Paul Grand is the founder and CEO of MedTech Innovator, the world’s largest non-profit accelerator for medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies; Ayelet Marom, PhD is the senior director of programs for both the flagship MedTech Innovator competition and BioTools Innovator, the world’s first and only accelerator focused on life science research tools; and Jim West III, MS, is the associate director for BioTools Innovator. West previously was co-founder and CEO of Clara Biotech, a finalist in the 2021 BioTools Accelerator competition.
In this episode of Lab to Startup, we discuss the challenges that entrepreneurs face in developing medical technology and life science research tools, and then explore how MedTech Innovator, a non-profit accelerator helps founders in this space. We review the lessons learned over a decade of supporting over 600 startups through the MedTech Innovator program and how it’s evolved into the industry’s leading competition and accelerator.
We discuss:
- The founding story of MedTech Innovator in 2013, and how the novel BioTools Accelerator program developed in 2021
- Common struggles among startups: articulating value propositions, understanding reimbursement pathways, recruiting the best leadership, staying in stealth mode, and choosing the correct indication
- The eligibility requirements for prospective companies, and how startups get accepted into the program
- The value of mentoring and coaching from strategic industry partners
- How medtech investors are unique, and how to successfully approach them and work with them
- The specific challenges facing the development of biotools and how the BTI accelerator supports these companies
- A case study featuring BTI Associate Director Jim West, who was an early participant in BTI as co-founder and CEO of Clara Biotech
