Three Maryland Startups Tapped for World’s Largest MedTech Accelerator
By Alex Keown
July 18, 2023
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Three Maryland-based medical technology companies, JuneBrain, Sonavi Labs and Xcision Medical Systems were selected to participate in the first cohort of a four-month-long accelerator program in Los Angeles supporting medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies.
The three women-led companies are taking part in MedTech Innovator’s flagship four-month MedTech Accelerator program where they will compete for $800,000 in non-dilutive funding. JuneBrain, Sonavi Labs and Xcision join a total of 61 different companies from across the globe participating in the accelerator program. The three companies join the ranks of other Maryland alumni, including Aidar Health, CoapTech and Relavo.
Approximately 1,150 companies applied to participate in the 2023 accelerator program. The program provides participants with “unparalleled visibility and access” to leading medtech manufacturers, providers, investors, and other industry stakeholders.
The accelerator program began in June at the Innovator Summit in Mountain View, Calif. During the four-month program, participating companies will compete in five competitions, with the final event taking place in October at The MedTech Conference, where all 61 companies will present in showcase panels.
MedTech Innovator is a global competition and accelerator for medical device, digital health, and diagnostic companies. Since 2013, MedTech Innovator has reviewed more than 9,000 startups and graduated 509 companies that have gone on to raise more than $6.8 billion in follow-on funding and have brought over 200 products to market. Earlier this year, MedTech Innovator brought its Roadshow to Baltimore for the first time. MedTech Innovator only hosted two U.S. roadshows this year, one in Los Angeles at the beginning of March, and one in Baltimore. Approximately 80 companies participated in the three-day event in Baltimore, including JuneBrain and Sonavi Labs. Their performance at the roadshow led to their participation in the accelerator program.
Based in Baltimore, JuneBrain, which received a $150,000 investment from TEDCO earlier this year, is developing a telehealth eye-scanning system that allows physicians to identify and monitor eye and brain disease activity in their patients without the necessity of in-person appointments. The company’s optical coherence tomography products expand the reach of neurology and ophthalmology into underserved communities around the world. The company is aiming to have its device available in local pharmacies and vision centers to make it easier for patients to have access.
JuneBrain Chief Executive Officer Samantha Scott touted the value of participating in the accelerator program. She said it is tailored to the needs of medtech companies, something she said “is extraordinary,” as it opened access to investors who are primarily focused on the medtech space. That will be key for JuneBrain as the company kicks off clinical studies for FDA clearance of its device. “This is an important time for JuneBrain,” Scott said.
A 2017 Johns Hopkins spinout, Sonavi Labs, developed an acoustic technology platform that allows clinicians to monitor patients remotely with high-fidelity body sounds. Based in Baltimore, Sonavi Labs’ Feelix System couples acoustic technology with clinically validated diagnostic software to detect and manage respiratory diseases through bodily sounds in order to potentially identify abnormalities in seconds.
Sonavi Labs’ co-founder and CEO, Ellington West, told BioBuzz that Medtech Innovator understands the needs of device companies and opens new doors and markets for companies like Sonavi Labs. Some of those newly-opened doors are to financiers who specialize in MedTech devices. West noted that history shows a significant portion of funding within the device space goes to Medtech Innovator companies.
“We have a game-changing technology that anyone with slight training can do. We have a strong market strategy and Medtech Innovator will help us position ourselves for broader access,” West said.
Based in Columbia, Maryland, Xcision Medical Systems, a technology transfer from the University of Maryland, develops advanced stereotactic radiotherapy solutions that have the potential to improve the quality of care for breast cancer patients. The company’s technology is designed to extend the benefits of radiation oncology to more patients and enable precision noninvasive treatments that allow patients to return to living fuller lives more quickly with less discomfort following a cancer diagnosis.
Michelle Crawley, president of Xcision, said the company’s device is changing the way breast cancer patients are treated. Typical standard of care calls for daily radiation treatments for several weeks following a lumpectomy. Xcision’s platform condenses that timeframe into less than two hours with its precision platform. In the future, Crawley said she is confident the company’s Gamma Pod device will become a first-line option, eliminating the need for a lumpectomy.
Inclusion in the accelerator program has been an “amazing” experience, Crawley said. She noted that participation in the program provides the company and its technology with a significant amount of exposure to industry experts and potential financial partners. The latter part is critical as Xcision is planning to initiate a Series B financing round by the end of the year.
According to the data from the Maryland Department of Commerce, there are more than 300 medical device and digital health companies in Maryland. Those companies support more than 5,683 jobs in the state. With fostering support from the Department of Commerce, Office of Life Sciences, Baltimore has become home to a thriving medtech community, due in no small part to the city’s top-ranked medical research institutions, Johns Hopkins Medicine and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The universities are home to leading researchers who are at the forefront of medical innovation. The city is also home to multiple medical device-focused accelerators, such as MDC Startup Studio and The LaunchPort. These sites, among others like UMB BioPark and the Rita Rossi Colwell Center, incubate a number of medtech startups, such as Astek Diagnostics, which developed Jiddu, a benchtop analyzer that can identify the presence of a bacterial infection in urine and then perform antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) of the bacterium within one hour.
As Maryland’s medtech ecosystem continues to grow, more companies will likely benefit from accelerator programs like Medtech Innovation.
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Passion. It’s what makes Cat tick. Born and raised in Baltimore, Cat is a former Division-I lacrosse athlete (Hofstra ’09), entrepreneur, and mom of three (crazy) boys. Over the last 12 years, she’s built and led countless teams (on the field, in the gym, and in the office), scaled programs and brands (in both scope and geography), and driven growth and impact in nearly everything she touches. She loves being part of something bigger than herself and has found a new home within the life sciences as BioBuzz’s Head of Marketing.
