Y Combinator is a startup accelerator that invests in a large number of startups twice a year. It created a new model for funding startups. Twice a year, the company invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups. The startup accelerator works intensively with the companies for three months, to get them into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each cycle culminates in Demo Day when the startups present their companies to a carefully selected, invite-only audience.

Y Combinator

SP Investment Fund LLC and its affiliated funds have invested in scores of technology and real estate companies

SP Investment Fund

HHV is a seed-stage healthcare investment fund focused on Health IT, and they power the NextHIT Accelerator Program. They nurture tech talent for healthcare. (Deadline to register is August 25th. The event starts on August 28th).

Houston Health Ventures

The Houston Angel Network (HAN) is the oldest angel network in Texas and most active angel network in the USA according to the Angel Resource Institute.  Its members have invested more than $61.7M in 198 deals since its inception in 2001.  In 2014, HAN members invested $15.3M in 66 deals.  The typical individual HAN member is an accredited investor seriously interested in providing capital and coaching to early stage companies. HAN also has institutional members such as seed funds, accelerators, universities and other networks within the innovation ecosystem.  HAN is a non-profit association that does not charge fees to entrepreneurs; its revenue consists of membership fees and sponsorships.

Houston Angel Network

Early stage, high potential, technology companies with novel products and/or services that have clear competitive advantages in large markets. We seek companies with strong management teams seeking $200K - $1M in convertible debt or equity financing and a pre-money valuation less than $10M. Ideal company will be within 12 months of breakeven or else next round of financing (Series A) identified and progress towards milestones demonstrated. Exit within 3-7 years.

VisionTech Partners

MedTech Innovator is the industry’s nonprofit global competition and accelerator for medical device, digital health and diagnostic companies. Our mission is to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of companies that are transforming the healthcare system. MedTech Innovator annually features 100 companies that address one or more of the transformative themes identified in an annual survey of leading manufacturers and providers.

MedTech Innovator

Texas HALO Fund is an investment company that specializes in investing in early-stage businesses with promising growth prospects and exceptional management teams. Its investment approach identifies compelling businesses from multiple sources and without regard to the industry or geographic location.  Quite simply, it seeks the best opportunities, locally, regionally, and nationally, in order to generate the highest returns for the investors with the lowest possible risk. The firm was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Texas HALO Fund

Rockies Venture Club (RVC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to economic development by funding entrepreneurial companies. RVC hosts the Angel Capital Summit and Colorado Capital Conferences as well as over sixty events each year. Rockies Venture Club is also an active Angel group, with over 30 investments in the last 2 years. Alongside Rockies Venture Club, is Rockies Venture Fund I, an Angel sidecar fund.

Rockies Venture Club

Tech Coast Angels is the largest angel investor group in the United States, possessing more than 300 members in five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Central Coast, and the Inland Empire. Its members provide funding and guidance to more early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California than any other investment group.  Members invest in companies in a wide range of industries, including the life sciences, biotech, IT, services, retail, Internet, financial, software, media, consumer products, and tech startups. TCA as a whole gives companies more than just capital; they also provide counsel, mentoring, and access to an extensive network of potential investors, customers, strategic partners, and management talent.   Tech Coast Angels has been ranked by CB Insights to be among the Top 20 Angel Groups in the US; TCA was also ranked as #1 for Network Centrality, meaning we have more connections than anyone! If you are in the game-changing business, we are here to help.

Tech Coast Angels

The Aggie angel network (AAN) is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing quality early-stage investment opportunities.

Aggie Angel Network

Founded in 2005, Bellingham Angel Investors is composed of a maximum number of 50 accredited investors who share a common interest in seeking investment opportunities in early or middle stage companies in the Pacific Northwest & British Columbia, giving preference to Whatcom, Skagit & Island counties. The Bellingham Angel Group prefers to fund early stage companies with strong management teams, intellectual property protected products or services with existing revenue producing customers and a clear exit strategy. Technology and health care opportunities are often popular with our members.

Bellingham Angel Investors

Berkeley Angel Network is a venture capital and private equity firm that specializes in the fields of finance and investment management. Its mission of the Berkeley Angel Network is to build an angel investor community among the alumni and faculty of UC Berkeley and to improve the collective skills and knowledge of this angel investor community through activities related to angel investing.

Berkeley Angel Network

MEDA Angels is a physician- and scientist-founded healthcare angel investor group comprised of accredited investors who are physicians, scientists, successful medical/tech entrepreneurs, and experts with a range of relevant backgrounds: IT, legal, regulatory/reimbursement, finance.

MEDA Angels

Kentucky Select Fund is a group of angel investors who provide funding and expertise to help entrepreneurs reach their goals. Kentucky Select Fund's preferences are IT (e.g., cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and business intelligence, SaaS, fintech, edtech, adtech, and enterprise software), healthcare, and digital media, but will consider other opportunities on a limited basis as well.

Kentucky Select Fund

Prosalus Capital Partners provides financial and management assistance to healthcare companies. It focuses on early-stage investments to help businesses grow and develop.

Prosalus Capital Partners

SeedFolio is a seed-stage venture capital firm investing in early-stage companies with a high potential of profitable impact in life sciences and resource efficiency.

SeedFolio

Arizona Tech Investors is an active community of accredited investors who invest in high-potential technology companies based in Arizona.  Members invest individually, collectively through single purpose LLCs, and via Sidecar Funds.  Candidates for funding apply to a competitive selection process in which the ATI Screening Committee selects 3 companies to present at each of the 5 Member Meetings held annually, in January, March, May, September, and October.

Arizona Tech Investors

Allotrope Medical

Allotrope Medical is a Houston-based medical device company. Allotrope Medical’s first device, the StimSite, is an intuitive hand-held device that assists surgeons in quickly and easily identifying ureters during a surgical procedure.

Allotrope Medical was a Houston-based medical device company that developed StimSite, an electrosurgical ureter identification system designed to optimize surgery for both robotic and non-robotic laparoscopic surgical procedures. The hand-held StimSite device assisted general and OBGYN surgeons in quickly identifying ureters by providing electrical stimulation to ureter smooth muscle tissue, allowing for visible, full-length ureteral movement on demand using existing laparoscopic and robotic instruments.

Houston health tech startup acquired by medical device company

Northgate® Technologies, Inc. Acquires Allotrope Medical™ Inc.

Allotrope Medical announces FDA Safer Technologies Program (STeP) designation for their surgical device StimSite

Innovation on the Loose: From Startup to Acquisition, Dr. Albert Huang’s Journey

Pushing the envelope in MedTech with emerging technologies

Next-gen Medical Devices

Northgate Technologies Inc. announced the acquisition of Allotrope Medical

Allotrope Medical was a Houston-based medical device company that developed StimSite, an electrosurgical ureter identification system designed to optimize surgery for both robotic and non-robotic laparoscopic surgical procedures. The hand-held StimSite device assisted general and OBGYN surgeons in quickly identifying ureters by providing electrical stimulation to ureter smooth muscle tissue, allowing for visible, full-length ureteral movement on demand using existing laparoscopic and robotic instruments.
StimSite received FDA clearance in late 2020 and a Safer Technologies Program (STeP) designation from the FDA in November 2022, recognizing its potential to significantly improve safety and patient outcomes. The device enabled surgeons to have real-time ureteral awareness throughout the operation without changing instruments, improving surgical efficiency and safety. In April 2023, Illinois-based Northgate Technologies Inc., a developer and manufacturer of innovative surgical tools, acquired Allotrope Medical to expand its portfolio of minimally invasive surgery products.

Convergent Dental, Inc. is a privately owned dental equipment and technology company. Its flagship product, Solea, is the only CO2 laser cleared by the FDA for all-tissue indications, delivering an anesthesia-free, blood-free, and suture-free experience for dentists and patients. Solea represents a breakthrough in dental laser technology, offering a distinct experience compared to traditional instruments or earlier laser treatments.
Solea is a novel 9.3-micron CO2 laser that nears the peak absorption of hydroxyapatite (enamel), enabling it to vaporize enamel with speed and precision. This unique wavelength, coupled with computer-controlled motors (galvos) that manipulate the beam thousands of times per second, allows dentists to perform procedures ranging from hard tissue to soft tissue with total control and efficiency.
A key feature of Solea is its variable-speed foot pedal, which lets dentists seamlessly transition from hard to soft tissue by adjusting the pressure applied. This intuitive design streamlines the learning curve for dentists accustomed to using a drill. Solea's three ergonomic handpieces – Contra-Angle, Straight, and Ultraguide – further enhance its versatility across various procedures.
Solea not only improves patient experiences but also offers practice benefits such as increased productivity, new patient flow, and efficiency gains. In October 2022, Convergent Dental received FDA clearance for Solea to aid in reducing mineral loss in dental enamel, protecting teeth against acid attack and caries development. This breakthrough application was commercially launched in November 2023 under the name Solea Protect.

Convergent Dental

Ossio is an orthopedic fixation technology company that has developed OSSIOfiber Intelligent Bone Regeneration Technology, a breakthrough implant material designed to securely fixate and fully integrate into the body's native anatomy without leaving any permanent hardware behind. This technology addresses the limitations of conventional metal and resorbable implants, combining unparalleled mechanical strength with natural bone healing.
Made from a proprietary mineral fiber matrix held together by a naturally degradable polymer, OSSIOfiber implants provide surgeons with a more biologically friendly way to restore patient stability and mobility. These implants are engineered to provide the strength required for functional fixation while allowing full integration into the native bone without adverse biological response.
Ossio's product portfolio includes compression screws, trimmable fixation nails, hammertoe fixation systems, suture anchors, and compression staples, all made with OSSIOfiber technology. These implants have received multiple FDA clearances since 2019, and the company has initiated commercialization of its products in the US. As of March 2022, over 6,000 implantations of OSSIOfiber products had been performed, demonstrating adoption of this innovative technology.
OSSIOfiber Intelligent Bone Regeneration Technology can address various surgical applications through the manufacturing of implant designs like nails, screws, staples, anchors, and plates. Ossio plans to pursue multiple applications in distal extremities, trauma, sports, reconstruction, pediatrics, and spine segments.
In February 2023, Ossio launched the world's first and only non-permanent compression staple made with OSSIOfiber technology, designed for predictable bone in-growth, regeneration, and replacement.

Ossio

Casana is a healthcare technology company that has developed the Heart Seat, an innovative toilet seat that enables effortless, integrated, and consistent in-home health monitoring. The Heart Seat is a replacement for a standard toilet seat and is designed to measure key clinical parameters such as heart rate, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), and blood pressure.
In May 2023, Casana received FDA clearance for the Heart Seat to measure heart rate and SpO2 in adults aged 22 years and older, weighing between 90 to 350 pounds. The company plans to file for additional indications, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with the goal of launching the product in the market by the end of 2023.
The Heart Seat is equipped with sensors that passively capture health data whenever the seat is used, eliminating the need for user compliance or behavior changes. The data is automatically uploaded to the Casana Cloud, where it can be viewed by healthcare providers, enabling them to monitor patients' health trends and respond to changes in near real-time.
Casana's technology allows for the effortless collection of consistent and reliable data, assisting medical teams in monitoring chronic conditions beyond the hospital or physician's office. The company aims to unlock a new category in healthcare technologies that enables seamless, integrated, and continuous in-home health monitoring.
In January 2022, Casana was acquired by an undisclosed entity, further accelerating the commercialization of the Heart Seat.

Casana

Neurent Medical is a company pioneering innovative non-surgical interventions to treat chronic inflammatory sinonasal diseases, particularly chronic rhinitis. The company's flagship product is the NEUROMARK System, a device that received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance in October 2021.
The NEUROMARK System is designed to gently apply controlled low-power radio frequency (RF) energy to target regions of the nasal cavity, disrupting the parasympathetic nerve signals that can trigger an inflammatory response. This alleviates chronic rhinitis symptoms such as persistent congestion, rhinorrhea (runny nose), swelling of the mucosal membrane, sneezing, and nasal itching. The system's unique flexible leaflet design and proprietary smart algorithms enable precise neurolysis (disruption) of the posterior nasal nerves (PNN) and accessory pathways, accommodating a range of patient anatomies while maintaining mucosal and vascular integrity.
Neurent Medical announced the limited market release of the NEUROMARK System in the US in February 2023, following the establishment of a new Category I Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code by the American Medical Association (AMA) for PNN procedures, effective January 2024. The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) also endorsed the PNN procedure in 2023.

Neurent Medical

Genetesis is a medical imaging company specializing in biomagnetic cardiac imaging solutions. It has developed CardioFlux, a flagship magnetocardiography (MCG) system that non-invasively identifies myocardial ischemia, a condition where blood flow to the heart muscle is reduced. The technology measures the magnetic fields generated by the heart's electrical activity to detect ischemia within minutes, without using pharmaceuticals or radiation. CardioFlux MCG is designed to provide advanced imaging while prioritizing patient comfort.
The company's solutions target the diagnosis of coronary microvascular disease (CMD), a condition that has been challenging to identify due to a lack of effective functional diagnostics. By offering an accurate and rapid test for CMD, Genetesis aims to address an unmet clinical need and enable timely management of the condition.
In April 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted CardioFlux MCG Breakthrough Device designation for the non-invasive diagnosis of myocardial ischemia in patients suspected of having CMD.
Genetesis was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Mason, Ohio. The company has received over USD 40 million in funding to date, including a USD 17.5 million Series C round in October 2022. In April 2020, TDK Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of TDK Corporation, invested in Genetesis, providing access to TDK's expertise in areas like biomagnetic sensors and magnetic noise suppression.

Genetesis

Companies that develop diagnostic devices used in a hospital setting to identify a disease, condition, or injury, such as imaging systems and endoscopes

Companies that develop implantable medical devices designed to be surgically placed inside the human body, either temporarily or permanently, including devices such as pacemakers, artificial joints, stents, and cochlear implants

Companies that develop non-surgical devices that are used in a procedure or intervention to cure or relieve a patient from an illness or disease such as laser treatments, dental equipment, and wound care management

Companies that develop monitoring devices that are used in a hospital setting to measure patient vital signs and ensure patient well-being post-treatment, such as cardiac and respiratory monitoring systems

Providers of software that enhances the functionality of medical device hardware (diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring)

Companies that develop surgical devices involving invasive interventions (cutting into a patient's body tissues) to treat, cure, or relieve a patient of an illness or disease

Companies that develop devices to administer pharmaceutical substances into a patient's body, ensuring controlled release or targeted delivery, specifically for use in clinical settings to treat or manage medical conditions effectively

Providers of software that helps manage risks, ensure quality, and streamline audit processes during medical device development

IoT connects devices to EHR systems for precise patient diagnosis and treatment support

Devices are linked to software platforms that use digital technologies such as AI/ML and VR

Startups leverage AI/ML and deep learning to support patient diagnosis and early detection

Allotrope Medical

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