And the 2017 MedTech Innovator winners are …

MedTech Innovator 2017 Finale

FROM LEFT: Paul Leake, VerteCore, JLABS award winner; Albert Huang, Allotrope Medical, finals runner-up; Bradley Messmer, Abreos Biosciences, finalist; Venk Varadan, JLABS award winner; Jong Lee, Day Zero Diagnostics, finals winner; Colm McGarvey, Selio Medical, finalist; Jacob Kreigel, Alleviant Medical, JLABS award winner.

Our 2017 competition had its thrilling conclusion Sept. 25 to 27, where 50 MedTech Innovator companies participated in three action-packed days of competitions, partnering meetings, mentoring, networking, and were showcased to nearly 3,000 industry leaders at The MedTech Conference.

In total, MedTech Innovator companies were awarded $610,000 in non-dilutive cash prizes and in-kind awards, with the grand prize of $350,000 going to Day Zero Diagnostics with their ambitious diagnostic platform combining genome sequencing and machine learning to transform infectious disease diagnosis and treatment.

MedTech Innovator Accelerator 2017 Graduation

In front of the conference audience, we announced the graduation of the MedTech Innovator Accelerator Class of 2017. These best-of-breed startups were selected from an initial pool of 600 applications. Be sure to watch the video recapping the experiences, in-depth mentorship, and invaluable relationships these companies and our partners built during the four-month MedTech Innovator Accelerator program.

Three Days, Four Competitions

Over three days at The MedTech Conference, MedTech Innovator companies were awarded $610,000 in non-dilutive cash prizes and in-kind awards as part of four competitions:

• Video Competition (Monday, Sept. 25): MedTech Innovator’s Showcase companies produced one-minute videos to highlight their companies and technologies. We awarded a $10,000 prize to the best video. Based on a combination of YouTube views and votes from the selection committee, the top five videos were Nanowear, Genomic Expression, Osso VR, palmm, and Pneumonics. In the final round of voting by investors and business development executives, palmm was selected as the winner.

• Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial / MedTech Innovator Execution Award (Monday, Sept. 25): Presented in partnership with AdvaMed Accel, this award recognizes the potential of a promising entrepreneur or entrepreneurial medical technology company. The winner, Nanowear, was selected by audience vote at the Accel Leadership Seminar and received a $25,000 prize in addition to one-year membership in AdvaMed and complimentary registration to the 2018 MedTech Conference in Philadelphia.
  • As part of the Execution Award vote, the audience selected Osso VR as the startup at which they’d most like to work. The Execution Award finalists were Arterys, ExplORer Surgical, Nanowear, NovaGray, Osso VR, and VerteCore.

• Finals Competition (Tuesday, Sept. 26): Day Zero Diagnostics was the recipient of the $350,000 grand prize, which will be used to further its business goals and objectives. The runner up was Allotrope Medical followed by finalists Abreos Biosciences, and Selio Medical; they received $50,000, $25,000 and $25,000, respectively. Watch the exciting teaser video we played for the conference audience.
  • In addition to the cash prizes, JLABS awarded work space in their state-of-the-art innovation centers to three MedTech Innovator Accelerator companies (a $25,000 value): Alleviant Medical, Nanowear, and VerteCore.

• Global Health Innovator Award (Wednesday, Sept. 27): For this inaugural prize, MedTech Innovator partnered with TEAMFund to present the Global Health Innovator Award. The $50,000 prize, provided by TEAMFund in concert with industry leaders BD, Medtronic, and Stryker, was awarded to Shift Labs, a MedTech Innovator Top 100 startup.

MedTech Innovator Showcase

In its first year as the MedTech Innovator Showcase, we occupied a large stage and seating for more than 100 participants on the exhibit hall floor. We held 11 panel sessions over two days, featuring all 50 Showcase companies, whose CEOs and co-founders were interviewed by moderators from leading industry manufacturers, suppliers, and consultants.

Each sector-specific panel began by screening the companies’ one-minute pitch videos, and conference attendees, including investors, business development professionals and C-level executives, sat in on the conversations and gained valuable insight into these transformative early-stage companies.

The MedTech Innovator Showcase was supported by Platinum sponsor Alira Health and Gold sponsor Grant Thornton, with a number of registration scholarships provided by iO Life Science, TriNet, iBIO/PROPEL, the Ministry of Quebec, the Southeastern Medical Device Association, and WINGS.

Judges, Partners, Sponsors, & Supporters

A unique part of the MedTech Innovator competition are the brilliant and savvy judges who help draw out the key points of each presenting company’s pitch.

Finals Judges
Renee Ryan, Vice President, Venture Investments, Johnson & Johnson
Amy Belt Raimundo, Managing Director, KP Ventures
Anne E. Sissel, Vice President and Head / Baxter Ventures, Baxter International
Al Lauritano, Director, External Innovation & Partnerships, BD

Execution Award Judges
Christos Monovoukas, Vice President, Business Development and Strategy, Olympus
Janis Naeve, Managing Director, Amgen Ventures
Jennifer Kozak, Vice President, Business Development, Johnson & Johnson
Jordan Tuttle, Vice President, Strategic Investments, BTG

The entire MedTech Innovator team and our community of startup and early-stage companies would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to our partners and sponsors that made this year’s competition and accelerator such an overwhelming success. It’s with this generous support that we’re able to pursue our mission to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of companies that are transforming the healthcare system.

Thank you to The MedTech Conference and the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) for helping us highlight and elevate these innovative companies and for making MedTech Innovator a highlight of our industry’s largest gathering.

Planning for the 2018 cycle is already underway. Please email MedTech Innovator Vice President Ashley McMaster if you want to learn about how you or your company can get involved and be a part of the innovation ecosystem fueling transformation in healthcare.