MedTech Innovator | July 5, 2018
The MedTech Innovator 2018 Summit was held on June 20-22 in San Francisco. The event marked the kick-off of the 2018 program bringing together our 13 industry partners and 50 Accelerator and Showcase companies for a 2-day event filled with interactive panels, workshops, and round tables. We were joined by trainees from the CDRH as part of the FDA Experiential Learning Program as well as representatives from Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC), NIH, AdvaMed, and many others.
Day 1 activities were held at the offices of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich, & Rosati and attended by senior leadership from this year’s Accelerator cohort. The day started with interactive sessions, including partner-led small groups focusing on challenges and opportunities for medtech startups. After lunch, the Accelerator companies reconvened for a workshop that focused on the articulation of value across various stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem and the required evidentiary support generation. Our partners at Health+Commerce ended the day with a session on public relations and perfecting one’s elevator pitch.
Day 2 welcomed the addition of representatives from this year’s Showcase companies. The content consisted of carefully curated teaching and interactive sessions, including those on trends in healthcare investments and exits, external innovation, and federal initiatives and funding opportunities. Breakout sessions and 1:1 mentor meetings rounded out the afternoon content. The teachings of the two days were brought together in the final workshop application, “Design to Value”, led by our partners at Ximedica.
The Summit concluded on June 22 with the 26th Annual WSGR Medical Device Conference. The 50 Accelerator & Showcase companies were featured in the Ralston Ballroom of The Palace Hotel, each delivering a 3-min pitch to an audience of investors, business development representatives, and other industry stakeholders. The day’s highlight was the Value Award Competition where four pre-selected companies (Aurigen Medical, Pneumonics, Ictero Medical, and AblaCare) presented a 5-minute pitch, clearly articulating their value to the health care system. A panel of judges consisting of Renee Ryan (Johnson & Johnson), Linda Elkins (W. L. Gore), Kwame Ulmer (MedTech Color), and Jenell Robinson (MedTech Innovator) dug deeper into each company’s story during the Q&A session. The winner, determined by a live audience vote, was awarded a $25,000 cash prize and a profile in the MedTech Strategist. Congratulations to this year’s MedTech Innovator 2018 Value Award Winner, AblaCare!
MedTech Innovator’s Top 50 Companies include:
Showcase & Accelerator Companies
- Ablacare – Paris
- AtaCor Medical – San Clemente, Calif.
- AuriGen Medical – Galway, Ireland
- AxioSonic – Effingham, Ill.
- BeamLine Diagnostics – Oxford, England
- CoLabs – Carmel, Calif.
- CroiValve – Dublin
- Deneb Medical – San Sebastian, Spain
- Deton – Pasadena, Calif.
- Embrace Orthopaedics – Vancouver, British Columbia
- FineHeart – Pessac, France
- Ictero Medical – Palo Alto, Calif.
- Medable – Palo Alto, Calif.
- MYOVUE – Montréal
- NitiNotes – Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
- Paragate Medical – Nazareth Illit, Israel
- PercuSense – Valencia, Calif.
- PhotoniCare – Champaign, Ill.
- Pneumonics – Durham, N.C.
- Sana Health – San Francisco
- Spect – Palo Alto, Calif.
- Strados Labs – Philadelphia
- Tasso – Seattle
- X-COR Therapeutics – Boston
- ZetaGen – Berkeley, Calif.
Showcase-only Companies
- CathWorks – Kfar Saba, Israel
- CereScan – Littleton, Colo.
- Conavi Medical – Toronto
- ContinUse Biometrics – Tel Aviv, Israel
- CTRL Labs – Manhattan, N.Y.
- Decisio – Houston, Tex.
- Darmiyan – Emeryville, Calif.
- DistalMotion – Lausanne, Switzerland
- Emovi – Montréal
- Empirical Spine – San Carlos, Calif.
- Endotronix – Lisle, Ill.
- Footbeat – Grand Junction, Colo.
- Gauss Surgical – Los Altos, Calif.
- GT Medical Technologies – Mesa, Ariz.
- Impleo Medical – St. Paul, Minn.
- LungPacer – Burnaby, B.C.
- ODS Medical – Montréal
- Physcient – Durham, N.C.
- RFPi – Greenville, N.C.
- Saranas – Houston
- Soundbite Medical Solutions– Montréal
- Spire – San Francisco
- Zeto – Santa Clara, Calif.
*Four additional companies to be confirmed.
Since 2013, MedTech Innovator has reviewed over 2,500 early-stage companies and graduated 135 companies that have gone on to raise nearly $550M in follow-on funding. MedTech Innovator works closely with stakeholders across the industry to foster the growth of early to mid-stage startups. In collaboration with 12 corporate partners, as well as a broader network of hundreds of investors, business development representatives, and industry experts, MedTech Innovator provides startups with individualized mentorship and feedback, key resources, funding opportunities, and continual engagement with peers and advisors.
About MedTech Innovator
Based in Los Angeles, Calif., MedTech Innovator is the premier nonprofit startup accelerator in the medical technology industry. Our mission is to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of companies that are transforming the healthcare system. MedTech Innovator matches healthcare industry leaders with innovative early-stage and emerging growth medtech companies for mentorship and support. For more information about MedTech Innovator, visit https://medtechinnovator.org/ and follow @MedTechAwards on Twitter. To receive industry insights and highlights about MedTech Innovator’s current and alumni participant companies, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.