Ryan Myers, CEO and co-founder of CranioSense (Photo courtesy Jodie Andruskevich for UMass Lowell)
A medical device startup aiming to improve brain health won the 2025 Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) $200K Challenge.
Entrepreneurs from more than 175 companies representing 12 countries and 22 U.S. states entered the contest, vying for the chance to present their innovations in the finals, which were held at UMass Lowell on Wednesday, March 26 before a crowd of nearly 200 people.
This year’s top winner was CranioSense, a company founded in Bedford, Massachusetts, that is developing a portable, noninvasive device for monitoring pressure around the brain, which, when elevated, can lead to serious health issues, including brain damage, coma and death. The startup will receive $50,000 in seed funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), the event’s top and founding sponsor, along with in-kind support from the medical technology consulting firm bene : studio.
“To walk away with first place from the M2D2 $200K Challenge means the world to us as we build our company from the ground up,” said Ryan Myers, the company’s CEO and co-founder. “The support from the M2D2 community and the sponsors goes a long way in advancing innovations in medical devices and biotechnology.”
Second place went to Limax Biosciences, a Boston-based startup developing a hydrogel for rapid and effective bleeding control in surgical and trauma settings. The company received in-kind support from multiple program partners. Sports Impact Technologies, which is developing a behind-the-ear wearable that detects head impacts in real time, placed third. The Ireland-based startup won in-kind support from Mintz and bene : studio.
In addition to the top three winners, M2D2 awarded a $25,000 cash prize to Lia EyeCare, an Ireland-based ophthalmology startup revolutionizing the treatment of dry eye disease through a neurological approach to natural tear stimulation. MLSC awarded a $25,000 cash prize to Materialize Bio, a spinout of Tufts University that is developing a novel 3D manufacturing method that preserves the regenerative, antimicrobial and biodegradable properties of natural biopolymers.
“The MLSC is incredibly proud to continue to partner on the $200K M2D2 Challenge to showcase innovations reshaping our healthcare and life sciences ecosystems,” said MLSC President and CEO Kirk Taylor, MD. “M2D2 and our broader startup community play critical roles in ensuring we can continue to own the number one life sciences position nationally and abroad.”
A partnership between UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester and UMass Lowell, M2D2 helps startups in the medical device and biotech fields bring their innovations from concept to completion. Now in its 14th year, the annual $200K Challenge forecasts the future of health care, showcasing new products and technologies being developed by competition entrants. Participants pitch their ideas before expert judges to win a share of more than $200,000 in sponsored services and $100,000 in cash awards to advance their inventions.
From left, Ilsa Webeck, vice president of commercialization strategy at Simbex, Kristian DiMatteo, COO and co-founder of CranioSense, Ryan Myers, CEO and co-founder of CranioSense, Steven Tello, M2D2 co-founder and professor at UMass Lowell, Cinar Efe Sumer, senior manager of scientific innovation and strategic investments at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and Asmi Chakraborty, director of scientific innovation and strategic investments at the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. (Photo courtesy Jodie Andruskevich for UMass Lowell)
Contest sponsors included Asians In Biotech, bene : studio, Hologic, Inertia, Latinos In Bio, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Medical Development Group of Boston, Mintz, MPR, RESI Conference, RQMIS, Sallop, StitchDX, The MedTech Conference, UMass CAPCaT, Vets RISE and Withum.
M2D2 launched in 2007 to grow and support the medtech ecosystem.
“M2D2 helps drive the Massachusetts life science industry by connecting life science startups, established life science companies, investors and researchers together to move life-saving innovations to practice. The $200K Challenge highlights the commitment of UMass Lowell, UMass Chan Medical School and our many partners to maintaining Massachusetts’s leadership as the place to be for life science innovation and entrepreneurship,” said M2D2 Co-founder and Co-director Steven Tello, a professor of entrepreneurship in the Manning School of Business at UMass Lowell.
“A real strength of M2D2 is that we provide startups with the expertise and resources available at UMass Lowell and UMass Chan Medical School. The combination of clinical, business and engineering support gives companies what they need to successfully commercialize their technology,” added M2D2 Co-director Nathaniel Hafer, director of operations in the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UMass Chan, where he is an associate professor of molecular medicine.
Over the past 18 years, M2D2 has vetted more than 280 medical-device and biotech ventures for inclusion in its programs and provided support to more than 100 startups. In total, M2D2 resident companies have secured more than $190 million in external funding for their innovations.
“M2D2 is proud to play a role in advancing breakthrough health care technologies from around the globe,” said UMass Lowell Executive Director for Innovation and New Ventures Mary Ann Picard. “We are thriving thanks to the shared vision of our partners in biotech, medical devices and beyond. With the generous support of corporate and government collaborators, we’re able to move innovation forward and make a lasting impact on the future of health care.”
About M2D2
M2D2, the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center, is a joint initiative of the Lowell and Worcester campuses of the UMass system. Its aim is to help new biotech and medical device entrepreneurs develop products every step of the way, from proof-of-concept to commercialization. Affiliated faculty and staff have assisted more than 100 start-up companies and entrepreneurs since the program kicked off in the spring of 2007. www.uml.edu/m2d2.
