Startup CEO and Founder | Regulatory, Compliance, and Quality | Associate Professor-Lecturer | TEDx Speaker | Former United Nations Delegate for WILPF-US
I’m incredibly humbled and excited to share that I’ve been featured in an article about my journey founding Zebra MedNex, a company on a mission to innovate in #medtech and solve the puzzle of disease.
Like many #startup CEOs/Founders, my path to building a business didn’t follow a traditional route. It all began with my personal patient experience being a brain tumor warrior. Navigating this experience opened my eyes to a gap in the market.
What started as a small idea has now grown into Zebra MedNex, and every day I’m driven by the vision of helping others who may be facing similar challenges as well as utilizing medtech to create solutions to those challenges. Our mission is to help improve health outcomes and provide innovative solutions to everyday health problems (with the hopes of solving the very big puzzle of disease). I truly believe that sharing our own stories—especially the tough parts—can create meaningful change.
Being featured in this article was a great reminder that the struggles we face can lead to something meaningful. I hope my life and story can inspire others. I’m incredibly grateful for the recognition, and even more grateful for the incredible team of people who pushed me to develop this idea, mentors, and supporters who’ve been part of this journey.
Lastly, but definitely not least, I’m deeply grateful to my alma mater, Northeastern University (NEU), and the Women Who Empower Innovator competition, as well as to Betsy L., Executive Director of the NEU Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. Ms. Ludwig is doing incredible work at NEU to advance women in innovation. Although I didn’t win, being a semifinalist among such inspiring women innovators was a powerful experience that only fueled my motivation further. I’m truly thankful for the opportunity—it was life-changing.
If you're interested in learning more about how Zebra MedNex came to life, and what we’re working on, check out the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gahD6wYH
To anyone out there facing a challenge—whether in health, business, or life—remember: your story matters. Keep going, keep evolving, and never underestimate the power of turning adversity into opportunity.
#HealthJourney#StartupStory#Wellness#Innovation#HealthTech#Resilience#Growth#Leadership#Inspiration#KeepPushing#Gratitude 🙏
Last week our team hosted industry professionals and thought leaders from MedTech businesses, start-ups, and the public sector at The National Robotarium.
Our Managing Director of Health EMEA, Jürgen Pronebner, opened the discussion with an overview of the journey from concept and product development to adoption and growth.
The conversation shed light on several key insights:
- Scaling Medtech startups remains challenging, requiring specialised teams for growth, cultural adaptability, and readiness for tough investor scrutiny.
- Startups must focus on compliance, regulatory readiness, and tailored solutions, supported by audit tools to ensure scalability and attract funding.
- There is a persistent need to address systemic inefficiencies and focus on solutions that meet real, practical requirements, even if they are not the latest technological innovations.
This lively discussion was followed by a tour of the Robotarium’s facilities and testing spaces, led by Steve Maclaren (COO) and Stewart Miller (CEO).
Thank you again to all those who attended, and we look forward to bringing together industry experts in the healthcare and MedTech space again in the future.
"Let’s come together to foster an urban Innovation District designed for inclusive economic growth that will benefit our community for generations to come." -RBP
Couldn't have said it better.
A little inside baseball on this;
Innovation Showcase will feature ecosystem superstars like The University of Texas at San Antonio alum Ryan Saavedra, founder of Alt-Bionics, Inc. who is currently producing robotic hand prototypes for some of the biggest names in general robotics, as well as:
VelocityTX and Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. accelerator finalist: BobiHealth and founder Dave Esra who's mission is to enhance pregnancy safety motivated by a very personal, near fatal experience.
DocBox, Inc. and founder Tracy Rausch. DocBox empowers critical care clinicians with seamless, data-driven insights by automating data collection across devices and systems, streamlining patient care in high-stakes environments.
Soul Mobility and co-founders Todd Hargroder and Troy Tesmer. Todd & Troy are dedicated to empowering individuals with physical challenges through Todd's user-inspired mobility solutions. As a BexarBio Pitch finalist, their flagship product, the Power-Flex, was a crowd favorite at the AIM Health R&D Summit earlier this year. [BONUS NOTE: the 2025 AIM Health R&D Summit has been confirmed, more to come on this in future updates]
Speaking of BexarBio Pitch finalists and the AIM Health R&D Summit, VitaBone Medical, Inc. and founder Vaida Glatt will also be presenting how her tech is regenerating bone, you read that right, she tells the story so much better, trust me, ask her.
VivaForma Innovations and founder Alexis Rodriguez. The company's mission is to advance medical training and research by developing ultra-realistic, synthetic anatomical models that accurately replicate human anatomy.
Last, but not least, the US Army Institute of Surgical Research will be demo'ing some interesting AR/VR tech focused on optimizing combat casualty care.
The above is a shortlist of talent and investments being made in the future of San Antonio and its commitment to healthcare, life sciences and the military medical mission.
Let your curiosity drive you, innovation happens at the intersection!
-M
Visionary Entrepreneur | Accomplished Attorney | Scaling Mentor
As Seen in Fortune & Forbes | C-Suite Executive and Strategic Innovator.
🌟 Exciting News from Alamo Angels & VelocityTX! 🌟
As the Chairman of the Board for Alamo Angels, I am thrilled to invite you to the Innovation Showcase at VelocityTX. This annual open house and startup exposition is a cornerstone event where we celebrate the strides we're making in San Antonio’s bioscience and military medical sectors.
📅 Event Highlights:
Networking: Join us for a happy hour-style gathering on the stunning grounds of the VelocityTX campus.
Let’s come together to foster an urban Innovation District designed for inclusive economic growth that will benefit our community for generations to come. Looking forward to celebrating with each of you and advancing our city's position as a leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.
https://lnkd.in/g46MUCR9Juan Sebastian GarzonFrancisco GarcíaMarcos ResendezDavid KestenbaumDavid FonsecaAmit Mehta, MDRene DominguezRick HernandezMariano González Vasconcelos
Cala Health isn’t just a company; it’s a masterclass in assembling a brain trust. At the helm is CEO Deanna Harshbarger, who stepped in to supercharge Cala’s commercial strategy just as the company gained a major #Medicare coverage win for its flagship TAPS™ Therapy. With a career forged in med-tech leadership, Harshbarger isn’t coasting on the latest funding—she’s orchestrating Cala’s next big leap, positioning the company as not just a disruptor but a standard-bearer in the $8B wearable medical device market.
Then there’s Kate Rosenbluth, the Stanford Biodesign Fellow who founded Cala in 2014. She didn’t just spot a gap in treatment for essential tremor—she envisioned a completely new paradigm: non-invasive, bioelectronic therapy that connects clinical rigor with everyday usability. The Cala kIQ system is as much her brainchild as it is a testament to what happens when engineering meets empathy. Rosenbluth’s work isn’t just innovation; it’s a blueprint for how patient-first design should look.
The investors, too, aren’t just writing checks—they’re throwing their weight behind Cala’s vision. Vertex Growth and Nexus NeuroTech Ventures led this round, but returning heavyweights like Johnson & Johnson, Lux Capital, and GV (Google Ventures) have made it clear this is long-term conviction, not a one-off bet. Names like Action Potential Venture Capital, Triventures, and Ascension Ventures underscore how deeply rooted Cala’s backers are in health-tech innovation. These aren’t firms chasing hype; they’re doubling down on the kind of scalable, clinically validated solutions that could reshape modern medicine.
This is a company powered by its people. From the boardroom to the lab, Cala Health has assembled a team of experts who move with purpose, precision, and an unwavering focus on the bigger picture: making bioelectronic medicine the new standard of care. Each executive, each investor, and each team member contributes to a culture that thrives on momentum—and $50M is fuel for what’s next.
#Startups#StartupFunding#MedTech#HealthTech#Wearables#Technology#Innovation#HealthCare#MedicalDevice#TechEcosystem#VentureCapital#StartupEcosystem#PatientCare#PatientFirst
🔔 In today's HealthTech of the Week series, I'm presenting something special. Instead of showing you another exciting startup, I will share an insightful interview with Olivia BLANCHARD, Managing Director at Health Venture Lab (HVL), an international accelerator supported by GE HealthCare. 🔥🔥
🔍 Discover how HVL is empowering startups to redefine healthcare through innovation and technology.
Highlights from our conversation include:
🔹HVL’s role in accelerating medical innovations without equity participation.
🔹Benefits for startups include access to a robust international network and strategic development opportunities.
💡 Dive into the full interview to see how HVL is shaping the future of healthcare! The article is available in two language versions.
👉 EN: https://lnkd.in/dvvThsBA
👉 PL: https://lnkd.in/dfGTfyuFOlivia BLANCHARD, Thank you very much for sharing your amazing experience with us! 💙
PS. If you are interested in the HealthTech of the Week series, you can find more interesting materials on my blog!
#HealthTech#Innovation#HealthVentureLab#HealthTechOfTheWeek#MedTech#HVL
🚶Another walk and talk! This time in San Jose with my new friend Naomi McGregor.
🍀Naomi is visiting the Bay Area from Belfast, Ireland.
🧠 Whenever I look at companies to invest in I always say it starts with the founder and THEN their product. When it comes to Naomi, she's a tech trailblazer for sure. She founded and leads Movetru®, a multi-award-winning startup. She's a highly accomplished engineer, and a fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and The ERA Foundation! If that's not enough, she's part of STEM Ambassadors and a TEDX speaker. As a founder, Naomi's curiosity, determination, vision, and her healthy dose of grit will take her far.
💃 Her company, Movetru, was inspired by a personal story - multiple misdiagnoses of an orthopedic condition which changed her trajectory (from ballet dancing to engineering). I like when founders have a personal connection to their mission.
🤺 Movetru is revolutionizing athletic performance with its cutting-edge wearable technology. The company offers wireless customizable performance monitoring and tracking for athletes, delivering real-time data and insights to optimize training and enhance physical condition. Movetru's innovative tools help both individual athletes and teams to track key metrics, analyze performance trends, and receive immediate feedback, ensuring peak performance while mitigating risk of injury. This technology empowers users to push their limits and achieve new heights in their sports.
#venturecapital#innovation#future#technology#creativityPortola Valley Partners | Irish Tech News | The Irish Times | Business Post | Charlie Taylor | Aidan Finn | Suzanne Mills | Catherine Gray
What an incredible first day at health.tech conference in Munich!
Whether you're a startup founder, health tech expert, or investor, you probably wished you could clone yourself to attend all the fascinating events.
Our Head of Incubation, Kseniia Choni, led an insightful panel discussion on Navigating market entry: Strategies for patient-centric medical device startups with Laura Anhorn, Dr. Ron Lehnert, Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades, MD, and Carsten Laue.
Alongside her, one of our coaches Farina Schurzfeld engaged with four successful founders and a go-to-market expert. From conquering the NHS to becoming a DiGa leader and scaling beyond 1,000+ hospitals, they shared their journeys through the complex healthcare market. Key takeaways included finding a product-market fit that transcends borders and pursuing business models that serve patients cost-free. The panelists didn't just highlight their success strategies but also the pitfalls they encountered along the way. Thank you for the great discussion Lucy Jones, Philip Heimann, Dr. Friderike Bruchmann and Maximilian Greschke.
Startups, like coobi had the opportunity to speed date with investors and continue their conversations over coffee.
A special shoutout to the conference organizers for their sustainability efforts, providing water bottles and reusable cups for the excellent coffee.
The learning of the day shared by Dr. Laura Seifert from HV Capital who discussed the pros and cons of DiGA from an investor's perspective:
💬 The Importance of Speed to Market: Is DiGA slowing things down, or not?
💬 Breaking into the "Iron Triangle": How to navigate the crucial relationships between health insurers, doctors, and patients.
💬 Market Reach: Startups have to have strategies to capture 5-10% of the market share and understanding the market size.
Can't wait for day two! If you're attending, make sure to ping us and meet our team. Let's connect!
#healthtech#startups#investors#marketentry#patient#sustainability#innovation#networking#HT24#partnership#busineesdevelopment#collaboration#fundraising#meetup
🎉 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬! 🎉
We’re proud to share that EarlySight has been ranked among the 𝐓𝐨𝐩 100 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭-𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 2024 #Top100SSU , placing 6𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐲 and 48𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥! 🎉
🔍 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫?
Our mission is clear: 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 through unparalleled imaging technology. In April 2023, we launched production of our flagship product, 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲, which sold out in its first run! 🚀 This advanced retinal camera offers 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 compared to current standards, and we are the only company with patented 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐀𝐎-𝐓𝐅𝐈) technology, allowing unprecedented observation of RPE cells.
💡 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬:
👉 A dedicated 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 that delivers, overcoming the challenges of a start-up.
👉 Over 600 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 have been examined using our technology, yielding invaluable insights into retinal pathologies.
👉 Exciting new collaborations with pharma companies who see cellular-resolution imaging as essential for developing 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.
Thank you to our amazing team, partners and customers for believing in our vision and helping us reach new heights. We’re excited for what’s next!
The 𝐓𝐨𝐩 100 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭-𝐮𝐩 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 is a benchmark event, highlighting Switzerland’s most promising and innovative ventures. Over the past decade, 553 deep-tech start-ups have featured in the ranking, creating nearly 19,000 jobs and raising over CHF 13.6 billion. We’re honoured to be part of this incredible community, recognized by a jury of investors, successful entrepreneurs, and key ecosystem stakeholders.
#Innovation#StartupJourney#Top100SwissStartups#MedTech#Innovation#EyeHealth#RetinalImaging#EarlySight#CellularResolution
Founder - Steps AI | Entrepreneur | Driving innovation with Artificial Intelligence
3wLooks like an amazing event. Great to see Dr. Shiraz Suleman speaking!