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Technical.ly Baltimore: Meet the 20 most promising Baltimore tech companies: RealLIST Startups 2021

Monday, January 25, 2021

Technical.ly Baltimore's fifth edition of top Baltimore startups included two companies affiliated with Unviersity of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB): Protaryx, a UM Ventures startup developing a device for beating heart cardiology procedures, and MissionGO, which partners with UMB startup MediGO to revolutionize the way human organs are moved for transplant. Read the full story from Technical.ly Baltimore.

Protaryx Medical

At this point, medical devices are a firmly entrenched startup strength for Baltimore. There was always scientific muscle coming out of institutions like University of Maryland, Baltimore and Johns Hopkins, and in the last few years the universities have thrown resources behind commercializing those inventions. Recently, we’ve seen startups get products to market and exit to leaders in the field. One effect of that is a growing number of executives with experience to lead new companies. The progression is apparent with Protaryx Medical, which was founded by two of the key innovators behind Harpoon Medical and its 2017 acquisition by Edwards Life SciencesUniversity of Maryland School of Medicine Chief of Cardiac Surgery Dr. James S. Gammie, and CEO Terri Burke. With support from the university’s UM Ventures, the company made progress on its device for beating heart cardiology procedures, which is designed to reimagine access to the left heart, and raised $8.3 million. It’s among a new generation of companies in the city bringing new technology to decades-old medical procedures.

 

MissionGo

A 2019 drone flight that delivered a kidney across Baltimore to the University of Maryland Medical Center was the kind of tech milestone that drew international attention, and a Technical.ly award. Beneath the headlines, there was a collaboration between a host of local leaders from the University of Maryland, medical, innovation and flight community working on changing how donated organs are transported ahead of transplant. That work has now resulted in MissionGo, a Canton-based startup that brought another milestone with a flight in Nevada this year. It also has a sister company called MediGo, which is working on the logistics portion of transporting human organs. We’ve seen drones used in lots of ways over the last decade, but when it comes to helping humanity, medical transport of life-saving organs rises to the top. A third company based at the same location, called AlarisPro, provides software for fleet management and maintenance of unmanned systems. It all points to a UAS hub developing on Baltimore’s waterfront.