we are as a society and what we choose to value.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
The best way to follow along is through @ncase.tech on Instagram or TikTok — that’s where we share everything from product updates to stories from the harm reduction community and other educational materials. You can also visit www.ncasetechnologies.com to learn more about NALOX-1 and our mission to make saving a life as simple as carrying your keys. Personally, I’m very active on LinkedIn, where I share more about the intersection of design, public health, and social entrepreneurship. Please feel free to connect with me!
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Matt Bitner-Glindzicz of nCase Technologies Is Helping To Change… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.