Medtech Innovator and Biotools Innovator: accelerator for medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies

Lab to Startup

Paul Grand is the founder and CEO; Ayelet Marom is the Program Director for BioTools Innovator, which focuses specifically on biotools; and Jim West is the Associate Director, BioTools Innovator, who was previously the Co-Founder and CEO of, Clara Biotech, which was founded in 2018 and was acquired by Innovaprep in the summer of 2023. Jim was the first founder to go through the biotools program. In this episode of lab to startup, we first discuss some of the challenges that affect medtech and biotool technology startups, and then go into ways that medtech innovator, an accelerator program is helping founders in this space, especially around lessons learned and how the program has evolved into one of the best accelerators in this space.

• https://medtechinnovator.org/about-us/
• Founding story of Medtech Innovator
• Things medtech startups struggle with: Articulating value proposition; understanding reimbursement; having the wrong CEO; staying in stealth mode; choosing the wrong indication
• Medtech innovator “Value program”
• Value coaches from established companies like J&J
• How startups get accepted to the program
• No equity, no fees and no strings attached for being a part of the program
• Bringing the right investors to the table to support founders
• Biotools innovator program: https://biotoolsinnovator.org/
• Challenges in the biotools space
• How investors are different in this space
• Pay for Service as a model
• Story of Jim West, Founder and CEO of Clara biotech, that went through the program
• Advice on slide decks
• Info session videos: https://www.youtube.com/@Medtechinnovatorchannel