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Naomi Day sat down with Paul Grand, Founder and CEO of MedTech Innovator, to explore how his global accelerator is shaping the future of medical technology by guiding startups from bold ideas to tangible impact.
Paul Grand’s journey into medtech began on the front lines of innovation. Before founding and becoming the CEO of MedTech Innovator (MTI), the world’s largest accelerator for medical technology startups, Grand was an entrepreneur himself. “I began my journey in medtech as an entrepreneur, experiencing firsthand the difficulty of building companies, raising capital, and bringing new technologies to market,” he recalls.
“Later, as a venture investor, I saw the challenges from the other side, where many promising startups failed to attract backing because of critical missteps, often from bad advice.” These experiences revealed a glaring gap in the industry. Innovators were creating breakthrough solutions but lacked the guidance to avoid costly mistakes.
Grand’s answer was MedTech Innovator, a platform designed both to accelerate startups and to guide them in maximising value for real-world impact. “My vision was to build the world’s best ecosystem for startups, one that identifies the most promising innovations early and provides the guidance needed to avoid mistakes, solve true unmet needs, and build sustainable business models.”
That vision is paying off in extraordinary numbers. Since its founding in 2013, MTI has graduated more than 700 startups, which together have raised $10.5 billion in follow-on funding. Over 500 products have already reached patients, and more than 90% of alumni remain in operation, succeeding in raising capital. “In fact, one in four investment dollars in the medtech space last year went to MedTech Innovator alumni,” Grand notes.
MTI alumni are making an impact on millions of patients. One example is Tasso, a company rethinking clinical-grade blood collection. By shipping more than 1.5 million units, Tasso has brought self-administered lab-quality blood collection directly into homes, a shift that makes healthcare faster and more accessible. “Examples like this illustrate how MTI-supported companies are advancing science while delivering tangible value to patients and health systems worldwide.”
These kinds of breakthroughs ultimately hinge on regulatory approval, “FDA approvals and market launches mark the point where innovation translates into real-world impact. For patients, they mean access to life-changing or lifesaving technologies. For health systems, they represent improved outcomes, greater efficiency, and reduced costs of care.”
Despite these successes, raising capital remains a defining challenge for medtech startups. Grand sees two clear trends in 2025 funding patterns. “We are increasingly seeing funding shift to later-stage companies where reimbursement and payment pathways are already well understood, and investors are primarily financing growth,” he explains. Sophisticated investors would like regulatory and clinical risks mitigated, and to know the path to revenue is clear before committing significant capital. However, that doesn’t mean early-stage startups are shut out. “Early-stage startups can still attract funding when they are pursuing breakthrough or game-changing opportunities with the potential for outsized returns. Investors are either looking for proven models they can scale with confidence or truly transformative innovations that justify the risk.”
Geography also plays a role. “For startups, the critical factor is not simply where funding is available but where regulatory approval, reimbursement, and adoption can be achieved most efficiently,” he advises. “Launch decisions should be guided by the potential for early pull from customers and strong payment signals rather than by the location of a company’s headquarters.” In today’s market, capital follows evidence, and the fastest path to adoption is the one investors will back.
MedTech Innovator’s influence continues to expand through strategic collaborations, including a recent partnership with MedTech World for a startup event in the Bay Area. “Our collaboration with MedTech World expands the visibility of our portfolio companies by bringing them to a broader global audience.” Such exposure can build strategic connections, investment opportunities, and partnerships that fuel growth.
“Partnerships like this allow us to continually grow the world’s best ecosystem of support for innovators,” he says. “They ensure our companies have every possible pathway to succeed and bring life-improving technologies to patients.” These partnerships are the spark that turns potential into progress, connecting innovators with the resources and opportunities that make real-world impact possible.
MedTech Innovator stands out not merely as an accelerator but as a comprehensive risk-mitigation platform, guiding startups to think several steps ahead. “We emphasise the importance of understanding investor timelines for returns, structuring deals that plan for and preserve future financing options, diversifying capital sources to avoid overreliance, and designing for reimbursement and payment from the outset.”
This holistic approach has yielded extraordinary results. “MTI is trusted by founders, strategics, patient-centered organisations, and investors as the world’s leading innovation platform in helping companies not only survive but thrive,” Grand says, underscoring the mission that has guided him from entrepreneur to investor to ecosystem builder.
With a track record of measurable impact, a growing global network, and a methodology that blends strategic foresight with practical guidance, MedTech Innovator is cultivating the conditions for lasting change in healthcare.
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