startups Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

Bessel launches accelerator program for medtech startups

Bessel and an Alabama tech hub today said they are launching Hatch Powered by Bessel, an accelerator program for medtech startups.

Applications are now open for the 10-week program, which starts in Fairhope, Alabama, this summer.

The accelerator “combines the passion of startup founders, the guidance of seasoned medical device experts, and the burgeoning startup ecosystem and investment in Alabama,” Bessel said in a news release. “… The program aims to equip medtech startups to create sustainable and scalable innovations—breakthroughs that scale—and to give founders the entrepreneurial resource ecosystem they need for long-term success.”

Startups selected for the program will receive a travel stipend, access to events and workshops, and guidance on strategy, fundraising and execution from lifescience industry entrepreneurs who will act as mentors and advisors.

The startups will be offered funding…

Evevo Manufacturing launches in Minnesota

NEWS RELEASE: New medical device contract manufacturer launches to serve emerging medical device companies in Minnesota’s Medical Alley.

Minneapolis – Nov. 28, 2023 – Visura Technologies, a privately owned medical device company based in Minneapolis, and YKK Corp. of America, a subsidiary of Japan-based YKK Corporation, today announced the launch of Evevo Manufacturing, a new joint venture committed to serving emerging medical device companies in the Minneapolis ecosystem.

The unique relationship between the leadership teams of YKK and Visura Technologies led to the creation of the joint venture. Evevo Manufacturing is jointly owned by YKK and Visura.

“Evevo Manufacturing’s focus will be on supporting startup and emerging medical device companies that often have a difficult time finding and keeping the attention of the contract manufacturing partners,” said Irvin Pierskalla, VP of operations at Evevo Manufacturing. “The entire Evevo team has extensive experienc…

30 biotech startups making waves

[willyam/Adobe Stock]

The biotech industry is facing a reckoning in 2023. To date, roughly 100 biopharmas have cut workers this year, matching the total number of layoffs in the sector in 2022. Many biotech startups have been hit hard. The wave of job cuts comes on the heels of a biotech boom following the COVID-19 pandemic, when new biopharmas proliferated.

Against this turbulent backdrop, a select group of biotech startups have managed to sustain growth. We’ve selected 30 firms that have collectively raised nearly $8 billion. A fair share of these companies are focused on AI techniques to accelerate drug discovery while others have homed in on niche areas like gene therapies, RNA modulation and epigenetic therapies.

1. Tempus Mission: Applying AI for cancer care and beyond. With a valuation ranging in billions and high-profile partnerships, Tempus has forged high-profile partnerships as it extends i…

What could medtech lose from the Silicon Valley Bank shutdown?

A host of medtech companies dodged the loss of billions of dollars in Silicon Valley Bank deposits — but the space still faces challenges.

That is one of the big takeaways from the latest DeviceTalks Weekly podcast.

The FDIC shuttered Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 to stave off a bank run amid depositor concerns over how the bank had managed risk around rising interest rates. With $209.0 billion in total assets and about $175.4 billion in total deposits, it was the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history.

Silicon Valley Bank was a huge name in the tech and startup world since its founding in the 1990s. SVB’s website said half of all U.S. VC-backed tech and life science companies used the Santa Clara, California–based bank. Especially vulnerable were startups and other young companies that parked their funds at the bank — and found themselves asking how much they’d get back above the $250,000 FDIC deposit insurance limit.

By Sunday, March 12,…

The medtech companies potentially affected by Silicon Valley Bank’s closure

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation today closed Silicon Valley Bank, which could expose medtech companies with relations to the bank.

According to SVB’s website, half of all U.S. VC-backed tech and life science companies used the Santa Clara, California–based bank.

The FDIC — appointed as receiver in the closing — created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Santa Clara (DINB). This protects insured depositors, the FDIC said in a news release. At the time of closing, the FDIC immediately transferred to the DINB all insured deposits of Silicon Valley Bank.

Silicon Valley Bank’s reach extends to medtech

BTIG analysts issued a list of companies that could be exposed to Silicon Valley Bank. This includes exposure through loan agreements, revolving credit facilities, and more.

The analysts stressed that the list is only based on these companies’ most recent filings. It lacks full additional detail that …

5 Black medtech startup founders to know

Sanxtuary MD founder and CEO Dr. Amber Robins [Photo courtesy of gBETA]

Five startup founders are preparing their pitches for the gBETA Medtech Black Founders Accelerator’s virtual showcase next week.

Their companies are the eighth cohort for the gBETA Medtech Accelerator, which focused on Black founders for its fall 2022 program. The five companies received $10,000 grants, plus coaching, mentorship and other support over the course of the seven-week program.

The gBETA Medtech Accelerator is a program of startup accelerator Gener8tor and the University Enterprise Labs (UEL) business incubator in St. Paul, Minnesota, with mentorship support from Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota and Medical Alley Association. The program’s sponsors inculde Boston Scientific and Fox Rothschild. UEL and Gener8tor also get support through a cooperative agreement with BARDA DRIVe.

You can RSVP for the virt…

MassMEDIC picks startups for Medtech Ignite accelerator

MassMEDIC has named four startups to its Medtech Ignite 2022 cohort. [Image courtesy of MassMEDIC]

The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC) this week announced its 2022 Medtech Ignite Program participants.

The accelerator is returning to in-person programming after two years of virtual training, with workshops and networking spanning September and November.

MassMEDIC’s 2022 Medtech Ignite cohort startups are:

Oxford Heartbeat, which developed the PreSize Neurovascular software to help neurovascular surgeons predict the behavior of different stent devices in an individual patient, allowing them to select the best device. Co-founder Katerina Spranger is Oxford Heartbeat’s CEO. BrilliantStrings Therapeutics, which developed an activated collagen biomaterial for repairing injured or degenerated connective tissue and wounds. Jeff Ruberti is CEO. INIA Biosciences, which de…

Medtech startups land European Innovation Council Accelerator funding

European medtech startups were among the 74 companies receiving a combined €382 million in grants and investments, the 2022 European Innovation Council Accelerator said this week.

Each company will be eligible for up to €17.5 million (about $18.8 million in U.S. currency) worth of grants and equity investments. Most of the funding will be available in the next two or three months, with equity investments expecting to be finalized this fall.

The startups include Estonia-based Seventh Sense, which uses telehaptics to help blind and visually impaired people navigate their surroundings, and Finland-based Tilt Biotherapeutics, the developer of a novel oncolytic immunotherapy for ovarian, head and neck, and lung cancers.

Get the full story at our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Medtech startups land European Innovation Council Accelerator funding

European medtech startups were among the 74 companies receiving a combined €382 million in grants and investments, the 2022 European Innovation Council Accelerator said this week.

Each company will be eligible for up to €17.5 million (about $18.8 million in U.S. currency) worth of grants and equity investments. Most of the funding will be available in the next two or three months, with equity investments expecting to be finalized this fall.

The startups include Estonia-based Seventh Sense, which uses telehaptics to help blind and visually impaired people navigate their surroundings, and Finland-based Tilt Biotherapeutics, the developer of a novel oncolytic immunotherapy for ovarian, head and neck, and lung cancers.

“The new wave of innovation is currently led by deep tech startups that target societal challenges,” Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel said in a news release. “I am happy to se…

Here’s where Harvard’s engineering dean sees medtech research going

Harvard University constructed a 500,000-square-foot Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) for SEAS in Boston’s Allston neighborhood in 2020. [Image courtesy of Harvard SEAS]

Surgical robotics, artificial intelligence, and combatting climate change are but some of the priorities that have Harvard’s engineering school dean excited.

Speaking today at DeviceTalks Boston, Frank J. Doyle III described the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as a “well-kept secret” historically. But Harvard engineering is staking out a strong position when it comes to medtech innovation.

Doyle noted that the school he runs has 5% of the faculty — and produces 40% of the startups out of Harvard.

Get the full story at our sister site, MassDevice.

gBETA Medtech accelerator picks its next startups

The gBETA Medtech virtual accelerator today named the five startups that will participate in the spring program leading up to the June 21 showcase day.

The five startups for the spring 2022 cohort are:

Mother of Fact: This mobile app for moms with babies offers nutrition tracking, preventative monitoring and daily coaching from licensed dietitians and lactation experts. Emily Sylvester is the CEO and founder of parent company NurtureTalk in Langdon, New Hampshire.

OmniVis: Based in South San Francisco, California, this device developer made a handheld infectious disease diagnostic that can deliver results within a half hour. The iSpyDx device can currently detect cholera and E. coli in water, and the company’s website says it will soon be able to diagnose malaria, HIV and sepsis. CEO Katherine Clayton’s co-founders include Tamara Kinzer-Ursem, Jacqueline Linnes and Steven Wereley.

Q-rounds: This app tells hospitalized patients, their …

The promise and pain of startup customers: 3 ways to support early-stage innovators without becoming a high-risk investor

Kate Stephenson is the owner and founder of Dyad Engineering. [Photo courtesy of Dyad Engineering]

Startups represent a highly lucrative opportunity for suppliers to get in on the ground floor of a whole new product line, but their low success rate and high-touch needs can make them a dangerous distraction from your main customers.

Kate Stephenson, Dyad Engineering

Enthusiastic and highly committed to their cause, medical device startup founders speak with a deep passion about righting the wrongs of healthcare and the immense potential for profit in doing so.

However, they also tend to be overly confident, naïve about the sheer amount of work their idea represents and perennially underfunded.

The risks and rewards of working with startups are constantly shifting. To mitigate the risks without resorting to a blanket “no startup” policy, there are three strategies every medical device manufactur…