Enter Now to Win Venture Competition

01/10/2013

Contacts: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu, Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

M2D2, a joint UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School initiative, today announced a medical-device venture competition that aims to find the best new Massachusetts-based medical device startups – and award them $20,000 in product development services.

Now in its second year, the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) competition, which promotes entrepreneurship, is sponsored by Nutter McClennen & Fish and will culminate in an award ceremony at the law firm’s Boston Innovation District office in April. 

All new medical-device ventures and entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply. The application fee is $25 and the entry deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1. A panel of expert judges will hear from finalists at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 at M2D2, located in the Wannalancit Mills Complex, 600 Suffolk, St., Lowell. The April winners’ ceremony will be held at Nutter McClennen & Fish, 155 Seaport Boulevard, Boston. For details or to apply for the competition, go to www.uml.edu/m2d2 and click on “events.”

The winner of last year’s competition, MedicaMetrix Inc., used the award to further the development of its ProstaGlove prostate-measuring system. The startup has since raised $4.5 million to $3.5 million in private equity and $1 million from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Accelerator Loan fund.

M2D2 - the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center - is a lifeline for the state’s smaller medical device companies, offering inventors and executives easy, affordable, and coordinated access to world- class researchers and resources at the Lowell and Worcester campuses of the University of Massachusetts, including expertise in engineering, business and the conduct of clinical trials.

UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 16,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health and environment, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu