A Memphis seed bed for medical device entrepreneurs has launched its second round of startups.
Speaking at the ZeroTo510 “Demo Day” event on Thursday, entrepreneur and AutoZone founder Joseph R. “Pitt” Hyde IIIsaid a range of new firms have applied for the ZeroTo510 program after hearing about the funding received by entries last year.
“There are many opportunities for potential companies in Memphis in the medical device and biopharmaceutical sector and our goal is to help foster startups,” Hyde said, adding, “Last year we had a lot of early success and that led to an impressive quality and quantity of applicants for this year’s program.”
Memphis Bioworks Foundation, created in 2001 to help develop the region’s high-tech industry, operates the ZeroTo510 initiative. Its efforts have taken on new urgency since the 2008 national economic crash. The economy remains slow. The jobless rate in metropolitan Memphis edged up in June to 10 percent.
Fostering a wave of tech firms is considered a way to build on resources already in place including a medical device manufacturing industry and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the medical school located near Downtown.
In last year’s ZeroTo510 class, the six startups received $3.3 million in capital from investors. Four of the six received phase two investments of $100,000 each and one company, Restore Medical Solutions, went on to raise $2.5 million in funding. Another, EcoSurg, recently advanced to a third round of funding and moved its headquarters to a 10,000-square-foot facility in Memphis.
Applications for the 2013 ZeroTo510 cohort doubled after word spread about last year’s successful first season and inquiries arrived from around the world, said program director Allan Daisley. Illustrating the program’s growing appeal, more than 200 investors, entrepreneurs and supporters filled the Memphis Bioworks Foundation conference center during the startup presentations.
“Who knew that Tennessee was such a rocking place to be an entrepreneur?” Daisley joked. “Seriously, there’s a lot going on here. We’re proud in Memphis to say that we’re movers and shakers and leaders.”
The ZeroTo510 accelerator offers each startup $50,000 in seed capital and the chance for up to three of startups to each receive a second round of funding worth $100,000. Participants must agree to locate their companies in Memphis during the program and the goal is for each startup to remain in the area and spur economic development and job growth for the community and profits for the investors.
The 2013 startup products are AIS, a partially implantable heart defibrillator; Better Walk, crutches that include forearm support and a body contact pad; Cuff Mate, a disposable skin barrier for blood pressure cuffs; Health & Bliss, an inexpensive and portable test for strep throat; Mobilizer, a walker for critical care patients that can carry multiple medical devices; and View Medical, a lighting system for deep cavity surgical procedures.
Among those on hand Thursday to get a first look at the six Memphis-based medical device startups was Charlie Brock, CEO of Launch Tennessee.
“You’re doing entrepreneurship right in Memphis,” Brock said. “This program enhances what we’re doing across the state and exemplifies the incredible talent we have coming out of our accelerators. Now we need to do more to tell people about the great companies we’re growing in Tennessee.”
initiative. Its efforts have taken on new urgency since the 2008 national economic crash. The economy remains slow. The jobless rate in metropolitan Memphis edged up in June to 10 percent.
Fostering a wave of tech firms is considered a way to build on resources already in place including a medical device
In last year’s ZeroTo510 class, the six startups received $3.3 million in capital from investors. Four of the six received phase two investments of $100,000 each and one company, Restore Medical Solutions, went on to raise $2.5 million in funding. Another, EcoSurg, recently advanced to a third round of funding and moved its headquarters to a 10,000-square-foot facility in Memphis.
Applications for the 2013 ZeroTo510 cohort doubled after word spread about last year’s successful first season and inquiries arrived from around the world, said program director Allan Daisley. Illustrating the program’s growing appeal, more than 200 investors, entrepreneurs and supporters filled the Memphis Bioworks Foundation conference center during the startup presentations.
“Who knew that Tennessee was such a rocking place to be an entrepreneur?” Daisley joked. “Seriously, there’s a lot going on here. We’re proud in Memphis to say that we’re movers and shakers and leaders.”
The ZeroTo510 accelerator offers each startup $50,000 in seed capital and the chance for up to three of startups to each receive a second round of funding worth $100,000. Participants must agree to locate their companies in Memphis during the program and the goal is for each startup to remain in the area and spur economic development and job growth for the community and profits for the investors.
The 2013 startup products are AIS, a partially implantable heart defibrillator; Better Walk, crutches that include forearm support and a body contact pad; Cuff Mate, a disposable skin barrier for blood pressure cuffs; Health & Bliss, an inexpensive and portable test for strep throat; Mobilizer, a walker for critical care patients that can carry multiple medical devices; and View Medical, a lighting system for deep cavity surgical procedures.
Among those on hand Thursday to get a first look at the six Memphis-based medical device startups was Charlie Brock, CEO of Launch Tennessee.
“You’re doing entrepreneurship right in Memphis,” Brock said. “This program enhances what we’re doing across the state and exemplifies the incredible talent we have coming out of our accelerators. Now we need to do more to tell people about the great companies we’re growing in Tennessee.”
For more information, visit zeroto510.com.