Peoria’s BioInspire Welcomes New Companies

News Release

FOR RELEASE:  Immediately

CONTACT:  Kristina Carlberg

Public Information Officer

p. 623.773.7840

e. kristina.carlberg@peoriaaz.gov

Peoria’s BioInspire Welcomes New Companies

PEORIA, Ariz. (April 6, 2016) – BioInspire, in a public-private partnership with the City of Peoria and BioAccel, welcomed three new companies this month to one of the state’s only biomedical device business development accelerators. Relocating from Phoenix, Scottsdale and Albuquerque, Apollo Resource Corporation (ARC), Life 365/Rain, and Saguaro Medical joined the growing portfolio of medical device and medical digital and wearable technology in Peoria.

“We have to be innovative and laser-target the industries of the future to secure the viability of our city, and BioInspire is certainly an example of bold forethought to chart the course for high-quality jobs down the line,” said Peoria Mayor Cathy Carlat. “That planning and yeoman’s work is paying off, as entrepreneurs are recognizing that Peoria is the place in Arizona to launch, foster and grow their biotech concepts.”

BioInspire is an innovative program focused on health care bioscience entrepreneurship, accelerating development of early-stage biomedical device companies with startup operations located in Peoria, Arizona.

“As the first wave of biomedical device and technology startups move through commercialization programs, BioAccel is pleased to partner with City of Peoria to help evolve and grow the medtech ecosystem and actively recruit new companies to BioInspire as space becomes available,” said MaryAnn Guerra, BioAccel chief executive officer. “These innovative companies are willing to relocate to Peoria due to the comprehensive package of support provided by the city of Peoria.”

Along with the nine other companies already in the BioInspire incubator, the three new companies are working on groundbreaking technology and products for the medical industry. ARC is creating a thinner, lighter, longer carbon nanotube thread to be used for a variety of medical and high-tech applications, including aerospace, microelectronics, medical device and biotech industries. Life 365 has developed Rain, a platform that provides cost-effective and “lite-touch” technology to monitor individual health data and connect to monitoring systems and electronic records. Saguaro Medical is currently working on a liquid embolic designed to treat abnormalities in the human vasculature.

“It is exciting to see how BioInspire is gaining a national reputation for attracting innovative startups to Peoria,” said Scott Whyte, director of economic development services for Peoria. “With leadership from our partner, BioAccel, it is our intention that supporting some of the initial seed funding for BioInspire businesses will keep these companies here in Peoria and create the high-tech jobs we desire.”

Unique to BioInspire is its focus on medical devices and helping qualified entrepreneurs receive funding to validate their technologies through proof-of-concept process, thereby facilitating opportunities for growth. Since the incubator facility’s opening in 2012, BioAccel has issued $2.4 million in seed and early-stage development funding for companies at BioInspire. This funding has resulted in the companies obtaining a total of more than $14 million in additional downstream funding from other investment sources.

BioInspire is located in Plaza del Rio, a 185-acre medical hub in Peoria. The facility consists of 6,700 square feet of mixed office and lab space. To learn more about the BioInspire incubator or BioAccel, visit Peoria’s Economic Development Services website at www.peoriaed.com/invest.

About BioAccel

BioAccel is the leading organization in the United States dedicated to developing a robust bioscience ecosystem including entrepreneur development, and creation of a validated pipeline of commercially viable bioscience technology to transform health care delivery. The mission is to work with qualifying entrepreneurs and their early-stage bioscience technology and medical device companies to identify start-up funding, as well as provide training and mentorship to accelerate commercialization, improve healthcare through innovation, and diversify economic development. Since inception in 2009, BioAccel has supported the launch of 17 game-changing healthcare device companies through early-stage funding, mentoring, and training, filling an unmet need in Arizona’s emerging bioscience sector. For more information regarding BioAccel, please visit www.bioaccel.org.