Two Current ZeroTo510 Medical Device Accelerator Participants Selected for Prestigious International Innovation and Entrepreneurial Programs
MEMPHIS, Tennessee, July 20, 2015 – Two of the four companies in the current ZeroTo510 Medical Device Accelerator cohort are being recognized this month at major international innovation and entrepreneurial programs.
GlucosAlarm, an international company from Chihuahua, Mexico, which has created a technology to measure glucose in diabetic patients’ urine and simplifies the testing procedure, has been selected as one of the 30 (15 Idea Stage and 15 Start-up Stage) U.S. Department of State’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) Tech-I finalists to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. Co-founder of GlucosAlarm Carlos Bernal will travel to Nairobi, Kenya, on July 20. The competition is on July 24, and a closing ceremony on July 26 will be attended by President Obama.
Inspire Living, from Fairfax Station, Va., a start-up company offering a portable health monitor that enables anyone, anywhere, to conduct an automated respiratory and rapid vitals exam on a child, has been nominated by independent experts as a leading innovation in the maternal, child, and newborn health category as part of Reimagining Global Health, the inaugural report of the Innovation Countdown 2030 initiative. Reimagining Global Health was officially launched at the third UN Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last week.
“Each year, ZeroTo510 seeks to attract the highest quality medical device entrepreneurs to our program in Memphis to help them take the next critical steps toward commercialization,” said Allan Daisley, co-founder of ZeroTo510 and director of entrepreneurship and sustainability for Memphis Bioworks. “The selection of two of our 2015 companies for such prestigious and highly competitive international programs is an honor for us, a reflection on the status that our program has received, and a great benefit to the reputation of Memphis as a world-leading medical device center. Congratulations to both companies for these honors.”
The U.S. Department of State’s GIST initiative, for which GlucosAlarm has been selected, empowers young innovators through networking, skills building, mentoring, and access to financing to develop start-up solutions that address economic and development challenges.
Since 2011, GIST has engaged with science and technology innovators and entrepreneurs in 86 emerging economies around the world, providing training and resources to help them build successful star-tups. This is done through competitions, start-up boot camps, and interactive online programs, implemented by UT Austin’s IC2 Institute and AAAS. More information about the competition, visit: http://www.gistnetwork.org/resources/2015-tech-i-finalists-announced-1. For more information about GIST, visit: http://www.gistnetwork.org/about.
The Innovation Countdown 2030 (IC2030) initiative, for which Inspire Living has been selected, is reimagining what’s possible in global health by identifying, assessing, and showcasing high-impact innovations that could help accelerate progress toward the new global health goals (the 2030 health targets included in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals). Reimagining Global Health, the IC2030 initiative’s inaugural report, features 30 innovations selected by independent global experts for lifesaving potential as well as commentaries by health, technology, and business leaders on the essential role of innovation in driving health impact. The initiative is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the US Agency for International Development. To learn more about the IC2030 initiative, visit: www.ic2030.org
ZeroTo510 is a 12-week, mentor-driven program created to help medical device entrepreneurs navigate the start-up process, refine their business models and achieve the Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) pre-market notification filing. The four selected companies for 2015 have received $50,000 in initial seed capital from co-investors Innova, a pre-seed, seed and early-stage investor focused on starting and funding high-growth companies in the healthcare, technology and healthcare technology fields across the state of Tennessee, and MB Venture Partners, a Memphis-based venture capital firm that provides equity capital and strategic direction to life sciences start-ups.
At the end of the 12-week program, the participants will pitch to a group of investors at Memphis Demo Day, on August 13, 2015. The investors will select finalists, who will receive as much as $100,000 in additional capital infusion and the opportunity to further develop their businesses. Now in its fourth year, the program has accelerated the creation of 20 new companies, nearly 40 jobs, and $7.5 million in investments.
ZeroTo510 is operated by Memphis Bioworks Foundation and is an initiative of the Greater Memphis Regional Accelerator, a program funded by Launch Tennessee and the State of Tennessee.
This project is funded under an agreement with Launch Tennessee and/or the State of Tennessee.
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About Memphis Bioworks Foundation
Memphis Bioworks is the Mid-South’s go-to organization for creating companies, jobs and investments in bioscience and sustainability. A visionary community leader, Memphis Bioworks has a well-established record of sparking new levels of economic vitality by investing in entrepreneurs, building state-of-the-art labs and facilities, and training the next generation of workers. For more information, visit www.memphisbioworks.org, Facebook at www.facebook.com/MemphisBioworks or follow @MemphisBioworks on Twitter.