M2D2 Competition Rewards Best Ideas for New Inventions
03/18/2016
Media contacts: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
* Media Advisory *
Wednesday, March 23, 5 p.m.
What: Entrepreneurs from medical device, diagnostic and biotech startups will vie for $100,000 in services to help their cutting-edge ideas become reality during the fifth annual Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) New Venture Competition Showcase.
Inventions that will be presented during the event include new methods of cancer and infectious disease detection, a substance that forms bones and technology designed to improve glucose monitoring. The competition’s 18 finalists will pitch these concepts and more to a panel of expert judges. The winners, to be announced next month, will receive engineering, legal, regulatory, clinical and business services, along with the use of lab and meeting space to grow their ventures. Providing the $100,000 in services are M2D2, Becton Dickinson and Company (BD), Boston Scientific, MPR Product Development, Omni Components, Regulatory & Quality Solutions (R&Q), the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo.
M2D2 helps early-stage startups take new products and technologies from the drawing board to the marketplace. The center is a partnership between UMass Lowell, which offers expertise in business and plastics engineering, and UMass Worcester, which provides medical expertise and assistance with clinical trials.
Founded in 2007, M2D2 has worked with more than 100 companies that have secured more than $40 million in external funding for their ventures. In 2011, M2D2 opened a business incubator at UMass Lowell and expanded it in 2015 to a second location – UMass Lowell’s Innovation Hub (iHub) in downtown Lowell – in order to serve even more entrepreneurs.
Where: University Crossing, 220 Pawtucket St., Lowell. Contact UMass Lowell media relations for directions and parking information.