Launched a decade ago, the ZeroTo510 Medical Device Accelerator has witnessed an evolution of devices presented by participating startups. The bulk of the 2022 cohort’s products, for example, contained software and AI components.
“I think that's showing the differences that we're starting to see in the medical device space,” said Danielle Gore, Epicenter’s senior manager of innovation programs. “We're starting to see AI- and software-driven devices.”
2022 edition of ZeroTo510
Recently, the startups creating these devices wrapped up their time as participants in the 2022 ZeroTo510 Medical Device Accelerator, Epicenter’s program that helps early-stage medical device startups refine their business model and navigate through the startup process.
This year’s program launched in the fall with an in-person week in Memphis, which was followed by two months of virtual sessions, and then a final week in person. It featured an expanded curriculum and workshops.
Participants received up to $50,000 in funding from Epicenter and its venture capital partner Innova Memphis, and got to attend the high-profile Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference (MNVC), which allowed them to see how many people come to the Bluff City because of its focus on the medical device space. A study released in September shows that the medical device industry has an annual economic impact in Shelby County of $4.06 billion.
The capping of the 2022 accelerator came on Dec. 8, when the participating startups pitched their products during a Demo Day event at the Central Station Hotel.
“I enjoyed the cohort,” Gore said. “They had really innovative concepts and really good market potential.”
But just who were the members of this group? And what were their “innovative concepts?”
This year’s cohort contained five startups, which are headquartered throughout the country, though one of them does call the Bluff City home. Here’s a breakdown of the participants:
- NeuroDyne — A Memphis-based startup with an ambulatory seizure monitoring system that can be worn outside of a hospital setting
- Madernity — A Boston-based, Harvard-affiliated startup building an AI-guided application to help pregnant women and new mothers suffering from pelvic floor disfunction
- Miist Therapeutics — A startup in the San Francisco area developing a therapy for smoking addictions, through a device that uses nicotine dosing and is similar to an inhaler
- Baritone — A Houston-based startup creating a wearable device that uses AI and sonar technology to help patients with sleep apnea
- EndoShunt — A Nashville-based startup that’s developing a tool to help trauma surgeons more effectively control hemorrhaging
A diverse group, and an ecosystem-wide push
Beyond having a wide array of products, this year’s cohort also contained the most diverse group of participants yet. According to Gore, at least three of the five startups had one Black founder, and one of the businesses was Latino-led.
“We were just really proud of those numbers, and really proud that we were able to see greater representation, especially amongst black founders, and Latinx founders, throughout this year's cohort,” Gore said.
The participation of these startups, however, doesn’t mean they’ll move to Memphis just because they participated in the local accelerator. Wider recruitment of these types of companies, Gore believes, requires more than the work of ZeroTo510.
It’s a significant piece of the puzzle — but it’s not the only piece.
“We'd like to do a lot more work of building out our ecosystem in a way that attracts them to want to move to Memphis, or at least do business in Memphis,” Gore said. “And that's bigger than ZeroTo510 and probably even Epicenter. That's more of an ecosystem-wide push."
