The first cohort of five companies in the initial Conquer Accelerator program in Grand Rapids finished the 10-week program in December.
One of those companies, Lawnbot.biz, has already been sold. Grand Rapids-based Airway Innovations LLC, another participant in the program, has landed its first paying customer, according to company founder and CEO Eric VanMiddendorp.
Airway is a creation of his work as a lead biomedical engineer at Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health Innovations, the invention and entrepreneurial arm of the Spectrum Health System. He continues to work full time for Spectrum while seeking funding and customers for his device, which has the trademarked name of TubeTrac.
The device grew out of a medical need that became acute amid all of the ventilator usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Intubated patients, even though they are sedated, can sometimes pull the breathing tube out of their throats — with dire consequences, an event known as an unplanned extubation. The tube is often also held in place with adhesive devices, which when removed can cause severe tissue tears.
The TubeTrac is a strap system that goes around the patient's head and is connected to the breathing tube with both the strap and a plastic clip. Much more force is needed to remove the tube, according to tests done during development, and the risk of tissue tears is eliminated. Filter Studio, a design studio in Grand Rapids, helped design the system. The devices are manufactured by Kalamazoo-based Keystone Solutions Group.
VanMiddendorp landed his first customer, Valley Presbyterian Hospital of Los Angeles, by happenstance. A physician there who was unhappy with the breathing tubes his intensive care unit was buying did a Google search to see what else might be out there, came across Airway's website and placed an order.
That initial trial order has led to followup orders and Airway has replaced its original supplier.
VanMiddendorp said Spectrum Health was going to start a large study of TubeTrac's effectiveness late last year, but because of the surge in its COVID cases and an overburdened staff, the study has been postponed. VanMiddendorp said once the study has been rescheduled, assuming the results are as he expects, a purchase order would follow.
A surprising thing for those who might have seen itemized hospital bills lately is the low cost of the TubeTrac — $14.
As part of its participation, Airway got $20,000 in funding from the Conquer Accelerator.
Thomas Stewart is program manager both for the Grand Rapids Conquer Accelerator and the Conquer Accelerator in East Lansing, which was started in 2016. He also manages the portfolio at Quantum Medical Concepts, a seed fund for medical startups that was founded by the East Lansing-based Michigan State Medical Society.
Quantum can invest up to $250,000 in companies, and Stewart said he was impressed enough with Airway to begin negotiations for an investment. He said he expects to have a decision in mid-February.
"Eric has done an excellent job at translating a clinical challenge into a user-friendly device. He's a hard worker who has shown a lot of grit and adaptability and he knows how to bring good advisers on board to fill gaps in knowledge or expertise," said Stewart. "I've been impressed with his willingness to learn and be coached."
Gateway Grand Rapids, another MSU program that started in Grand Rapids in 2019, has been helping Airway with advice, networking and landing service providers and possible funding through such statewide early stage investment sources as Red Cedar Ventures and Michigan Rise, both in East Lansing, and Invest Detroit and Invest Michigan, both in Detroit.
"Kevin is my mentor and helping me get investors," said VanMiddendorp, referring to J. Kevin McCurren, Gateway's commercialization program director.
VanMiddendorp has won three business-plan competitions for a total of $38,500, got $80,000 in grants that did not dilute equity and has raised $350,000 from angel investors. He said he will soon start raising a round of $400,000.
A marketing team will be needed down the road. For now, as the company's only employee, he only needs a desk in shared work space in downtown Grand Rapids.
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