Revolutionary Medical Device Companies Awarded with Prestigious Mid-Stage Grand Prize and Value Award at the MedTech Strategist Innovation Summit

MedTech Innovator (MTI), the world’s largest accelerator of medical devices, today announced that MicroTransponder won the inaugural 2023 Mid-Stage Grand Prize competition, and Mirai Medical won the 2023 Value Award during the MedTech Strategist Innovation Summit in San Francisco. MicroTransponder received $200,000 in non-dilutive cash proceeds as the Mid-Stage Grand Prize winner, and Mirai Medical received $25,000 as the Value Award winner after receiving the highest real-time audience votes in their respective competitions.

These two competitions conclude the MTI 2023 accelerator featuring a diverse cohort of 61 best-in-class medical device, diagnostic, and digital health startups representing 21 U.S. states as well as Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. The 2023 cohort was selected from over 1,100 applicants, receiving mentorship, resources, access to industry stakeholders, industry visibility, and over $800,000 in awards.

This year, MTI added the Mid-Stage Grand Prize competition specifically to acknowledge the accomplishments of its more advanced startups in its accelerator. Previously, only its earlier-stage companies could compete for a single annual Grand Prize. StrokeDX was crowned the 2023 Early Stage Grand Prize winner after the audience vote on October 10, 2023, at AdvaMed’s The MedTech Conference.

Out of 20 exceptional mid-stage cohort companies in 2023, Alyve Medical, CardieX, ImmersiveTouch, and MicroTransponder were shortlisted as Mid-Stage finalists by a vote by MTI’s selection committee of leading strategic medical device manufacturers, qualifying them to receive a $25,000 Finalist award. MicroTransponder received the largest MedTech Strategist live audience vote on November 15, winning the $200,000 Grand Prize for its transformative stroke treatment technology.

“Stroke is a devastating disease, and the standard of care has left millions of patients with the inability to do basic daily tasks that we all take for granted,” said Paul Grand, CEO of MedTech Innovator. “We’ve been impressed with MicroTransponder as an outstanding mid-stage company possessing compelling clinical evidence demonstrating the ability of its FDA PMA-approved Vivistim® System to significantly improve the lives of patients with post-stroke upper limb impairment.”

"I am extremely grateful to MedTech Innovator for allowing MicroTransponder to participate in the 2023 Cohort. My experience with the MTI team, the expert panelists, and amazing leaders from other companies made this a masterclass for running and growing a company,” said Richard Foust, CEO. “We are honored to be chosen by our peers as the Mid-Stage Grand Prize winner. This is another validation of the important work that we are doing to bring transformational solutions to chronic stroke survivors.”

The second competition at the MedTech Strategist Summit was MTI’s Value Award Competition. This is the culmination of MTI’s comprehensive Value Program, a unique component of its accelerator, in which companies refine their value propositions with the guidance of 48 market access coaches. Each coach shortlisted the strongest candidates, and then MTI’s selection committee selected five finalists - Cellulora, InterShunt, Newrotex, Savage Medical, and Mirai Medical, who was crowned the winner after the live audience vote at MedTech Strategist on November 14.

“Mirai Medical’s ePORE® therapy offers a very compelling value proposition with its pulse field ablation system that has been proven in clinical studies to be safe, simple, and cost-effective,” said Grand. “ePORE greatly reduces side effects and improves the experience of cancer patients. It is minimally invasive and allows faster treatment, delivered as a day-case procedure.”

“It is an honor for Mirai Medical to be recognized and receive the MTI 2023 Value Award,” said Dr. Declan Soden, CEO and founder. “The Value Award is a tremendous recognition of the benefits we can offer by improving the ability of endoscopists to treat more patients in an outpatient setting. Thank you to MedTech Innovator and MedTech Strategist for not only giving us this opportunity to showcase our work but also for the recognition by our peers on the value of our important work.”

Following company presentations, a panel of distinguished judges engaged in a Q&A session with the finalists before the audience cast their votes. The Mid-Stage Grand Prize judges were Virginia Giddings, Vice President Exploration, Edwards Lifesciences; Edward Hanlon, Senior Associate, Gilde Healthcare; Tamir Meiri, Principal, Venture Investments, Johnson & Johnson Innovation; and Cynthia Yee, Principal, Vensana Capital. The Value Award judges were Lynn Carney, Director, Agency and Alliances, Medmarc; Ed Shenkan, Strategic Consultant & Advisor, Shenkan Advisors; and Takahiro Sano, Director, Corporate Development & Strategies, Nipro Medical Corp.

About MedTech Innovator

MedTech Innovator is the world’s largest accelerator of medical technology companies. Its mission is to improve human health by accelerating the growth of companies transforming care. MedTech Innovator has been a catalyst for groundbreaking healthcare solutions, reviewing nearly 10,000 applicants and fostering the growth of 613 companies that have collectively raised over $7.2 billion in follow-on funding and introduced 285 products to the market, transforming the lives of millions.

For more information about MedTech Innovator, its annual programs, portfolio of industry-leading startups, and insights on trends, visit MTI’s website, follow them on LinkedIn, and subscribe to its monthly newsletter. Applications for MedTech Innovator 2024 are now open until January 31, 2024 at https://medtechinnovator.org/apply/.

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