Softball 2022 Recap

We held a very successful Softball last Thursday evening!

Softball is an informal pitching event designed for founders to practice their pitching skills and receive meaningful insights into their business plans, while also forming strong connections with industry experts and investors. Through the connections forged and feedback received, entrepreneurs gain the toolset to develop their companies towards successful funding rounds.

Team NEMIC was overwhelmed with the response to this year's Softball; we received a record number of applications from Med Tech and Digital Health startups looking to be a part of the event. It was quite a challenge to narrow the pool down to the final lineup of pitchers.

1. ResusciTech
   Abigail Kohler
   A startup that has developed a patent-pending, smartphone-based CPR training and certification system to improve the outcomes in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests.

2. KardioStatus
   Ansul Parulkar
   A technology utilizing the Apple Watch to manage complications after Heart Valve Surgery.

3. Spirecut
   Clémence Hermann
   A minimally invasive carpel tunnel + trigger finger surgery method with an ultrasound guide system and a needle.

4. Jotteq
   Nigel Kelly
   A hand-held, micro-dosing, eye drop dispenser that houses a patented 'Z-pump'.

It's safe to say that each pitcher knocked it out of the park! Our specially selected audience included members from investor groups such as Cherrystone Angel Group, Righthill Venture Partners, Slater Technology Fund, Golden Seeds, and more. Time was allotted for clarifying questions to be asked after the pitches, and the NEMIC team will be connecting the entrepreneurs and interested investors for future conversations in order to facilitate successful future funding rounds.

We were also lucky enough to catch updates from two past Softball beneficiaries; the CEOs of SmölTap and Lenoss Medical! Both startups were connected to investors after strong pitches at NEMIC events, which resulted in financial investment in their respective companies.

Dom Messerli pitched Lenoss Medical, a biomedical company focused on the physiological repair of osteoporotic spinal fractures, in Softball 2019. A lot has happened for Lenoss since, so Dom provided us with the highlights. In recent years, the startup has raised $2.5 million and Dom has been able to add several contractors and permanent hires to his team; including Marketing, Spinal Sales, Operations, HR, and a Biomedical Engineer. The Lenoss solution, the OsteoPearl VBA System, is currently undergoing clinical trials, with several institutions across the country enrolling patients to participate.

While newly appointed CEO, Robert Cooper, hadn't pitched in Softball before, past attendees remembered SmölTap. The stabilizing device, used when administering infant lumbar punctures, was first pitched to the NEMIC community in the spring of 2020. Much has changed for the startup since then, including the name! Robert joined the team in February of this year, bringing with him his decades of experience in strategic planning, corporate development, and go-to-market strategy. His enthusiasm and confidence in the product are infectious, and the startup has recently closed an oversubscribed seed funding round led by the MagpieX MedTech Venture Fund and with significant contributions from Cherrystone Angel Group and the Charles H. Hood Foundation. This capital will be used for the completion of the engineering freeze, tooling, packaging, pilot production, and customer acquisition among other operating needs.

The successes of Lenoss Medical and SmölTap paint the perfect picture of why The NEMIC Foundation developed Softball; to connect investors with promising, early-stage startups while simultaneously allowing rising entrepreneurs the opportunity to practice their pitches and receive feedback in a low-pressure setting. Softball 2022 is surely no exception, and Team NEMIC will continue to support synergies between the startups and the investors in our network by facilitating connections between those whose expertise and interests best complement each other.

Congratulations to all who participated in Softball 2022!