This year brought in a record number of applications with over 1,000 submissions from 45 countries and 48 U.S. states. Fifty companies were selected to participate in the MedTech Innovator Showcase, with a subset receiving a place in the MedTech Innovator Accelerator. Over three months, 30 Accelerator companies competed for a coveted spot in our three competitions – the Value Award, the Execution Award, and the Grand Finals. We also held a Finals competition for our Pediatric cohort (see below) as well as our Asia Pacific Grand Finals.
Grand Finals
The five finalists below are developing medical technology innovations in cardiology, pulmonology, mental health, and neurology:
- cellvie (Boston) is developing a device-enabled mitochondria transplantation therapy for heart disease.
- Circadia Health (London) is developing a contactless remote monitoring system for early detection of respiratory failure.
- Lief Therapeutics (San Francisco) is developing a wearable ECG and digital therapeutic for mental health, providing remote patient monitoring & HIPAA-compliant clinician dashboard.
- Moray Medical (Mountain View, Calif.) is developing a robotic catheter that makes delivery of therapies inside the beating heart as easy as moving a cursor on a computer screen.
- Rhaeos (Evanston, Ill.) is developing a wearable for the noninvasive monitoring of ventricular shunt function for hydrocephalus patients.
We’re excited to announce that Rhaeos was selected as the winner of MedTech Innovator 2020 by an audience vote! Rhaeos is developing a wearable for the noninvasive monitoring of ventricular shunt function for hydrocephalus patients.
JLABS Award Winners and Best Video Winner
MedTech Innovator also announced the winners of JLABS incubator space awards – Rhaeos and Parker Isaac Instruments each received a JLABS Award, valued at $25,000.
Lief Therapeutics was voted the winner of the $10,000 Best Video Award for their one-minute pitch video. We highly encourage you watch all 60 of the inspiring one minute videos produced by our Showcase companies.
Execution Award & Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award
MedTech Innovator also presented the Execution Award in conjunction with AdvaMed Accel’s Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award, which recognizes the potential of a promising entrepreneur or entrepreneurial medical technology company. The six finalists selected to compete for the Execution Award competition were:
- Aksense – Early and rapid diagnostic biosensor to detect healthcare-associated infections
- Envision Endoscopy – Novel suturing device for flexible endoscopy for tissue approximation and large defects management
- Forcen – ForceFilm provides a digital “sense of touch” in surgical robotics
- MOWOOT – Purely physical, non-drug, non-invasive solution to chronic constipation in form of a medical device
- Puzzle Medical Devices – Minimally invasive long-term hemodynamic transcatheter pump for patients with advanced heart failure
- Vena Vitals – Continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitor in the form of a soft flexible sticker on your skin
The winner of the Execution Award competition was Vena Vitals, receiving a $25,000 cash prize, a one-year AdvaMed membership, and a profile in an upcoming issue of the MedTech Strategist.
Judges for the Execution Award competition are Viral Gandhi, exploration, Advanced Technology, Edwards Lifesciences; Michael Pereira, chief strategy and technology officer, Ximedica; Yoshinori Terai, president and chief executive officer, Asahi Intecc USA; Kathryn Zavala, chief operating officer, MedTech Innovator; Jemima Escamilla, consultant, RCT Ventures.
Value Award
The $25,000 Value Award Competition was held in connection with the MedTech Strategist Virtual Summit on November 18. Six startups from MedTech Innovator’s annual Accelerator program participated in the organization’s Value Award competition. Each company was given the opportunity to present before a virtual panel of industry judges and the audience of the MedTech Strategist Virtual Summit. This year’s Value Award finalists included:
- cellvie (Boston) is developing a device-enabled mitochondria transplantation therapy for heart disease.
- Cerebra (Winnipeg, Canada) offers an in-home diagnostic analysis of sleep EEG, delivered as a contemporary digital health product/li>
- MOWOOT – Purely physical, non-drug, non-invasive solution to chronic constipation in form of a medical device
- PolyVascular (Houston) is developing a percutaneous polymeric heart valve that reduces surgeries in kids & adults with congenital heart disease
- SepTec (Dublin, Ireland) is developing a revolutionary blood test to detect life-threatening sepsis causing pathogens within 15 minutes.
- Rhaeos (Evanston, Ill.) is developing a wearable for the noninvasive monitoring of ventricular shunt function for hydrocephalus patients.
The winner of the Value Award competition was cellvie, receiving a $25,000 cash prize and a profile in an upcoming issue of the MedTech Strategist.
Each finalist had seven minutes to present their products, business plans, value propositions, and to answer the judges’ questions. The judges included Shailendra Mahajan, co-founder and managing director, Maxim Ventures; Virginia Giddings, advanced technology exploration, Edwards Lifesciences; Joshua Magnuson, marketing manager, Fujikura; Tonja Danowski, vice president, Business Development, Johnson & Johnson; Michael Neidert, vice president, Strategic Development, Ximedica.
8th Annual Pediatric Device Innovation Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids Competition
10 Companies from the MedTech Innovator Pediatric Accelerator Track competed in The National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation (NCC-PDI) annual “Make Your Medical Device Pitch for Kids!” competition to share in $250,000 in grants funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support the advancement of pediatric medical devices. The competition, powered by NCC-PDI partner MedTech Innovator, focused on cardiovascular, NICU, and orthopaedic and spine devices, which are areas of critical need where innovation can significantly improve children’s healthcare.
This year’s pediatric device innovation awardees are:
Adipomics, Inc. – Cambridge, MA – COVI-SPOT, a one-step COVID-19 diagnosis on the spot;
BioSense – Beverly Hills, MI – the first working non-contact EKG for constant, non-invasive monitoring;
Innara Health – Olathe, KS – a biofeedback device to help newborns and premature infants improve feeding readiness and promote the neuro and physiological aspects of feeding;
Navi Medical Technologies – Melbourne, Australia – a non-invasive device to provide real-time feedback of central line tip location using ECG;
Novonate – South San Francisco, CA – secures and protects the umbilical catheter insertion site for neonates in intensive care;
Renata Medical – Costa Mesa, CA – a growth stent for treatment of congenital narrowed lesions in neonatal patients.