Nelson Advisors invited to join the MedTech Innovator 2026 Programme as a Judge and MedTech Mentor
- Nelson Advisors
- 21 minutes ago
- 5 min read
MedTech Innovator 2026
Nelson Advisors has been invited to mentor and judge the MedTech Innovator 2026 programme alongside a panel of esteemed US and European industry executives.
Now in its 13th year, MedTech Innovator, the world’s largest medtech accelerator continues to identify the most promising medical device, diagnostic, and digital health startups developing innovative tools to improve patient care.
MedTech Innovator is the world's largest accelerator for medical device, digital health, and diagnostic companies. Our mission is to improve patients' lives by accelerating the growth of companies transforming healthcare worldwide.
"According to Silicon Valley Bank’s CipherBio, MedTech Innovator is the largest accelerator of Life Science companies in the world. The dominant part of our portfolio is Medical Devices, in addition to our leadership position as an accelerator of diagnostics, digital health, and life science tools technologies. 93% of our portfolio are still in business or have been acquired, and 86% of our companies have raised equity financing. In Q1 2023, approximately 30% of all funds raised in the medtech sector went to a graduate of MedTech Innovator."
Our corporate partners include leading manufacturers like Johnson & Johnson, Dexcom, NIPRO Medical Corp., Olympus Medical Systems Group, W. L. Gore & Associates, Asahi Intecc, Edwards Lifesciences, Fujikura, Jabil Healthcare, Maxim Integrated Ventures. and many others. They participate as thought leaders, application reviewers, event judges, and accelerator mentors.
Hundreds of investors like RCT Ventures, Aphelion Capital, Life Science Angels, Healthtech Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Vensana, Treo, Hunniwell Lake Partners, Seroba Life Sciences participate as application reviewers, mentors, and judges.
MedTech Innovator is the world’s largest accelerator of medical technology companies, with a mission to improve the lives of patients by accelerating the growth of transformative health care startups.
Along with its sibling programs, BioTools Innovator and MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific, the organization provides founders with mentorship, exposure to industry leaders, and access to funding opportunities.
Each year, thousands of startups compete for a place in the programs’ cohorts, gaining global visibility and connections that help bring their innovations to market faster.
MedTech Innovator
MedTech Innovator is a nonprofit global competition and accelerator that has grown since 2013 into the largest and one of the highest‑performing accelerators for medical device, digital health, and diagnostic startups worldwide. It combines a global pitch competition, a virtual accelerator, and showcase events tied to major industry conferences to help early‑ to growth‑stage companies access capital, customers, and strategic partners.
Origins and Founding
MedTech Innovator was founded by Paul Grand in 2013 as an internal program within RCT Ventures, an early‑stage life science investment firm where he was a managing director. The program emerged in response to a perceived “Series A crunch” in medtech, where early‑stage device and diagnostics companies struggled to secure follow‑on capital despite strong technology, prompting industry stakeholders to back a structured accelerator model.
Spin‑out and Nonprofit Status
Between 2013 and 2016, MedTech Innovator operated within RCT Ventures before being spun out as an independent nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles in 2016–2017. At incorporation, it formalized a board including representatives from MedTech Innovator, Research Corporation Technologies, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, and AdvaMed, reinforcing its positioning as an industry‑backed, founder‑friendly platform.
Program Structure and Activities
The core offering is a four‑month, mainly virtual accelerator running from June to October, into which roughly 50 or more of the most promising startups are selected from a global applicant pool often exceeding 1,000 companies. Participants receive targeted mentorship, non‑dilutive funding opportunities, and high‑visibility showcase slots at the WSGR Medical Device Conference and The MedTech Conference (powered by AdvaMed), plus access to corporate executives, investors, payers, providers, regulators, and an extensive alumni network.
Growth, Scale and Impact
MedTech Innovator is widely described as the largest and most impactful medtech accelerator globally, and also as the largest accelerator of life science companies with a portfolio that is predominantly medical devices but also includes diagnostics, digital health, and life science tools. By mid‑2020s reports, hundreds of companies have passed through its programs, alumni have brought hundreds of products to market, and they have collectively raised many billions of dollars in follow‑on capital, with a very high proportion still active or acquired relative to typical startup survival rates.
Global Expansion and APAC Program
Beyond its original U.S.‑focused activities, MedTech Innovator has expanded globally, including launching MedTech Innovator Asia Pacific, which runs a regional accelerator and a dedicated U.S. Market Access Program for APAC medtech companies. Across regions, the organization positions itself as an industry‑wide platform and “premiere showcase” that curates a global pipeline of high‑quality medtech startups for strategic partners, investors, and acquirers.
Nelson Advisors > MedTech and HealthTech M&A
Nelson Advisors specialise in mergers, acquisitions and partnerships for Digital Health, HealthTech, Health IT, Consumer HealthTech, Healthcare Cybersecurity, Healthcare AI companies based in the UK, Europe and North America. www.nelsonadvisors.co.uk
Nelson Advisors regularly publish Healthcare Technology thought leadership articles covering market insights, trends, analysis & predictions @ https://www.healthcare.digital
We share our views on the latest Healthcare Technology mergers, acquisitions and partnerships with insights, analysis and predictions in our LinkedIn Newsletter every week, subscribe today! https://lnkd.in/e5hTp_xb
Founders for Founders > We pride ourselves on our DNA as ‘HealthTech entrepreneurs advising HealthTech entrepreneurs.’ Nelson Advisors partner with entrepreneurs, boards and investors to maximise shareholder value and investment returns. www.nelsonadvisors.co.uk
#NelsonAdvisors #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #HealthIT #Cybersecurity #HealthcareAI #ConsumerHealthTech #Mergers #Acquisitions #Partnerships #Growth #Strategy #NHS #UK #Europe #USA #VentureCapital #PrivateEquity #Founders #BuySide #SellSide#Divestitures #Corporate #Portfolio #Optimisation #SeriesA #SeriesB #Founders #SellSide #TechAssets #Fundraising#BuildBuyPartner #GoToMarket #PharmaTech #BioTech #Genomics #MedTech
Nelson Advisors LLP
Hale House, 76-78 Portland Place, Marylebone, London, W1B 1NT
Meet Us @ HealthTech events
October 2025
Healthcare Summit 2025, London, UK – Chairing the HealthTech M&A Panel
Healthcare Summit 2025, London, UK – Chairing the HealthTech Deal Structuring Panel
NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Conference, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Global Health Exhibition 2025, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Chairing the HealthTech M&A Panel
November 2025
HealthTech X Summit, London, UK – Chairing the “HealthTech predictions for 2026” Panel
MedTech Europe 2025, Valletta, Malta- Speaker on the "Startups, Corporates & Hospitals: How to Build Meaningful MedTech Partnerships" panel
MedTech Europe 2025, Valletta, Malta- Judge for the MedTech StartUp Pitch Awards
Leaders in Health Summit 2025
December 2025
HealthTech Forward 2025, Barcelona, Spain – Moderating the Health Data Under Attack” Panel
Healthcare Club, IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain
HealthInvestor Power List Awards 2025, London, UK – Judging Panel
