ZeroTo510, an accelerator program founded in 2012 and designed to help entrepreneurs bring medical devices and companies to market, is seeking candidates to join its Fall 2022 cohort of med tech founders. 

Over the past decade, the Memphis-based incubator has helped launch an impressive roster of portfolio companies, including: Sweet Bio, focused on advanced wound care; Lineus Medical, focused on reducing IV complications; and Augment Health, focused on neurogenic bladder management. 

The program, which has attracted founders from all over the U.S. and several foreign countries, has operated every year with the exception of 2020, when COVID-19 hit. 

ZeroTo510 builds on Memphis’ ecosystem in medical devices

The ZeroTo510 program was launched 10 years ago by the since-dissolved Memphis Bioworks Foundation along with Innova, a pre-seed, seed and early-stage investor focused on funding high-growth companies involved in biosciences, technology and agtech. 

While Innova still funds ZeroTo510, the accelerator is now managed by Epicenter, a nonprofit that works to connect, support and expand the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Greater Memphis area.

Navigating the medical device and health care market is complicated.

Through a competitive process, four to six startups will be selected to participate in a 12-week, mentor-driven program that will include instruction and hands-on activities to guide entrepreneurs through the process.

“We look for people who are building companies that are innovative and are going to contribute to the med tech community — here, nationally and globally,” said Danielle Gore, ZeroTo510 accelerator director. 

Gore also serves as senior manager of Innovation Programs at Epicenter Memphis, located in the former ServiceMaster space at 150 Peabody Place, which serves as home base for the accelerator. 

The ZeroTo510 curriculum includes areas such as regulatory affairs, pricing and reimbursement, manufacturing, prototyping, product development, marketing and more. 

Memphis-based medical device company acquired for $145 million

“We bring in mentors around all those areas of expertise to provide guidance over that three- month timeframe,” Gore said. 

In addition, each selected company receives $50,000 in seed capital from Innova. 

“We started ZeroTo510 as an experiment to spur more startups in the medical device field, and we frankly struggled to fill the first cohort,” said Jan Bouten, partner at Innova and co-founder of ZeroTo510.

“Now, a decade later, it has grown into the premier medical startup accelerator in the country and we have teams applying from literally all over the country and world. Not only do the products developed by these entrepreneurs help countless patients lead better lives; the impact from having most of these companies right here in Memphis is tremendous to our economy and ecosystem.”

Idicula Mathew, founder and CEO of pharmaceutical device company Hera Health Solutions, was a member of the 2018 ZeroTo510 cohort. 

Originating at Georgia Institute of Technology, his team focused on the development of a biodegradable contraceptive arm implant to eliminate the painful and invasive removal procedure associated with contraceptive implant technology.

Mathew was impressed by the ecosystem Memphis offers med tech entrepreneurs. 

“I had no idea that this was such a hotbed in terms of medical device innovations and industry professionals,” he said. ”It was only after we actually touched down in Memphis that I was exposed to the amazing network and curated ecosystem that’s really up our alley in terms of the technology we’re developing.”

By 2019, Hera Health was able to raise close to $1.3 million in capital and continues to scale. 

“I think the incubator, as well as access to the advisers in the mentor network, is what’s really helped us be able to scale our technology, commercialize the technology and understand the regulatory environment,” Mathew said. “Really, all of the fundamentals needed for us to have a strong footing in terms of scaling our technology, innovation and research into a now-scalable startup company that has now gone on to raise venture funding.” 

The Fall 2022 ZeroTo510 Accelerator Program will take place Sept. 12 through Dec. 8. Applications are due July 22.