Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium Showcase Features Big Innovation for Kid-Sized Hearts

Children make up 22% of the US population, yet pediatric, medical device companies receive less than 2% of seed funding in the healthtech sector. It is a stark, frustrating market reality.

But last month in Cincinnati, the Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium (MPDC) 2026 Showcase proved that what pediatrics lack in venture capital, it more than makes up for in clinical urgency and human grit.

The event brought together over 120 clinicians, funders, and institutional partners with a singular, joyful mission: to get life-saving, child-sized cardiovascular technologies into the hands of the surgeons who need them.

“We’re the adults in the room. We have a responsibility not to fail the children.”
— David Eckmann, MD, PhD, MPDC Co-Lead

The $200K Pitch: Meet the 4 Innovators Scaling the Gap

Four standout startups walked away with $50,000 each in non-dilutive funding. (MPDC and the Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation (APDI) shared the tab on the awards.)

Above all else, two things make these companies remarkable. First, there’s the brilliant engineering. Second, many of the teams include founder-parents driven to find solutions for the cardiovascular conditions faced by their own children.

• AcQumen Medical (UltraTrac):
  The experience of founder Dori Jones in the NICU with her son (see here) led her and her team to design a device that delivers continuous cardiac metrics and blood-flow monitoring, without the use of a single needle or catheter.
• Bloom Standard (RAPIDscan Ultrasound System):
  Co-founded by Annamarie Saarinen, following her newborn daughter’s heart failure diagnosis. The Bloom team is building a rapid ultrasound system for early detection of heart and lung abnormalities. Because every minute matters.
• The Edelman Lab at Harvard-MIT:
  Their team is developing a breakthrough polymeric pediatric stent to treat congenital heart defects like aortic coarctation, that adapts as a child grows.
• PolyVascular (polymer-based pulmonary valve):
  Team leaders include VP of Investor Relations Katie Bales, whose son received a prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease. PolyVascular is developing a polymer valve designed to expand as the child grows, drastically reducing the physical and emotional burden of repeat open-heart surgeries.

Rising Tides: The Full Ecosystem on Display

While the pitch competition took center stage, the showcase also offered a window onto the regional surge in medtech momentum. Over the past year, MPDC has supported more than 135 companies and deployed nearly $500,000 to bolster Ohio’s stake in the pediatric- medtech sector.

The other pioneering teams who presented their work at the showcase include:

• AVaTAR MedTech
• CorVita Biomedical
• PeriCor
• Trémedics Medical Devices

The Power of Partnerships in Pediatrics

Pediatric innovation requires a network of highly specialized talent to navigate the regulatory and clinical hurdles unique to devices for the smallest of patients. This showcase was made possible by, among others, these three organizations:

1. Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium (MPDC)

MPDC is one of the five FDA-funded pediatric device consortia bringing together major Ohio children’s hospitals to advance pediatric medical device development. MPDC helps innovators secure grants, mentorship, clinical trial guidance, and direct intros to pediatric care experts.

2. Alliance for Pediatric Device Innovation (APDI)

Led by Children’s National Hospital, APDI is an FDA-funded consortium that acts as a master navigator for startups, guiding them all the way from early ideation and prototyping to regulatory approval and market readiness.

3. Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network (ACTION)

ACTION is an international learning network dedicated to improving critical outcomes for pediatric and congenital heart failure patients.

The Standing Invitation

“Pediatric device innovation requires strength in numbers: clinical insight, evidence generation, regulatory guidance, engineering expertise, funding, and institutional collaboration. The pediatric cardiovascular space is specialized, the evidence requirements are challenging, but the impact can be enormous.”
— Cory Criss, MD, Pediatric Surgeon at Nationwide Children’s Hospital & MPDC Co-Lead