BOSTON, August 17, 2022 – MassRobotics, Festo, Mitsubishi Electric Automation, MITRE and Novanta are calling on startups in the healthcare robotics space to apply to the second Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program. The objective of the program is to advance healthcare robotics companies by providing the connections, guidance, and resources they need to grow and succeed. The selected startups will be guided by senior-level mentors from organizing companies and supported to connect with potential customers, investors, suppliers, marketing and more. Additionally, the selected startups will exchange milestones with the larger Healthcare Robotics Working Group, comprised of an Eastern U.S. cluster of corporate, academic, government, startup and venture capital volunteers.

The program focuses on startups in the areas of clinical care, public safety, laboratory, supply chain automation, out-of-hospital care, and quality of life. It also addresses continuity of work and education, as well as training and support for healthcare professionals.

In the first Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program, the selected companies included Bionomous (Switzerland), Eureka Robotics (Singapore), Assistive Technology Development (USA) and Kinarm (Canada). They all successfully achieved significant milestones through the program, including but not limited to, funding, sales, signing a global partnership and territory expansions.

“The great success of the first cohort of the Catalyst program encouraged us to continue with this great approach. It’s not about offering financial resources, which are available in many places. This unique program provides resources, which startups do not find easily such as access to a worldwide business network, domain knowledge, engineering and a dedicated mentoring team that supports the growth of the startup and helps meet the startup’s timelines. We are so glad that also other industry partners joined the program under the umbrella of MassRobotics,” said Alfons Riek, VP of technology and innovation, Festo.

The organizing MassRobotics partner organizations making this call for applications are all leaders in the healthcare robotics space. “We look forward to collaborating with startup companies for innovative solutions and technologies to succeed our customers,” stated William Nguyen, Ph.D., development manager, Mitsubishi Electric Automation, Inc.

Motivated by the results of the first cohort, Matthijs Glastra, CEO of Novanta stated, “We are proud to support MassRobotics in its critical mission to create advanced robotics, particularly in the medical field.”

Brian Young, chief human resources officer, Novanta, added, “As a Boston-based company with technology development and manufacturing in Massachusetts, Novanta is uniquely positioned to be a leader in developing robotics talent for the region.”

“MITRE is excited to join MassRobotics, Fetso, Mitsubishi Electric Automation and Novanta to accelerate and lower barriers to entry for startups with healthcare robotic solutions,” said Russ Graves, director of bridging innovation, MITRE.

Novanta’s commitment to the Catalyst Program also includes leaders from Celera Motion, a market-leading provider of motion control components and subsystems for OEMs serving a variety of medical and advanced industrial markets. It will collaborate with MassRobotics and the other companies, organizations and research institutions that it works with to create new innovations across a wide spectrum of applications, especially in medical robots.

“We’re excited to be part of the Boston area’s robotics community that is leading the next wave of technology,” said Kalpana Singh, president and general manager, Celera Motion. “Together, we are simultaneously fostering and benefiting from our area’s incredibly innovative culture. The future is very bright for our industry, and we can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together.”

Organizing organizations are eager to find opportunities for the selected companies within their network. “Being part of the catalyst program facilitates collaborations between the startup and industry partners in our network and opens up opportunities to conduct tests and trials at medical facilities in the USA“ said Nuzha Yakoob, head of technology and innovation, Festo.

“We are excited to see Festo, Mitsubishi Electric Automation, MITRE and Novanta come together to collaboratively work to support our efforts to find global disrupting applications and startups in such human-care fields like healthcare, including life science, biotech and medical devices,” Juan Necochea, strategic partnerships, MassRobotics.

Learn more at the informational webinar recording here. Applications are open until September 9, 2022 at this link: https://www.massrobotics.org/opportunities/healthcare-robotics-catalyst/. 

About MassRobotics

MassRobotics is the result of the collective work of a group of engineers, rocket scientists, and entrepreneurs with a shared vision to create strong, vibrant robotics and IoT ecosystem in Massachusetts. 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

With its almost fifty years of business in Germany, Novanta is a leading technology company for high-performance medical technology and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the industry. They remain highly flexible while cultivating constant growth and the exchange of knowledge and information. More than 2,400 employees worldwide in North America, Europe, and Asia work together each day to develop innovative products. 

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.