The 12-week medtech and digital health accelerator is also being supported by medical care provider Hartford HealthCare and will onboard its first ten startups in June 2019.
University of Connecticut’s School of Business is to join forces with Trinity College and medical care provider Hartford HealthCare to start a medtech and digital health accelerator for local startups, Hartford Business Journal has reported.
Trinity College will reportedly contribute $75,000 to the accelerator, while Hartford HealthCare – which will consider backing the graduate startups – is expected to put up $500,000. University of Connecticut’s investment was not specified in the report.
The initiative, named MedTech Accelerator, has also been funded by a $942,000 commitment from public-private partnership CTNext’s Innovation Places scheme. It is expected to apply for a further award from Innovation Places in June 2019.
Accelerator network Startupbootcamp will run MedTech Accelerator, with the goal of luring ten high-potential startups to the city of Hartford, Connecticut for the initial cohort in autumn 2019. The portfolio companies will undergo 12 weeks of instruction in areas including business strategy.
MedTech Accelerator will operate from a 4,000 square foot space owned by Trinity College, which could find roles for some of its students in administering the program.
The launch was reportedly stripped back from original proposals for a medtech innovation district that would have accommodated a biomedical innovation institute and the redevelopment of property owned by a Hartford HealthCare-run hospital.
However Hartford HealthCare believes the biomedical innovation element could be restored in an expansion should the core accelerator prove to be successful.
Elliot Joseph, chief executive of Hartford HealthCare, told Hartford Business Journal: “Perhaps the biggest challenge the state of Connecticut faces going forward is the need for a thriving economy and an accelerated economic development engine, particularly in the capital city and Hartford region.
“I certainly believe that the strength in healthcare, across Connecticut and here in Hartford, is a tremendous opportunity for us.”
