4 Keys To Succeeding As A MedTech Startup

Posted on Feb 6 2019 - 6:06pm by Editorial Staff

The medical device market is booming, opening up new opportunities for entrepreneurs. An aging population, advances in healthcare technology and growing expenditures on healthcare are among the factors driving the growth of the market. With an annual compound growth rate of 4.5 percent, the medical device market will be worth an estimated $409.5 billion by 2023, ReportLinker projects. Opportunities are especially abundant for startups proficient in cutting-edge technologies such as 3-D printing, nanotechnology, wearables and big data analytics. Digital healthcare startups raised a record high of $11.5 billion in 2017, according to Black Book.

In order to capitalize on these emerging opportunities, you need a viable plan for getting into the medical technology market. Here are four keys to succeeding as a medical technology startup.

Staring With Medical Market Research

Innovation is the key to standing out in the competitive medical device market. Effective innovation starts with good market research. Medical market research aims to answer key questions about your market, such as its size, key trends, who your potential customers are and who your competitors are. A good way to begin market research is by reviewing free government resources such as the SBA’s Business Data and Statistics page and U.S. Census Bureau data. Additionally, many private resources are available on the medical device industry, such as the GlobalData Medical Intelligence Center, MarketResearch.com and D&B Hoovers.

Developing Innovative Medical Products

Once you’ve identified some market niches, there are a number of strategies you can use to develop innovative products to fill your market’s needs. One way to innovate is to apply new technology to develop medical solutions. For instance, iTBra has developed a wearable bra insert as a way to detect breast cancer early. Applying new materials to develop solutions is another way to innovate. For instance, medical-grade o-rings designed to be biocompatible can be used for devices such as medical pumps, IV devices and implants.

Meeting Medical Standards

Once you’ve got a viable product, it’s critical to subject it to rigorous testing. First, it’s vital to do efficacy testing to make sure your product works. Additionally, the FDA has established medical device regulation standards to ensure the sterility and safety of medical devices as well as medical packaging. Testing standards are rigorous and require significant expertise. The best way to assure that your product meets applicable standards and regulatory requirements is to rely on professional medical device testing services.

Marketing Medical Products

Throughout the development of your device, it’s important to keep in mind how you will ultimately market your product. The market for medical devices includes medical device manufacturers, healthcare providers, primary and secondary care facilities such as hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and healthcare consumers. You should have identified which segments composed your target audience during your initial market research. In order to reach your target audience, medical device marketer Joe Hage says the first step is to use sound SEO to attract visitors to your website. In order to keep visitors on your site, it’s also important that your content is engaging and addresses what your visitors truly want. While visitors are on your site, you should take the opportunity to collect information from them for follow-up marketing. Hage suggests initially only asking for an email address rather than requiring visitors to fill out an extensive form.

Market research forms the foundation for the development of innovative products. You can develop innovative products by drawing from new technologies and by using new materials. Doing rigorous testing assures that your product works and meets safety standards. A smart marketing strategy powered by SEO, engaging content and contact information collection will help create opportunities to sell your product to your target audience.

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Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.