MedTech Innovator Announces the 2026 Mid-Stage Grand Prize and Execution Award Winners

—Vektor Medical wins $200,000 Grand Prize, recognizing its AI-enabled technology that identifies likely arrhythmia sources from a standard 12-lead ECG—

—Lenneuro named the Execution Award Winner—

LOS ANGELES & SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MedTech Innovator (MTI), the world’s largest accelerator of medical technology companies, today announced that Vektor Medical won the 2026 Mid-Stage Grand Prize competition, and Lenneuro won the 2026 Execution Award during the MedTech Strategist Innovation Summit in San Diego. Vektor Medical received a $200,000 award as the Mid-Stage Grand Prize winner, and Lenneuro received a $25,000 award as the Execution Award winner. During each competition, finalists pitched their technologies and answered questions from a panel of industry experts. After the presentations, the audience voted in real time to select the winner.

“We are honored to receive MedTech Innovator's Mid-Stage Grand Prize, a recognition that reflects the dedication of our team and the clinicians who share our vision for transforming cardiac care,” said Rob Krummen, CEO of Vektor Medical. “Our mission has always been to make arrhythmia treatment more accurate, efficient, and accessible. Through vMap, we're bringing the power of AI-driven, non-invasive arrhythmia mapping into clinical practice, helping physicians make more informed treatment decisions and improving outcomes for patients. This award validates the importance of our work and the significant opportunity ahead to expand access to advanced mapping technology and advance the standard of care in electrophysiology worldwide.”

“Congratulations to Vektor Medical for winning this year’s Mid-Stage Grand Prize,” said Paul Grand, Founder & CEO of MedTech Innovator. “Vektor’s win shows that AI is delivering real clinical value in electrophysiology today. Its vMap system uses a standard 12-lead ECG to map arrhythmias across all four chambers of the heart in under a minute, before the patient enters the EP lab. That gives physicians a targeted strategy from the start, with the potential to improve outcomes for patients with complex rhythm disorders.”

MTI’s Mid-Stage Competition was established to allow the more mature medtech companies in the accelerator cohort to compete for recognition and cash awards. Besides Vektor Medical, this year’s Mid-Stage Competition finalists, selected from among 18 mid-stage companies in the cohort by a vote of MTI’s selection committee, were Axoft (Cambridge, Mass.), Portal Instruments (Cambridge, Mass.), Tau Medical (Yangsan, South Korea), and VIS (Plano, Texas). Each of the other finalists received a prize of $25,000.

Lenneuro was named winner of the MedTech Innovator Execution Award. The award recognizes strong leadership teams with value-adding innovations and a proven ability to execute their plans to improve patient care. Other Execution Award finalists were Cerevia Neurosciences (North Bethesda, Md.), GenAssist (St. Louis), Lucentia (New York), and Optheras (Birkerod, Denmark).

“Winning the Execution Award was the perfect way for Lenneuro to celebrate our first year as a company,” said Abbey Lenore, President & CEO of Lenneuro. “MTI’s stellar education and mentoring program taught me everything I needed to know as a new CEO and truly accelerated our growth. This award added some high-octane fuel to the well-oiled machine that is the Lenneuro team. We are so grateful!”

“Congratulations to Lenneuro for winning this year’s Execution Award,” said Grand. “Lenneuro’s win shows what happens when frontline clinicians solve a problem they deal with every shift. Its patented SnapCath system gives clinicians access to the catheter site without removing the adhesive base, replacing multi-component kits with one integrated device. It’s an elegant fix for a daily source of patient harm, and the speed at which this team has moved has been remarkable.”

Two distinguished panels of judges engaged in Q&A sessions with the finalists before the audience cast their votes. The Mid-Stage Grand Prize finalists were questioned by Mark Juravic, Director, New Business Development, Dexcom; Imran Hamid, Senior Director, Venture Investments, LivaNova; Rhiya Pau, Principal, Laerdal Million Lives Fund; and Milo Bissin, Managing Director, Life Science and Healthcare Venture Banking, Stifel Bank. The Execution Award expert judge panelists were Bill Perry, Chief Investment Officer of the ASPS Venture Fund and Lead of the ASPS Accelerator; Beth Rose, VP Strategy & Business Development, Becton Dickinson; Swathi Ravi, Director, Exploration, Edwards Lifesciences; and Abigail Hunter-Syed, Head of Olympus Innovation Ventures, Olympus Ventures.

These two competitions conclude the MTI accelerator for 2026, which included 65 cohort companies. Featuring best-in-class emerging medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies from around the globe, the cohort received unparalleled visibility and access to leading medtech manufacturers, providers, investors, and other industry stakeholders.

Applications are open for MTI’s 2027 Cohort. Startups developing transformative medical technologies are encouraged to apply at medtechinnovator.org/apply.

About MedTech Innovator

MedTech Innovator is the world’s largest accelerator of medical device, digital health, and diagnostic companies. Its mission is to improve human health by accelerating the growth of companies transforming patient care. MTI has been a catalyst for groundbreaking healthcare solutions, sourcing more than 20,000 applicants and fostering the growth of 957 graduates. Alumni have collectively raised $12 billion in follow-on funding, seen 66 acquisitions, and introduced 600+ products to the market, improving the health of millions worldwide. For more information about MedTech Innovator, its annual programs, portfolio of industry-leading startups, and insights on trends, visit MTI’s website, follow MTI on LinkedIn, and subscribe to its monthly newsletter.