MedTech Innovator Announces Finalists for $500K 7th Annual Industry Competition
Additional six companies selected to compete for 2019 Execution Award
LOS ANGELES, September 18, 2019 – MedTech Innovator, the premier nonprofit startup accelerator in the medical technology industry, today announced that Flosonics Medical, Forest Devices, Koya, OncoRes Medical, and Venari Medical have been selected as finalists to compete for the title of MedTech Innovator 2019, out of over 800 applicants. Attendees of The MedTech Conference, the largest gathering of medtech industry leaders in North America powered by AdvaMed, will vote for the Grand Prize winner of $350,000 on Sept. 24 in Boston.
The five finalist companies are developing medical technology innovations in critical care, breast cancer, and chronic venous and vascular diseases:
- Flosonics Medical is developing a wireless, wearable sensor that uses non-invasive ultrasound to provide real-time hemodynamic monitoring and improve the management of critically ill patients. The company is based in Sudbury, Canada.
- Forest Devices is developing a portable device that uses electroencephalogram monitoring and machine learning to diagnose large vessel occlusions and other stroke subtypes, enabling first responders to triage patients to proper stroke centers. The company is based in Pittsburgh.
- Koya is developing a wearable smart device that delivers patient-specific compression therapy to treat chronic vascular diseases, starting with edema. The company is based in San Francisco.
- OncoRes Medical is developing a high resolution, handheld, surgeon-operated imaging tools to increase surgical accuracy and more effectively identify and remove tumors during breast cancer surgery. The company is based in Perth, Australia.
- Venari Medical is developing the first non-thermal, office-based medical device that activates the body’s natural healing response to help patients achieve painless, permanent treatment of chronic venous disease. The company is based in Galway, Ireland.
During the competition finals, which will be held on the Plenary Stage at 3:45 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 24, each of the five companies will have seven minutes to pitch their technology and answer questions from a panel of four judges. After the presentations, the audience will vote in real-time to select the winners. The first-place startup will take home a $350,000 non-dilutive cash prize. The remaining four finalists will each receive a $25,000 cash prize, and several incubator space awards will be presented from JLABS, the Gore Innovation Center in Silicon Valley, and Magnify at UCLA. In total, more than $500,000 in prizes will be awarded.
The finals judges are Christos Monovoukas, Global Leader, Mergers and Acquisitions / Business Development, Olympus; Jennifer Kozak, VP, New Business Development, Johnson & Johnson; Heather Walsh, Director, External Innovation, Baxter International; Sean Coyer, Leader, Digital Health Innovations and Ventures, Gore Innovation Center.
“Each year, the audience at The MedTech Conference is faced with the difficult decision of choosing only one winner out of a group of impressive and transformative startups, and this year will be no exception,” said Paul Grand, CEO of MedTech Innovator. “Even though only one company is voted the grand prize winner, all 50 companies in the 2019 cohort are on an important path to improving patient lives and the healthcare system as a whole through their innovative technologies.”
Together with the senior leadership teams of its corporate partners and over 200 industry judges, MedTech Innovator traveled to evaluate over 150 candidates in person out of over 800 applications from 34 countries and 45 U.S. states. Fifty companies were then selected to participate in the MedTech Innovator Showcase program, which prominently features the most innovative medtech startups from around the world. Twenty-five of the 50 Showcase companies also received a place in the MedTech Innovator Accelerator program, specifically designed for early stage companies.
Since 2013, MedTech Innovator has reviewed more than 3,000 startups and graduated 185 companies that have gone on to raise more than $1B in follow-on funding and bring 37 products to the market. MedTech Innovator works closely with stakeholders across the industry to foster the growth of early to mid-stage startups. In collaboration with 20 corporate partners, as well as a broad network of more than a hundred investors, business development representatives, and industry experts, MedTech Innovator provides startups with individualized mentorship and feedback, funding opportunities, and continual engagement with peers and advisors. A list of the 2019 Showcase and Accelerator companies can be found here.
Finalists Announced for Execution Award with AdvaMed Accel
MedTech Innovator also announced it will also present 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 companies competing for the Execution Award competition on Monday, Sept. 23, are Avisi Technologies, Ischemia Care, Olfactomics, Patch’d, Respirix and Starling Surgical. The winner of the Execution Award competition will receive a $25,000 cash prize and a one-year AdvaMed membership.
Judges for the Execution Award competition are Ajay Khatri, Director of Venture Investments, Johnson & Johnson; Chris Neil, Head of Maxim Ventures and Senior VP, Maxim Integrated; James Kaiser, Director, Corporate VC Group, HOYA Corporation; Jessica Richter, COO, Experien Group; Jim McGough, Co-founder, EdgeOne Medical.
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About MedTech Innovator
Based in Los Angeles, Calif., MedTech Innovator is the premier nonprofit startup accelerator in the medical technology industry. Its 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. Founding sponsors include Johnson & Johnson and RCT Ventures, and annual program sponsors include Baxter, Amgen, NIPRO Medical Corp., Olympus Medical Systems Group, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc., BTG, Fujikura Ltd., HOYA Corp., Maxim Integrated Ventures, Alira Health, EdgeOne Medical, Experien Group, Greenlight Guru, Proxima Clinical Research, Westwood & Wilshire, and Ximedica. The organization’s industry partners include AdvaMed, Health+Commerce, MedTech Strategist, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. 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.
Media Contact:
Lara Lingenbrink
858.525.1414
