The Texas Medical Center is continuing its international outreach with a new accelerator program aimed at bringing selected startups from Denmark to the United States — and Houston specifically — to help them go to market.
TMC Innovation, or TMCi, partnered with Denmark’s BioInnovation Institute to select the three startups for the new accelerator, which is modeled after TMCi’s existing Health Tech accelerator. The partnership between TMC and Denmark’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which dates back to 2019, is known as a BioBridge. The medical center has created similar BioBridges with hubs around the world, according to Emily Reiser, associate director at TMCi.
“As a result [of these partnerships], we have been able to meet other regional and national organizations that share our interest in fostering entrepreneurial thinkers and innovators who are creating game-changing new therapies, digital health technologies and medical devices and introduce them to Houston’s thriving ecosystem of leaders in the health care space,” Reiser said in a statement to the Houston Business Journal.
The program is designed for companies to learn, expand and commercialize in the U.S. market, and founders will learn how to handle entering global markets. Common challenges include learning how American regulations and clinical settings differ and tailoring a company’s product to match, Reiser said.
Three companies were named to the accelerator, with specializations in surgical care, artificial intelligence and at-home disease management:
- Aiomic is developing an AI platform, Aiomic360, to combat postoperative complications.
- Orbit Health has developed an AI-enabled solution, Neptune, that uses simple motion data from smartwatches to track Parkinson's disease motor state and treatment response passively.
- HEI Therapeutics is developing an at-home disease-management solution for patients with hypothyroidism.
The companies will come to Houston on May 11 for the six-month program.
Other BioBridge hubs partnered with TMCi include one signed with the United Kingdom’s Department of International Trade in 2018. That initiative was designed to provide a two-way link for research collaboration on a variety of medical issues, including genomics and cancer treatments as well as education on legal and regulatory hurdles in the two markets.
In January, TMCi named nearly 30 participants for two other accelerator programs. Eight startups joined the latest cohort of the Health Tech Accelerator, while 21 researchers and companies were selected for the Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics.
In March 2022, the TMC board of directors approved a $50 million capital injection to TMC Venture Fund over the next 10 years. The additional funding will support additional early-stage investment as well as invest in areas that require more lead time, such as cancer therapeutics. TMC Venture Fund’s recent investments include a $17 million Series B raise for Houston-based health tech company Medical Informatics Corp. in November 2022.
Elsewhere, the Texas Medical Center’s recent investments in health tech innovation include the work on its newest campus, known as Helix Park, which is expected to see its first phase open in late 2023. TMC announced in January that Baylor College of Medicine will be an anchor tenant for an industry building on the campus.
