MedTech Innovator Dublin Pitch Event Recap & Competition Winner Starling Surgical

Earlier this month, MedTech Innovator hosted its annual international qualifying round for the 2019 global Showcase & Accelerator program. The event featured pitches from 30 best-in-class medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies in the region. This was the fourth stop of the MedTech Innovator Road Tour and was hosted on April 8-9 in conjunction with the MedTech Strategist Innovation Summit in Dublin.

The first day of the event was held in partnership with RCSI and Trinity College and took place against the beautiful backdrop of RSCI’s College Hall & Boardroom. Select companies were given the opportunity to pitch in front of a panel of fifty industry-leading judges including MedTech Innovator’s corporate partners, investors, providers, and key healthcare executives.

As always, the judges were faced with a difficult decision, especially with this year’s high-caliber companies. After extensive deliberation, five startups were selected to advance to the stage competition, which took place April 9 at the MedTech Strategist Innovation Summit. Companies that participated in the final event were Head Diagnostics, OncoRes Medical, Starling Surgical, Thermopeutix and Venari Medical.

During the competition, MedTech Innovator’s corporate partners–Susan Morano (Johnson & Johnson), Jim Martucci (Baxter Healthcare), Stephen Ralph (W. L. Gore & Associates), Townsend Goddard (Olympus), and Tomoko Ishikura (Nipro Corporation)–served as judges. Ultimately, the audience voted Starling Surgical as the winner of the 2019 Dublin Pitch Competition. The company, in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin, is developing a wound closure device designed to meticulously perform surgical sutures with the speed and convenience of a skin stapler.

Starling Surgical is first company to receive a slot in the MedTech Innovator 2019 Showcase. They will get a presentation slot and complimentary registration to The MedTech Conference, powered by AdvaMed in Boston. Additionally, up to $3000 in travel expenses will be covered and they will be featured in an upcoming issue of the MedTech Strategist.

As the MedTech Innovator Road Tour nears its final pitch event in Washington D.C. on April 30, excitement grows for what we anticipate to be the most impressive Showcase yet. Stay tuned for our announcement of the MedTech Innovator 2019 cohort featuring the 50 best and brightest startups in the medtech industry!