AdvaMed is excited to announce its newest Accel member KickStart Venture Services (KVS), a department within the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Office of Technology Commercialization.
KVS supports faculty startup formation, business development, and growth by providing coaching and mentoring, early-stage funding, connection with key service providers, management, investors, and wet-lab incubation space. The department is led by Mireya McKee, PhD (Interim Director).
Key highlights on the affiliated companies are as follows:
AnelleO Inc founded by Dr. Rahima Benhabbour (Assistant Professor in the UNC/NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering), is harnessing 3D printing technology for novel solutions in Women’s Health. Intravaginal Rings (IVRs) offer a unique platform for sustained delivery of therapeutics – a non-invasive, self-administered, and retrievable platform that can deliver drugs over a period of weeks or months.
BM Polytech, LLC founded by Dr. Sergei Sheiko (Professor at the UNC Department of Chemistry) develops and commercializes a new class of materials, tissue-mimetic Brush-like Polymer Networks. This material-design platform developed at UNC-Chapel Hill is based on solvent-free, non-leachable, materials that precisely replicate the mechanics of biological tissue.
Assure Technologies founded by Dr. Stephen Eckel (Associate Professor at the Eshelman School of Pharmacy) has developed a novel medical device called Precynge (a precise syringe) to provide consistently accurate small volume medication measurements critical to neonatal and early pediatric care.
LiRA founded by Alison Schaefer, Andrew Prince, Dina Yamaleyeva, Andres Tello, and Nga Nguyen (participants in the E(I) Lab program at UNC) is a social venture developing lip-reading technology that employs advancements in computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing to help voiceless individuals communicate.
UNC-Chapel Hill Office of Technology Commercialization joins the current group of AdvaMed Accel academic members including Tulane University, SPARK Global (Stanford accelerator program), and CNY Biotech Accelerator. Additional details on AdvaMed Accel’s university technology transfer initiative can be found here.