Lydia Shin Schroter is the co-founder of the New England Medical Innovation Center and a serial entrepreneur and investor. She leads NEMIC’S global programs, which bring foreign startups to Providence to help them break into the U.S. market. She recently traveled to South Korea for the 20th World Korean Business Convention, where she was invited to be a judge for a startup pitch competition. She discusses NEMIC’s accelerator programs, its global aspirations and Providence’s potential to be a hub for innovation.
PBN: How has the medical-technology landscape changed in Providence since you co-founded NEMIC, and how do you envision it changing in the years to come?
SCHROTER: My business partner, Aidan Petrie, and I founded the New England Medical Innovation Center as a nonprofit (501c3) in 2017. At NEMIC’s inception, Rhode Island was absent of medtech-focused training and mentoring services that supported entrepreneurs in this sector. Since then, NEMIC has developed and provided a structured Med Tech Leadership Program, highly effective mentoring and advisory services, and built a network of subject matter experts who are available to work with entrepreneurs.
Thanks to grant funding provided by the R.I. Commerce Corp. and the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, for the past three years NEMIC has trained more than 300 participants and provided mentoring and advisory services to more than 250 startups. To date, our cohort fellows have raised over $40 million. Next up, we plan on expanding our footprint with the launch of the NEMIC Virtual Classroom, making our Med Tech Leadership Program accessible anywhere, anytime.
The U.S. medtech industry has performed impressively throughout the pandemic. However, as the direct impact of the global crisis slowly subsides and an economic downturn is forecast in 2023, medtech startups will likely face new challenges in attracting capital to support venture and product development needs. More than ever, the state of Rhode Island needs to provide a larger scale of grant funding to maintain the momentum of developing the medtech startup ecosystem.
PBN: NEMIC offers several programs that support startups, both local and international. Why is nurturing medtech entrepreneurship so important?
SCHROTER: The U.S. health care system needs health care innovation to manage a range of issues such as addressing high health care costs, improving patient outcomes, reducing burnout and supporting access to quality health care services and providers. Medtech startups in various fields are working toward solving these and many other challenges but need the toolset to turn their vision into a reality.
Medtech innovations are also largely coming out of university and hospital research labs and are clinically and/or scientifically based. NEMIC’s expertise and network provide the business structure and lens that allows entrepreneurs to understand the business, regulatory, market, development and fundraising components that make such innovations investable.
PBN: You recently attended the 20th World Korean Business Convention in Ulsan, South Korea. Why is it important to bring NEMIC’s work and mission outside of the United States?
SCHROTER: The South Korean government has identified health care as a key sector for economic growth and job creation. To that end, they have invested billions of dollars in funding startups and small businesses in the form of grants, tax incentives, subsidized loans and other methods. A large portion of that money is allocated to support efforts to access global markets, particularly the U.S. They invite global accelerators to bid on government contract services, basing their selection on the quality of programs; mentor and investor pools; location; and the general startup ecosystem, which includes university and health care connections.
Back in 2017, it was a challenge persuading global partners to come to Rhode Island versus the more well-known hubs for medtech such as Cambridge, Mass., or Silicon Valley. However, through our business development efforts, our presence and network, and testimonials from past cohorts from Korea, it is getting easier to expand our client base in Korea and other countries.
Over the past four years, NEMIC has hosted more than 70 Korean startups here in Rhode Island, which has contributed to the local economic development through spending and accommodations in Providence.
PBN: What are some of the global collaborations and partnerships NEMIC has set up? How do they help further Providence’s role as a hub for innovation?
SCHROTER: We have created partnerships with various Korean government startup innovation agencies such as the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the Korean Venture Business Association, the Korean Institutes of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development, and the Ulsan University Innovation Center. In addition, our collaboration extends to local incubators and accelerator groups such as Actner Lab and StartupX.
Outside of Korea, we are also formulating partnerships with the Development Center for Biotechnology from Taiwan and seeking collaboration opportunities with various entities in India, Japan and Scotland. Global medtech startups help further solidify Providence’s role as a hub for medtech innovation in various aspects: stimulating research and development activities, advancing collaboration opportunities across academic, health care and private sectors, as well as utilizing local development, consulting and manufacturing capabilities. Global startup success stories in R.I. will also attract foreign private and corporate investors to this state.
PBN: What are you most excited to see in the medtech and innovation world in the coming future?
SCHROTER: Medtech innovation continues to shift as digital technologies, data science and other fields continue to converge, therefore creating new opportunities, including delivering personalized virtual care in the home and other nontraditional settings. Personally, I am very excited to get more involved with medtech startup companies that focus on solving challenges for women, mental health and brain health. Innovation that allows personalized health care management that enables access to health care services and providers is also a huge benefit.
For several years, NEMIC has played a leading role in the establishment of the R.I. medtech startup ecosystem. It is truly an exciting time for NEMIC to play an important role through collaborating with stakeholders and industry partners to take on a project to elevate R.I. as a major medtech hub.
(Update changes the reference made to the New England Medical Innovation Center in Schroter’s answer to the first question.)
Claudia Chiappa is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Chiappa@PBN.com.
