Medtech Innovator Recognizes Startup with Non-Invasive Diagnostic Tool for Ear Infections

LOS ANGELES and PHILADELPHIA – Medtech Innovator and AdvaMed Accel today announced that PhotoniCare has been awarded the 2018 Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award and Medtech Innovator Execution Award. Both awards recognize the potential of a promising entrepreneur or entrepreneurial medical technology company. The recipient was chosen today via a live audience vote at the AdvaMed Accel Leadership Seminar during The Medtech Conference, powered by AdvaMed, in Philadelphia.

PhotoniCare, based in Champaign, Ill., is developing a non-invasive imaging platform that uses light-based technology to see through tissue for the diagnosis of middle ear infections. The company’s first product is an otoscope designed to see through eardrum.  

“We are tremendously impressed by PhotoniCare and all five Medtech Innovator Accelerator companies selected to compete for this distinguished award,” said Paul Grand, CEO of Medtech Innovator. “These dynamic teams did a phenomenal job of leveraging the resources of our Accelerator program and have shown significant progress towards achieving key execution milestones. Medtech Innovator is proud to support these passionate entrepreneurs, and we are confident that they are very well-positioned to achieve our shared mission of improving the lives of patients and the healthcare system at large.”

“PhotoniCare and its dedicated leadership team are a perfect example of the exceptional innovators that continue to transform the healthcare industry in order to better the lives of patients everywhere,” said Ashley Wittorf, Executive Director of AdvaMed Accel. “This is a groundbreaking time for emerging companies in healthcare, and we are honored to support PhotoniCare in its mission to bring this technology to patients and physicians around the world.”

The Execution Award, presented jointly by AdvaMed Accel and Medtech Innovator, recognizes strong leadership teams with next-generation innovations and the resources to successfully execute on their goals of improving patient care.

The Virginia Shimer Rybski Memorial Award was created to encourage the enthusiastic pursuit of business excellence in the medical technology industry. It is named after the late entrepreneur and patient care advocate Virginia Rybski, President & CEO of Regenesis Biomedical and a member of AdvaMed’s Board of Directors and the association’s Accel Executive Committee, who passed away in 2013. The award is presented each year during the association’s annual meeting to a single presenting company or entrepreneur.

This year’s award includes a $10,000 grant from AdvaMed Accel and a $15,000 prize from Medtech Innovator to be applied towards expenses required for commercializing an innovative medical technology. Additionally, the winning company will receive a complimentary one-year membership with AdvaMed and full-access registration to The Medtech Conference in Boston, Sept. 23-25, 2019.

About Medtech Innovator

Based in Los Angeles, Calif., Medtech Innovator is the premier nonprofit startup accelerator in the medical technology industry. Our mission is to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of companies that are transforming the healthcare system. Medtech Innovator matches healthcare industry leaders with innovative early-stage and emerging growth medtech companies for mentorship and support. For more information about Medtech Innovator, visit https://medtechinnovator.org/ and follow @MedtechAwards on Twitter. To receive industry insights and highlights about Medtech Innovator’s current and alumni participant companies, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

About AdvaMed Accel

AdvaMed Accel is the division within AdvaMed dedicated to addressing the unique needs and challenges of smaller medical device and diagnostics manufacturers – the lifeblood of the medical technology industry. The only organization of its kind focusing specifically on the needs of the medtech industry’s emerging growth companies, AdvaMed Accel works to create a policy environment more conducive to capital formation and innovation. For more information, visit www.advamedaccel.org