You don’t have to navigate the path to commercialization alone.
There is valuable education, guidance and capital available to help seed and early-stage startups grow in Northwest Ohio. Part of the Ohio Third Frontier Entrepreneurial Services Provider (ESP) Program, ProMedica Innovations identifies and delivers no-cost, grant-funded resources designed to give the region’s high potential innovations every opportunity to make it to market.
Are you a Northwest Ohio-based business or entrepreneur developing a novel technology that checks these boxes?
Answering a few brief questions could unlock grant-funded resources to accelerate your growth.
Our experienced team and the Ohio Third Frontier Entrepreneurial Service Provider program’s robust network of advisors, researchers, clinicians, funders and team of experts provide critical insights, valuable connections and tools to help entrepreneurs protect and scale their innovations. Here are a few stories of innovators who leveraged ProMedica Innovation’s guidance and ESP funding and resources to accelerate the development of technologies with the potential to improve lives and create opportunity in Northwest Ohio.
Suzanne Serrato, Inventor
Suzanne Serrato devised a way to track insurance billing efficiently and accurately, but the seasoned physical therapist needed help to build out and test her idea. ProMedica Innovations utilized ESP grant funding to validate the technology via early adopter testing. The technology automates CPT code capture (necessary for reimbursement) and documentation to ensure accuracy, provide insights and enhance patient care. Now Serrato and the ProMedica Innovations team are exploring opportunities to seamlessly integrate these enhancements into patients’ electronic medical records.
Kasi Ramanathan, MD, FACC, Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer, ValCor
Structural and interventional cardiologist Kasi Ramanathan, MD, heads up a Toledo-based company developing licensed technology to improve the way the world treats heart disease. With ESP grant funded prototyping and IP support, what started as a napkin-scratch concept for a single device to reduce the costs, time and margin of error for coronary interventions evolved into a platform technology with patented designs for two new catheters—AVNEC and TESA. The ProMedica spinout has raised capital to advance these next-generation catheters with exciting applications and significant market opportunities.
Nathan Anderson, President, InSitu Foods
InSitu Foods engineered and patented an efficient, consistent, and easy-to-use commercial dough processor to simplify and standardize the pizza-making process. While the Toledo-based company had pizza chains and restaurants excited about technology that would save time and money while improving the customer experience, there were still hurdles to getting to market. Assistance from ProMedica Innovations and the ESP enabled InSitu to make critical supply chain adjustments, create marketing materials and develop industry partnerships that led to a $1m equity commitment—money it will use to expand operations, hire employees and accelerate growth in Northwest Ohio.
FAQs
Who is eligible for support?
Our services generally are available to tech inventors and ProMedica employees from Northwest Ohio—Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Lucas, Mercer, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot counties. If you have questions regarding your eligibility or need a referral to other services, please contact us. ProMedica Innovations only works with private companies that have at least 50% of employees and assets located in Ohio.
To access your resources, does my technology need to be healthcare-related?
No. We are an Ohio Third Frontier Entrepreneurial Services Provider (ESP) committed to developing cutting-edge technologies and tech-enabled solutions to advance not only the physical but also the economic health of our region.
Is there a fee to apply for services?
There is no cost to submit for consideration or to access ESP services.
Do you provide funding?
Applications can be submitted for grant funding. These funds can be used for purchased services such as business assessment, beta testing, prototype engineering, patent searches and filing, FDA testing and other services that could help propel your business forward.
What if I need assistance outside of the scope of your services?
With our participation in the Ohio ESP Network we have resources through our collaborators and partners with whom we can connect you.
Additional questions?
Email us at innovations@promedica.org