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MedTech Color’s 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition took place on March 15, 2024, at Covel Commons on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, California. The highly anticipated event focused on identifying and supporting the next generation of founders aiming to diversify and bring innovation to the medical technology field, with a particular focus on African-American and Hispanic entrepreneurs.
The competition featured a new addition in 2024: a pediatric track. The Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation partnered with MedTech Color for the “Make Your Medical Device Pitch For Kids!” ™ competition. This track offered up to $50,000 in additional funding for startups developing medical devices specifically for children.
Here are the 2024 winners and prizes:
MTC’s Pitch Competition Top Winners
1st Place $75,000
Angel Enriquez / Emboa Medical Inc
A patent-pending device to increase efficiency when removing blood clots that cause stroke by adding an additional force to extract emboli.
2nd Place $50,000
Jennifer Jaki Johnson / WellMiss
A digital care clinic providing holistic, integrative trauma care for women by offering access to multidisciplinary healthcare providers focused on how trauma affects the whole person.
3rd Place $25,000
Dara Cook / Expect Fitness, Inc.
Expect Fitness aims to fight maternal mortality and complications with OB-GYN-approved pre and postnatal fitness streaming services that could save lives and slash healthcare costs.
Community Impact $5,000
Giuliana Zaccardelli and Blair Matthews / Zuri Fertility, Inc.
A mobile app aiming to modernize fertility care by incorporating Telehealth, testing, and support services offering access to patients who are struggling to conceive.
Pediatric Track Top Winners
1st Place $35,000
Dr. Sanna Gaspard / Rubitection
Offers caregivers access to a low-cost skin assessment management tool for chronic wounds.
2nd Place $15,000
Valencia Koomson / Kofimi Technology, Inc.
A patent-pending pulse oximeter device designed specifically for pediatric populations aiming to provide superior accuracy for all levels of skin pigmentation.
Special Prizes
This year’s top finalists received additional in-kind and cash prizes and these included:
Marketing & PR support: Consulting sessions, media exposure, and branding assistance.
Business development: Access to industry experts, networking opportunities, and resources for fundraising and growth.
Legal services: Packages tailored to the needs of early-stage medical technology companies.
Research & Development: A voucher for using advanced technology facilities.
These special prizes were provided by some of MedTech Color’s sponsors and industry partners to help the founders grow their businesses. Partners included Brand LA, MedTech Color’s official Marketing, Branding, and PR agency, Life Science Intelligence, MATTER, McDermott Will & Emery, MedTech Innovator, MedtechWOMEN. The Magnify Incubator at UCLA CNSI, Match Health Collective, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and California Life Sciences (CLS).
The Device Talks Podcast, one of the event’s partners, will feature the Top 13 Finalists in an episode of the Device Talks Weekly Pitchcast and a media interview with Katrina H. Holland, MedTech Color’s Executive Director, who offered remarks about MedTech Color’s 4th Annual Pitch Competition at UCLA.
“On behalf of MedTech Color, I'd like to congratulate this year's finalists, and especially, the top winners of the MTC and Pediatric Track Pitch Competitions. This event highlights the innovation potential and business acumen of African-American and Hispanic entrepreneurs in Medtech. Our goal is to strengthen our Pitch365 program and our platform and serve even more minority founders, as our organization grows with the support of our sponsors and industry partners."
MedTech Color’s leadership and team are deeply grateful for the incredible support the nonprofit received from this year’s event’s sponsors, partners, and volunteers, which was instrumental in making the 2024 Pitch Competition a resounding success. Thanks to their generosity, MedTech Color was able to advance more opportunities to African-American and Hispanic founders. MTC also extends its gratitude to this year’s judging panels. Above all, to all the applicants nationwide, and especially, to the top finalists, whose innovations are already remarkable achievements; a testament that MedTech Color’s mission, to increase diversity in Medtech, continues to gain ground and make a positive impact.
About MedTech Color:
MedTech Color is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization aiming to advance the representation of persons of color in the medical device industry; a destination and resource for professional development, thought leadership, and strategies to increase the number of underrepresented executives who enter, stay, and contribute to the industry. For more information, please visit: https://medtechcolor.org