Startups to Watch

New Mexico has a diverse selection of startups making exciting moves in industries like biotechnology, aerospace and hydrogen energy.

And there are a lot of resources available to help these burgeoning young companies throughout the Land of Enchantment grow, whether they come from the south desert near Las Cruces or are tucked under the Jemez Mountains in Los Alamos.

Last year, New Mexico Inno highlighted 10 such companies in its inaugural Startups to Watch List. Now, that List is back, packed with 10 more startups that we think are primed for a big 2023.

Startups to Watch honorees were selected by the Albuquerque Business First editorial team. New Mexico Inno Reporter Jacob Maranda led the search. When considering each honoree, he looked at how the startups performed in 2022, as well as what they have planned in 2023.

All of the startups are featured in a special print edition of Business First published on Feb. 3. In the coming days online, you'll also have a chance to read about each business and learn about the work they are doing to grow their startups in New Mexico and beyond.

Leisha Armijo-Martin has worked all over the world, from Texas to Alaska to parts of Africa. It was on that continent that she found a passion for antibiotic resistance work.

That interest led Armijo-Martin to develop broad-spectrum antimicrobial nanoparticles while working on lung infections. But another conversation about dental bacteria got her thinking in a new direction.

"There are a lot of areas where the bristles of your toothbrush can't reach, like between the teeth or below the gum line," Armijo-Martin said. "People with braces have a lot of trouble cleaning in those crevices because of the complex architecture of orthodontic brackets and wires."

So to help people remove harmful bacteria from their mouths, especially in those hard-to-reach places, Armijo-Martin came up with an idea: Use magnetic nanoparticles to move toothpaste into areas where a toothbrush's bristles can't reach.

That idea is backed by sustainable nanotechnology materials that Armijo-Martin and her team are engineering. That team is comprised of researchers from the University of New Mexico's Center for High Technology Materials, Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi and the University of Bristol Dental School in England.

MNT SmartSolutions, which Armijo-Martin helped form in 2019, is currently working on pre-clinical studies in animals, which is "the first step that's required by the Food and Drug Administration to get approval for a new drug or medical device," Armijo-Martin said.

The startup, backed by the New Mexico Start-Up Factory, has received just over $250,000 through a phase one National Science Foundation grant and $20,000 through the NSF's I-Corps Program. Martin plans to apply for the second phase of the NSF grant this year, which would give her startup $1 million over two years to fund more clinical trials.

Much of the startup's progression depends on FDA approval, Armijo-Martin said, adding that "our time to market is probably between two to seven years."

"I'm really excited to see what the FDA is going to say about us being able to move on to clinical trials in humans," Armijo-Martin said. "That's when we're really going to be able to troubleshoot and optimize …"