Triangle medtechs earn spots in prestigious MTI Accelerator Cohort
SonoVascular Inc. and OsteoCure Therapeutics, both based in the Triangle, have been selected for the highly competitive MedTech Innovator (MTI) 2026 Accelerator Cohort, highlighting the depth and momentum of North Carolina’s rapidly growing medtech ecosystem.
The 65 companies selected for the 2026 cohort, representing the top 4% of 1,835 global applications, will participate in MTI’s four-month program designed and proven to de-risk medtech innovation and accelerate the path to U.S. market success. MTI is the world’s largest and most impactful accelerator for medical technology startups.
During the four-month accelerator program, the cohort gains access to MTI’s proprietary platform, mentors, coaches, and a peer network to identify strategies and planning to avoid costly delays and increase the chance of success in raising capital and accessing the U.S. market.
The MTI accelerator culminates with a series of showcases and competitions where companies receive industry visibility and compete for a share of $800,000 in funding. The MTI early-stage finals competition will be held at The MedTech Conference on October 20, 2026.
A better treatment for blood clots
SonoVascular Inc. is a Chapel Hill company developing the SonoThrombectomy System, a single-session catheter-based treatment for venous thromboembolism or blood clots. The system is designed to be safer, more effective, and less expensive than current treatment methods.
“We’re grateful to the MedTech Innovator team, mentors, investors, reviewers and broader ecosystem for this opportunity," said Daniel Estay, the company's founder and CEO. "We look forward to engaging with the MTI community, gaining valuable industry feedback and continuing to advance our mission to improve treatment options for patients with venous thromboembolism.”
The SonoThrombectomy System works by delivering ultrasound energy and microbubbles directly to the clot through the RESONATOR catheter. This induces microbubble-mediated cavitation, which mechanically breaks down the clot. A low dose of thrombolytic drug is also infused with the microbubbles to help further improve clot treatment.
In 2024, SonoVascular received a $350,000 Small Business Research Loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center for clinical studies.
So far, the company has completed a first-in-human (FIH) clinical study in deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and the SonoThrombectomy System demonstrated excellent safety and efficacy outcomes, reporting complete thrombus resolution, no blood loss, and no evidence of adverse effects on the vein wall or venous valves or other safety concerns.
Restoring skeletal health
OsteoCure Therapeutics is a Duke University spinout developing first-in-class adenosine-based therapeutics to reverse bone loss and restore skeletal health, with osteoporosis as the lead program. The company’s platform is also being applied to orthopedic therapies designed to accelerate bone repair, reduce fracture pain, and improve outcomes for patients recovering from orthopedic injury and surgery.
“Being selected for the MedTech Innovator 2026 Accelerator Cohort is a major milestone for OsteoCure as we advance our adenosine-based platform to address some of the most urgent unmet needs in skeletal health,” said Hunter Newman, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of OsteoCure. “We are excited to work with MTI’s network of strategics, investors, clinicians and regulatory experts to sharpen our development path and accelerate our lead osteoporosis program toward patients.”
In 2024, OsteoCure received a $350,000 NCBiotech Small Business Research Loan to support activities related to the development of OctA1.
A pipeline of medtech success
North Carolina's presence in the 2026 cohort is part of a broader track record of medtech innovation. Several companies from MTI's 2025 accelerator class also hailed from the state, highlighting a steady pipeline of emerging technologies and entrepreneurs. Those companies included CytexOrtho, inSoma Bio, SutureTech and VQ Biomedical.
“Year over year, North Carolina continues to strengthen its position as one of the nation’s premier ecosystems for novel medtech innovation,” said Greta Brunet, senior director of investments in the Emerging Company Development group at NCBiotech. “With more than 160 medical device and diagnostics companies doing business here, the state has shown that it has the infrastructure medtech innovators need to scale and grow from early development through commercialization.”
Durham-based SutureTech Inc. was recognized as one of just five finalists in MTI’s 2025 Early-Stage Grand Prize competition, receiving $25,000 in nondilutive funding. The company is developing tendon and ligament implants and surgical instruments to support efficient, reliable procedures across a range of orthopedic applications.
“Participation in the accelerator helped advance our company by sharpening our fundraising narrative, strengthening our commercialization plan and expanding our network within the medtech community,” said Oke Anakwenze, M.D., founder and CEO of SutureTech Inc. “It also gave us additional validation that SutureTech is addressing a meaningful problem in orthopedic sports medicine and that there is a strong need for more efficient, less invasive soft tissue fixation solutions.”
In 2025, SutureTech received a $350,000 Small Business Research Loan from NCBiotech to support the commercialization of its flagship product, the RapidFix All-Suture Dual Anchor Mattress Repair System. The RapidFix system is used to secure soft tissue to bone using a dual-anchor, all-suture design that provides compression and stabilization at the repair site.
Anakwenze says that the company has benefited from the state’s unique combination of clinical expertise, engineering talent, research institutions, manufacturing resources, experienced operators, and early-stage investors.
“For a company like SutureTech, this matters because building a medical device company requires more than an idea; it requires access to clinicians, regulatory and quality expertise, product development talent, capital and a network that understands the long path from concept to commercialization,” said Anakwenze.
Read more:
Three Triangle MedTech startups score big with key accelerator
Chapel Hill-based SonoVascular is developing a new hybrid technology to treat blood clots