Last Wednesday, we held our very first in-person IMPACT Showcase Day and Accelerator Pitch-Off for the Cycle 3 Cohort. After the IMPACT Showcase, where the startups had sat with strategists and leading experts in women’s health, medtech, and local hospitals, they pitched their technology to a packed room of attendees. The startups in Cohort 3 met with interested investors and innovators, and received awards from SIX prize sponsors, including a whopping $25K in in-kind resources from the Cycle 3 Sponsor Hologic.

The 2022 CAPCaT Big Company/Little Company Showcase speaker lineup will feature authorities on topics that are top-of-mind among current and future medtech innovators: the forward-looking state of the market and the challenge of health equity.

For the third year, M2D2 and the Center for Advancing Point of Care Technologies (CAPCaT) in Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Disorders will present their Big Company/Little Company Showcase.

Happening virtually on Thursday, June 16 from 9am to 1:30 ET, the Showcase is a high-value informational and networking event for life sciences startups seeking to initiate conversations about strategic partnerships with suitable corporate entities.

This past April, the 10 medical device startups in Cohort 2 of the IMPACT Accelerator Program virtually pitched their solutions to a panel of industry leaders. Our Cycle 2 cohort spent 10 weeks working with experts at BARDA and M2D2 partners to improve their pitch and advance their innovation.

The first in-person $200K Challenge season in almost three years was an overwhelming success, and a joy to experience with all of you. We were joined by a number of leaders in life sciences, entrepreneurs, and medical device innovators in both Lowell and Boston to learn more about this year’s Finalists.

15 Finalists pitched their innovations on March 22^nd at the UMass Lowell iHub during the $200K Challenge Pitch-Off event. On April 6^th, we came back together in Boston to find out who would win a share of the $200,000 in sponsor-provided, in-kind support. Even more exciting? Who would win the Grand Prizes – $50,000 in non-dilutive funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and $25,000 in cash funding from M2D2.

15 finalists have been selected from more than 150 applicants for the 11th Annual M2D2 $200K Challenge.

LOWELL, Massachusetts – On Thursday, March 10th, the University of Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) announced the finalists in its 11th annual $200K Challenge after reviewing the 150+ applications.

Cycle 2 of the IMPACT Accelerator program is well underway as the ten selected startups work with representatives from the current Cycle sponsor, BARDA, to prepare for the pitch-off event on April 21^st.

For Cycle 2, our sponsors’ Areas of Interest focused on developing digital health solutions to improve at-home care, early-disease detection devices, and host-based therapeutics. In January, we worked with BARDA to choose 10 highly innovative, early-stage medtech startups to join Cohort 2.

In December of last year, the 10 medical device startups selected for the first IMPACT Accelerator program pitched their solutions to a panel of industry experts. Our Cycle 1 cohort spent 12 weeks working with life sciences experts, local mentors, and M2D2 resources to improve their pitch and advance their innovation.

Over the last two years, we have been unable to come together to celebrate the $200K Challenge, and the startups involved in it. Luckily, we were still able to work virtually with innovative entrepreneurs around the country to help advance their innovations.

We are beyond thrilled to announce that this year, the $200K Challenge Pitch-Off will take place in-person, at M2D2. As our first major hybrid event in two years, we are excited – and cautious. We will have precautions in place and will continue to monitor the current situation to ensure everyone’s safety – stay updated by checking our Challenge website and subscribing to the M2D2 email.

On December 9^th, members of the 1^st IMPACT Cohort joined the M2D2 team for a night of networking with key leaders in the Massachusetts healthcare innovation ecosystem. During this in-person event, IMPACT startups shared lightning pitches of their innovations and met with partners and sponsors of M2D2.