MassRobotics yesterday announced the participants in the Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst Cohort II. The Boston-based consortium selected the seven startups with partners Festo, Mitsubishi Electric, Novanta, and MITRE. The six-month program is intended to provide healthcare robotics companies with the connections, guidance, and resources they need to grow and succeed.
“We are proud of the support that the MassRobotics community provides to the healthcare industry in forwarding robotics innovation and entrepreneurship,” stated Juan Necochea, manager of strategic partnerships at MassRobotics. “The program rests on the partner organizations and has enthusiastically piqued interest from members of our Healthcare Robotics and Biotech Working Group, including hospitals, physicians, pharmaceutical companies, universities, and other corporates.”
The Healthcare Robotics Catalyst Program began last year as an initiative to support healthcare initiatives during the pandemic. MassRobotics and FESTO assisted four startups. MassRobotics put out a call for the second cohort in August.
Seven startups to get mentoring
MassRobotics and its partners selected this year's companies from applicants from around the world. They submitted proposals around clinical care, public safety, laboratory and supply chain automation, out-of-hospital care, quality of life, continuity of work and education, and training and support for healthcare professionals.
The latest cohort incudes Acumino, Robot on Rails, ABLE Human Motion, Andromeda Robotics, Unlimited Robotics, Maestro Surgical Robotics, and Zeta Surgical. Each startup has been matched with an experienced executive mentor who will help it address core needs and accelerate its scaling process.
For more about each company, see the slideshow at right (below on mobile devices).
“We are thrilled to see such a diverse and talented cohort of startups tackling healthcare robotics challenges be part of this program,” said Nissia Sabri, vice president of engineering at Novanta. “They have a passion for improving people's lives and they are not shying away from 'tough tech.' The teams are global, with gender and racial representation. This is what we want to see more of in tech!”
“We are delighted to be able to mentor and assist the selected startups in accomplishing their milestones,” added Nuzha Yakoob, head of technology and innovation at FESTO. “We are grateful to Mitsubishi Electric, Novanta, and MITRE for joining the committee. It is thanks to you all that we are now able to expand our program to support twice as many startups in Cohort 2. We wish all the selected startups much success and look forward to contributing towards reaching their goals.”
“We are happy to receive worldwide startups’ applications and honored to mentor selected finalists to leverage the robot into healthcare and medical applications,” said William Nguyen, research and development manager at Mitsubishi Electric Automation.
“At ABLE, we are very happy to be part of this year's cohort and look forward to working hand in hand with our mentor Nuzha Yakoob, head of technology and innovation at FESTO, and other key players of the robotics space, to enhance the impact of our groundbreaking exoskeleton solution at a global scale,” said Alfons Carnicero Carmona, co-founder and CEO of ABLE Human Motion.
About the Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst partners
MassRobotics is a nonprofit whose stated goal is to create a strong, vibrant robotics and Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem in Massachusetts. The Boston-based organization provides ntrepreneurs and innovative robotics and automation startups with workspace and resources to develop, prototype, test and commercialize their products and solutions.
Festo is an independent, family-owned company with headquarters in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. The company supplies pneumatic and electrical automation technology to 300,000 customers of factory and process automation in over 35 industries, including the LifeTech sector and medical technology and laboratory automation. Its products and services are available in 176 countries.
With about 20,000 employees in over 250 branch offices in 61 countries worldwide, Festo achieved a turnover of around €2.84 billion ($2.9 billion U.S.) in 2020. Each year, around 8% of this turnover is invested in research and development, and 1.5% of turnover is invested in basic and further training. Festo Didactic SE is a leading provider of technical education and training.
Novanta is a leading global supplier of core technologies that give medical and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) a competitive advantage. It claimed that it combines proprietary technology expertise and competencies in photonics, vision, and precision motion with the ability to solve complex technical challenges.
Bedford, Mass.-based Novanta said it engineers components and sub-systems that deliver high precision and performance, tailored to its customers’ demanding applications.
Also in Bedford, MITRE said it works with federally funded R&D centers, across government, and in partnership with industry to tackle challenges to the safety, stability, and well-being of the U.S.
As one of many Mitsubishi Electric automation affiliates around the world, Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc., is part of a $40 billion global company serving a wide variety of industries with products including programmable logic controllers (PLCs), variable-frequency drives, operator interfaces, motion control systems, computer numerical controls (CNC), industrial robots, and servo amplifiers and motors.
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