In collaboration with
MassRobotics announces the participants in the Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst Cohort II. The selected companies are: Acumino, Robot on Rails, ABLE Human Motion, Andromeda Robotics, Unlimited Robotics, Maestro Surgical Robotics and Zeta Surgical. The Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst is designed and led by MassRobotics along with Festo, Mitsubishi Electric, Novanta and MITRE.
The MassRobotics Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program advances healthcare robotics companies by providing the connections, guidance and resources they need to grow and succeed. Each startup is matched with an experienced executive mentor for a six-month period during which the pair works closely to address core needs to help the startup accelerate their scaling process. The Catalyst Program began in 2021, supporting four startups, mentored by MassRobotics and FESTO as an initiative to support healthcare initiatives during the pandemic.
“We are thrilled to see such a diverse and talented cohort of startups tackling healthcare robotics challenges be part of this program. 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!,” said Nissia Sabri, VP of Engineering at Novanta.
“We are delighted to be able to mentor and assist the selected startups in accomplishing their milestones. 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,” said Nuzha Yakoob, Head of Technology & Innovation at FESTO.
The selected companies were chosen from worldwide applicants who sought the connections, guidance and resources they need to grow and succeed from the organizing companies and the greater healthcare robotics community. Applicants proposed solutions within the clinical care, public safety, laboratory and supply chain automation, out-of-hospital care, quality of life, and continuity of work and education, healthcare professionals’ training and support.
“We are proud of the support that the MassRobotics community provides to the healthcare industry in forwarding robotics innovation and entrepreneurship. 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,” said Juan Necochea, manager of strategic partnerships at MassRobotics.
“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 & 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.
“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, R&D Manager at Mitsubishi Electric Automation.
The selected startups for Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst Cohort II are:
Acumino is an early-stage technology startup that gives the rising generation of robots the skills to do any human task, anywhere. Thanks to Acumino’s pioneering robotic model training and testing platform, many home caregiver tasks are possible to be more easily automated – accelerating the timeline for robotic caregivers in the home by years
During the program, Acumino will work with mentors Mitsubishi Electric to use the startup’s robotic model training and testing platform, to automate many home caregiver tasks – accelerating the timeline for robotic caregivers in the home by years.
Robot on Rails is seeking to become the automation standard for life sciences laboratories. We provide a rail-mounted high-accuracy robotic arm driven by 3D lidar computer vision. This highly technical approach allows us to reduce or eliminate complicated programming, replacing it with an intuitive point-and-click interface. Path-planning, robotic commands, and experimental procedures are handled dynamically by the automation platform. Laboratories will be able to incorporate automation into their workflows in a fraction of the time. This lets scientists focus on what scientists do best, science.
During the program, Robot on Rails will work with FESTO to announce its pilot release, aiming to deliver machines to new clients.
To achieve this objective, RoR will lean on the healthcare community get support:
- Connecting to new labs that would be interested in purchasing the product.
- Finding talented team members to support the development and deployment
ABLE Human Motion is a medical device start-up based in Barcelona with the mission of enabling mobility, for everyone. They have created a new generation of exoskeletons that are light, easy-to-use and affordable, key aspects to enable widespread access to robotic rehabilitation. The technology has been tested by +120 patients and validated in leading European rehabilitation institutions, showing improved clinical outcomes.
During the program, ABLE Human Motion, with the support of FESTO, will aim to raise 2M$+ from US institutional investors within the network of the Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst Program.
Andromeda Robotics is an early-stage Australian startup building a fleet of humanoid robots for a multitude of industries. Their first prototype (Abi) is an endearing, multitalented, companion humanoid robot that is designed to help elderly residents in aged-care facilities maintain their independence. Abi is currently deployed across two aged-care facilities in Melbourne and is looking to expand to adjacent healthcare sectors.
TBD
Unlimited Robotics is the brand behind Gary the AI Robot which helps medical teams in hospitals and caring facilities to provide better service to patients. Among others, Gary the AI Robot performs delivery tasks that are not patient-facing like bringing supplies, delivering lab samples and medications, distributing equipment, guiding patients’ visitors and moving equipment between departments (even through an elevator). In addition to all the above, Gary the AI Robot also helps with cleaning and sanitation tasks, and with telepresence and other media apps, helping the medical teams to focus on the patients.
The company also offers a fleet management platform which is easy to manage, and on which nurses and the operating teams can distribute tasks between different robots that are on premise. Software developers can add capabilities to Gary the AI Robot with Ra-Ya, Unlimited Robotics’ easy-to-use platform, on which every software developer can build applications on Gary the AI Robot quickly and easily, even without having a prior background in robotics.
During the program, Unlimited Robotics will work with Novanta, to improve its deep proprietary expertise in AI, computer vision, and precision motion technologies.
The parties will collaborate to improve deployment of Gary the AI Robot more quickly and effectively in different hospitals in the U.S.
A Shanghai-based surgical robotics start-up incubated and initially funded by Panacea Venture, was cofounded in 2021 by Dr. Hai Mi, Panacea Venture’s cofounder and Managing Partner, and Professor Jianyuan Jiang, a leading spine surgeon in China and Director of Orthopedics at Huashan Hospital, a top tier research hospital in Shanghai, China.
One of the key technologies Maestro Surgical has is a patented, revolutionary and paradigm-shifting motion control technology Single Chip Integrated Motion Controller (SCIMC, US10732601B2) invented by Rtimeman Motion Co., Ltd., also the early shareholder of Maestro Surgical. Using ARM chipset, running on Linux and without fieldbus, SCIMC overcomes the inherent shortcomings of the traditional motion control technology that is based on fieldbus and x86 chipset architecture; SCIMC has superior performance in response, real-time, synchronization, expandability, integration, and power consumption.
Maestro Surgical develops its own robot arm, software, and surgical tools in-house and from ground up. The first technology verification robot designed for lumbar decompression surgery has successfully performed pedicle screw placement surgery on a pig and is able to do lumbar osteotomy on 3D lumbar models in the company’s laboratory. Maestro Surgical hopes its spinal surgery robot can perform a complete lumbar decompression surgery in the future.
During the program, Maestro Surgical will be mentored by Novanta. As a leading global supplier of core technology solutions that give medical and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) a competitive advantage, Novanta has deep proprietary technology expertise and competencies in photonics, vision and precision motion with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. Therefore, Novanta is the perfect partner for Maestro Surgical, and the company looks forward to working with Novanta to achieve its important R&D milestones.
Zeta Surgical, a surgical robotics and mixed reality company, has partnered with MITRE through the MassRobotics HealthCare Catalyst Program. The partnership will focus on supporting Zeta Surgical’s regulatory and clinical research pipelines, particularly regarding the company’s cranial navigation system. Zeta Surgical is planning to kick-off their first-in-human study in Singapore in early 2023 while they advance their navigation system through the FDA.
During the program, Zeta Surgical, a surgical robotics and mixed reality company, has partnered with MITRE through the MassRobotics HealthCare Catalyst Program. The partnership will focus on supporting Zeta Surgical’s regulatory and clinical research pipelines, particularly regarding the company’s cranial navigation system. Zeta Surgical is planning to kick-off their first-in-human study in Singapore in early 2023 while they advance their navigation system through the FDA.
Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst
The program’s objective is to connect healthcare robotics startups with customers, investors, suppliers, marketing and overall support. The program focused on startups in the areas of clinical care, public safety, laboratory and supply chain automation, out-of-hospital care, quality of life, as well as continuity of work and education, healthcare professionals training and support.
Learn more about the program here:
https://www.massrobotics.org/opportunities/healthcare-robotics-catalyst/.
About MassRobotics
MassRobotics, a non-profit robotics innovation hub and incubator, is the result of the collective work of a group of engineers, rocket scientists, and entrepreneurs with a shared vision to create a strong, vibrant robotics and IoT ecosystem in Massachusetts, United States. MassRobotics’ mission is to help create and scale the next generation of successful robotics and connected devices companies by providing entrepreneurs and innovative robotics/automation startups with the workspace and resources they need to develop, prototype, test and commercialize their products and solutions. See www.massrobotics.org for details.
About Festo
Festo is a global player and an independent family-owned company with headquarters in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. Festo has set standards in industrial automation technology and technical education ever since its establishment, thereby making a contribution to the sustainable development of the environment, the economy, and society. The company supplies pneumatic and electrical automation technology to 300,000 customers of factory and process automation in over 35 industries. The LifeTech sector with medical technology and laboratory automation is becoming increasingly important. The 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 in 2020. Each year around 8 % of this turnover is invested in research and development. In this learning company, 1.5 % of turnover is invested in basic and further training. Festo Didactic SE is a leading provider of technical education and training and offers its customers worldwide comprehensive digital and physical learning solutions in the industrial environment.
About Novanta
Novanta is a leading global supplier of core technology solutions that give medical and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers a competitive advantage. We combine deep proprietary technology expertise and competencies in photonics, vision, and precision motion with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This enables Novanta to engineer core components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance, tailored to our customers’ demanding applications. The driving force behind our growth is the team of innovative professionals who share a commitment to innovation and customer success. Novanta’s common shares are quoted on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “NOVT.”
More information about Novanta is available on the Company’s website at www.novanta.com. For additional information, please contact Novanta Investor Relations at (781) 266-5137 or InvestorRelations@novanta.com.
About MITRE
MITRE’s mission-driven teams are dedicated to solving problems for a safer world. Through our public-private partnerships and federally funded R&D centers, we work across government and in partnership with industry to tackle challenges to the safety, stability, and well-being of our nation.
About Mitsubishi Electric Automation
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 industrial markets with a family of automation products including programmable logic controllers, variable frequency drives, operator interfaces, motion control systems, computer numerical controls, industrial robots, and servo amplifiers and motors. The corporate philosophy of the company includes a commitment not only to providing superior solutions and service to Mitsubishi Electric customers but also to contributing to the local community and creating a rewarding work environment for its employees.
