“It’s American Idol for medtech–no singing,” Paul Grand, managing director at RCT Ventures, said when describing the firm’s MedTech Idol competition. Early-stage medical device companies can apply to compete for direct feedback from venture capitalists, as well as a scholarship to the IN3 Medical Device 360 and a profile in Elsevier‘s magazine.
Oh, and though the judges are venture capitalists and R&D experts, the audience votes for the winner in real-time at the event.
The 2014 MedTech Idol is ramping up. Because of the inaugural event’s success, the competition is expanding to have qualifying rounds, more like the show, Grand said. The impetus was to give early-stage companies a chance for exposure and practice pitching in a novel, high-energy atmosphere. Plus, getting to conferences to network affords startups big opportunities, but they often don’t have the cash to cover the expensive registration fees. In a small, fun way, this event aims to solve both problems. Currently, there’s no funding attached to the prize.
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The deadline for applying to the qualifying rounds is Oct. 1, so if you think your startup has what it takes, now’s your shot.
This qualifying round will take place in October at IN3 in San Francisco, and the finals will be at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosari‘s 2014 Medical Device Conference.
In the 2013 competition, more than 60 biomed startups vied to be the top contender. With five minutes to pitch a panel of three VC judges and an R&D judge from Johnson & Johnson, there were more out-of-the-box strategies and much more showmanship. The winner was LIM Innovations, a family-run prosthetics socket startup that can fit a socket in one day (this process usually takes up to a month).
