Trajectory Next has received $125,000 in funding from Tedco to drive technologies including an ankle robot and voice-controlled heart disease management software.

Eight US-based startups have been accepted onto the 2018 cohort of Trajectory Next, a second-stage accelerator run by Johns Hopkins University (JHU), University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and incubator Betamore.

The 12-week initiative, first announced in February 2018, is funded by state-owned economic development agency Maryland Technology Development Corporation’s (Tedco’s) Incubation Challenge department, reportedly to the tune of $125,000.

JHU and UMB will participate through their respective tech transfer offices, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures (JHTV) and UM Ventures. Venues for the initiative are spread across all three supporting institutions.

Trajectory Next accepts Maryland-based businesses, or those willing to relocate, and focuses on the digital health, biohealth and life sciences industries. It aims to ensure participating startups can develop viable revenue streams early in the game.

Participants will learn how to secure sales channels, set up pilot initiatives and restructure product management while receiving assistance with legal considerations, user research, market development and recruiting.

McDonnell Consulting Group, a franchise of sales and management training provider Sandler Training, will put the cohort through their paces on sales, management and leadership.

Greg Cangialosi, co-founder and chairman of Betamore, said: “We look forward to leveraging the strengths of each partner organisation to provide the highest quality resources to accelerate the growth of these companies. The combined networks of Betamore, JHTV, and UM Ventures is what makes Trajectory Next unique.”

The 2018 cohort began training on May 23 and is scheduled to graduate on September 12. The eight participants were named as:

  • CardioCube – the creators of a voice-controlled assistant that helps manage heart disease by offering advice to patients and insights to clinicians.
  • Bayesian Health – which is creating machine learning-based protocols that provide care personnel with real-time data so they can adjust their performance appropriately.
  • Revolve Biotechnologies – which is building a protein and nucleic acid evolution discovery platform. It will also offer services to third-party biotech and biopharmaceutical clients.
  • NextStep Robotics – the developers of an ankle robot to combat foot drop, a gait malfunction that is common after someone has suffered a stroke.
  • LyfLynks – which plans to launch a digital community for family caregivers which combines smartphone, call centre and internet-of-things technologies to support users and help them secure professional services from the company’s partners.
  • B.Well – which has designed a medical data platform that enables users to store, manage and share their family records and health histories in a single place, where they can also view projected health costs or benefits such as deductibles and prescriptions.
  • Sonavex – a medical imaging technology developer which has created a soft tissue marker called EchoMark that makes it easier for surgeons to identify where incisions have been made on post-operation ultrasound scans.
  • ClearMask – which is working on a full-face transparent surgical mask so that clinicians can communicate more effectively, potentially reducing patient anxiety and medical errors resulting from misunderstandings.