Tag: medical devices

Healthcare and medical devices are becoming a big area of growth in the startup world. But, the path to development, testing, and iterating is expensive and difficult. It’s obviously not like software, which requires time but low capital.

Edison Nation Medical is trying to help individuals with great ideas bring their medical device to market. Think Quirky–for healthcare.

Check out our Q&A with Edison Nation Medical below, and head over to their website if you have a great medical device idea.

1. What’s your startup called?

Edison Nation Medical (www.EdisonNationMedical.com)

2. What’s your big idea?

We help people bring their bright healthcare ideas to life! Our mission is to identify and foster innovative healthcare and medical device inventions that improve the quality of care and increase efficiencies across the entire hospital ecosystem. We accomplish this goal by breaking down the barriers that often inhibit individual inventors – the doctor, nurse, patient, caregiver, university tech transfer office, or small company – from getting their ideas commercialized.

3. What’s the story behind your idea?

Edison Nation Medical is a medical device incubator and online community for people interested in changing healthcare. We provide a clear pathway for anyone—physicians, nurses, technicians, entrepreneurs, even patients and caregivers—to submit their product idea for in-depth review and potential commercialization. Our business model is based on trust—trust between a person with a great healthcare invention and a company that gives a thorough and expert read to determine the value of the idea. If an idea has value, we find it, unlock it and get it to market in order to improve care, lower cost and increase access for the patient.

4. Who are the founders, and what are their backgrounds?

Louis Foreman, CEO of prolific consumer product developer Edison Nation, and leaders from Carolinas HealthCare System, one of the nation’s leading public healthcare systems, valued innovation in healthcare. They knew that creating a model whereby open innovation could exist outside the traditional R&D labs would foster new ideas to improve care, lower cost and increase access; ideas that likely wouldn’t have come to fruition as quickly, if at all, within the status quo. They launched Edison Nation Medical in July 2012.

Foreman is a prolific inventor, product developer, innovation enthusiast and small business entrepreneur. In 20 years, Louis has created nine successful startups and has been directly responsible for the creation of more than 20 others. Additional companies in the Edison Nation Medical family include Edison Nation, Enventys and Inventors Digest magazine.

Robert (Bobby) Grajewski joined as Edison Nation Medical’s president to lead the company in building innovative healthcare companies, securing licensing agreements with major medical device manufacturers and increasing the online member community of medical inventors. Grajewski has nearly 10 years of private equity and venture capital investing experience. In addition, he co-founded and launched two web-based start-ups, Heritage Handcrafted and eCollectors.

5. Where are you located?

Charlotte, NC

6. What’s the startup scene like there?

As one of the financial and healthcare capitals of the South, Charlotte has a vibrant and growing scene for highly intelligent and motivated entrepreneurs who are taking risks and pursuing truly groundbreaking ideas.

7. What milestones have you reached?

Edison Nation Medical has already developed and licensed numerous products to medical device companies. Likewise, our member community is rapidly growing. (We now have inventors from over 180 countries around the globe.)

8. What are your next milestones?

To look forward to continuing to expand Edison Nation Medical’s footprint in the healthcare ecosystem and further enable passionate inventors to get their innovative healthcare ideas reviewed and commercialized.

9. Where can people find out more?

On our website, which can be found at www.EdisonNationMedical.com. You’ll be able to learn plenty about us, but you’ll have access to even more information once you become an Edison Nation Medical member. We encourage you to sign up for your free membership today! Even if you don’t have a bright idea to submit yet, we invite you to use us for education and inspiration.