It’s been less than a year since the last cohort of Founders launched businesses through the TMCi Biodesign program. In a short amount of time, these emerging entrepreneurs have already made an impact with their ventures and now serve as an inspiration for future participants.
TMCi is a life science platform with three distinct programs for entrepreneurs – Biodesign provides a three-step process where emerging founders who have previously served as clinicians, engineers, health administrators, technical specialists, and researchers gain access to health systems, academic resources, corporate partners, and advisors to help them form and launch a business.
During the process, Founders identify a clinical need, develop a novel solution, and ultimately implement that solution as a sustainable company in the healthcare marketplace.
“ Each of the four teams from the 2020-21 TMCi Biodesign cohort have received significant funding to continue to grow and develop their respective companies. They have all secured funding within months of completing the program – their success is an inspiration for future cohorts; stay tuned for additional updates because I guarantee there is more to come!”
Jason Sakamoto Ph.D., Head of TMCi Biodesign
XN Health is an example of a TMCi Biodesign Founder whose solution is meeting a clinical need. COVID-19 led to dramatic increases in intubated patients, which additionally highlighted the prevalence of ventilator-induced diaphragm dysfunction (VIDD). This issue causes the diaphragm to lose its muscle mass during intubation, but XN Health’s innovation induces contractions of the diaphragm to protect against the progression of VIDD. After growing XN Health during the TMCi Biodesign program, the new company has gone on to win over $250k in awards including being accepted into the HAX Accelerator program and being granted the Roderick D. MacDonald Research Fund from Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center.
“ XN Health’s time with Texas Medical Center Innovation primed our organization to grow – we sourced talent from their community, and now we’re advancing the engineering of our product, raising capital, and branching out to the east coast.”
Elizabeth (Ela) Jaworski Ph.D., CEO | XN Health
The TMCi Biodesign program is designed to facilitate multidisciplinary collaborations to create teams that can effectively achieve their entrepreneurial goals.
Tyler Melton MBA and Ishan Kamat MD, MBA of Caridian Medical are prime examples of this. This duo, an engineer and physician, collaborated to create a medical device company that is developing percutaneous solutions for congestive heart failure. During the Biodesign program, they completed a feasibility study with the Texas Heart Institute in Houston and are currently preparing to do further animal research.
“ There are a multitude of ideas and skillsets on the TMC Innovation team you can rely on to prepare companies for a seamless transition out of the Biodesign program. We’ve validated our concept, have tested device prototypes in animals, and are finishing our pre-seed round — all of this in less than 12 months.”
Tyler Melton, CEO | Caridian Medical
Applications are open until January 1st for talented individuals worldwide wide who can use this 10-month paid program as a springboard to entering the life science marketplace.
In 2020-2021 telehealth became a dramatically popular solution that created space for new innovations in a socially distanced setting. The team at Roxie Health is creating a virtual medical assistant that catches seniors before the fall and ultimately impacts the quality of care for seniors everywhere. Roxie Health has gained momentum by leveraging their TMCi Biodesign experience; within a few days of announcing their seed round, they raised $50,000 from an angel investor. In the months to come, Roxie Health has also been recognized as a finalist at HLTH AARP Startup Competition 2021.
“As the former CEO of a digital health startup, I was ecstatic at how simple and quickly we could conduct trials with large hospitals in Houston. As life science executives know, this is no easy task. The sales cycle is long and miserable in healthcare. TMCi Biodesign has figured out the equation for success.”
Nehal Swami, CoFounder & COO | Roxie Health
The relationship between innovation and timeliness makes all the difference for life science entrepreneurs like the founders of Neurastasis. They provide a technology that stimulates the body’s innate neuroprotective reflexes – placing neural tissue into stasis – preserving the brain and giving providers more time to act. Neurastasis co-founders, Kirt Gill, and Joe UpChurch have gained traction since completing the Biodesign program, their wins include joining a Medical Device Accelerator in Memphis.
“What surprised me is the kindness and value add from the people at the Texas Medical Center – the number of people who opened up and allowed us to learn was a very special experience. Now, we have completed feasibility research, we have an alpha prototype, and raising more capital next year.”
Kirt Gill, CEO & CoFounder | Neurastasis
There’s no time to waste if you’re interested in applying to be TMCi Biodesign Founder. Get to know more about the current cohort and submit your application by midnight CDT on January 1st, 2022.