News

Plio Surgical has been awarded the highly competitive Women TechEU grant, one of only two Irish recipients among over 800 applications from across the EU in the 2nd call.

Women TechEU is a European Commission program designed to support women-led deep-tech businesses with tailored mentoring, support and €75,000 in non-dilutive funding. Its mission is to create a more gender-balanced entrepreneurship ecosystem.

This recognition underscores both the impact of our work in minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery and the vital role of diversity in innovation.

SMARTHEAL

Plio Surgical is proud to announce that it has been awarded a highly competitive EIC Transition Grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC):

https://eic.ec.europa.eu/news/european-innovation-council-transition-accelerating-40-groundbreaking-technologies-lab-market-2025-01-22_en

The €2.5m funding will support the next phase of Plio Surgical’s product development, enabling the integration of micro-sensors on Plio’s magnetic anastomosis implant.

Cristina Purtill, CEO of Plio Surgical, expressed gratitude for the award: “Anastomotic leaks remain one of the most significant challenges in gastrointestinal surgery, with life-threatening consequences for patients and increased costs for healthcare systems. Winning the EIC Transition Grant is a testament to the potential impact of our innovation. We look forward to collaborate with the exceptional teams at Trinity College Dublin, IIT and Amsterdam UMC to accelerate the development of a smart magnetic implant that not only enhances anastomosis healing but also addresses the critical unmet need for real-time leak detection in gastrointestinal surgery.”

Plio Surgical are delighted to be announced as the winner of the InterTradeIreland all-island Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition, walking away with a cash prize of €100,000 to invest in their business. Plio Surgical also won the Best Early-Stage category on the night while Cotter Agritech won Best New Start category on the night, also taking home €50,000.

The Seedcorn competition aims to improve the investor readiness of innovative new-start and early-stage businesses across the island. As well as a substantial prize fund of €300,000, participants in the competition benefit from feedback at all stages, access to business planning workshops, unique networking opportunities and access to angel investors, and mentorship support throughout the competition.

Intertrade Ireland Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition.

Plio Surgical are thrilled to be a finalist for the Irish Times Innovation Awards in the category of Life Sciences & Healthcare. The team are thrilled with the opportunity and are hoping for a win at the final on the 13^th November in Dublin.

“When surgeons remove a segment of someone’s intestine – an operation known as an anastomosis – they typically reconnect the healthy ends of the tube using staples, or with stitches known as sutures.

PLIO Surgical is developing a magnetic implant to make that repair easier and more effective. Two magnetic rings attach to the internal surfaces of the remaining tubes, then clasp together to reconnect them….”

 Irish Times Innovation Award

We are thrilled that our CEO, Cristina Purtill was awarded 3^rd prize in the 2024 European Prize for Women Innovators the EIT Women Leadership category. Jean-Marc Bourez, CEO, EIT Health said: “We’re thrilled to see four EIT Health-supported innovators being celebrated by EIC and EIT! To ensure that healthcare innovations meet the needs of all, inclusive innovation is vital and awards like this help increase the visibility of women-led start-ups developing transformative solutions. It makes me so proud to see women innovators whose business growth our programmes have supported being recognised at a pan-European level.” The entire Plio Surgical team takes immense pride in Cristina’s well-deserved recognition.

Plio Surgical was invited to present our magnetic anastomosis innovation at the SAGES Surgical Disruptive Technology Summit in Houston, Texas. The conference featured captivating discussions on the future of innovations advancing gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgery, with an emphasis on minimally invasive and less invasive interventions. Our team found immense value in engaging with surgeons and industry experts, fostering insightful dialogues on the critical unmet needs of safer anastomoses and preventing, recognising and managing leaks.

Plio Surgical was delighted to be featured in the Irish Times New Innovators section: “Trinity College spin-out aims to make colon cancer surgery safer and improve long-term patient outcomes”.

“When surgeons remove a diseased part of the intestine during gastric surgery, the reconnection of the two healthy ends, usually with suturing or stapling, is called an anastomosis. When the procedure goes well, the patient is ready to go home within a few days, but if there is a leak at the surgery site this is a potentially serious complication that requires further intervention and a much longer hospital stay. Stepping up to solve the leakage problem is PLIO Surgical, a Trinity College spin-out which has developed a minimally invasive medical device that provides a safer and more effective alternative to traditional closing techniques for this type of challenging surgery…“

Plio Surgical participated in the Mayo Clinic Beahrs Surgical Innovation Summit, alongside a select group of early-stage start-ups invited to this exclusive event in Rochester, MN.

Mayo Clinic, renowned as the #1 hospital in the United States, organises this summit with the goal to unite visionary surgeons with cutting-edge medical start-ups to work together to advance the future of surgical care.

Plio Surgical joined IDE Group’s Building Better Futures for Health Challenge 2023 in Sydney. We’re excited to share that we won the People’s Choice Award, securing €10,000 in IDE Group services. This competition accelerates support for MedTech startups like ours, aiding Research and Development projects. We’re grateful for this opportunity and look forward to collaborating with IDE Group to advance our initiatives further.

Cristina had the honour of serving as a panellist at the GI & Colorectal Surgery Medtech Innovator Panel during the Advamed Medtech Conference in Anaheim, California. Alongside esteemed entrepreneurs Dean Hu, Jill Kelley, Declan Soden and Mirren Mandalia, Cristina engaged in insightful discussions covering various aspects of gastrointestinal healthcare. It was an enriching opportunity to delve into the latest innovations and challenges within the field, contributing to the advancement of GI care.

Plio Surgical was honoured to be selected as one of five finalists for the 2023 Vision Award competition at the MedTech Innovator Summit in Palo Alto, California.

The selection process involved an evaluation by the cohort leadership teams and partners, of each company against three criteria:

• Personal investment in the company
• Desirability as an employer
• Admirable qualities such as genuine, collaborative, and passion

The finalists (270Surgical, JuneBrain, Mach32, Plio Surgical and StrokeDx) were granted a pivotal platform to convey their visions at the Wilson Sonsini MedTech conference in San Francisco in front of a distinguished panel of judges, which included representatives from Johnson & Johnson, Medmarc and Edwards Lifesciences.

Paul Grand, CEO of MedTech Innovator, aptly captured the essence of this extraordinary event, stating, “Each of the competitors had a passionate and compelling story to tell about how their technologies will solve big challenges in healthcare.”

This recognition further validates our unwavering pursuit of excellence and our commitment to driving positive change within the healthcare landscape.

The Pilo Surgical team are delighted to officially announce that they have been selected for the MedTech Innovator (https://medtechinnovator.org ) 2023 Accelerator. The MedTech Innovator Accelerator is the world’s largest accelerator of medical technology companies, providing unparalleled visibility and access to leading medtech manufacturers, providers, investors, and other industry stakeholders. MedTech Innovator will additionally award $800,000 in non-dilutive funding to winners of its competitions throughout the 2023 program.

Plio Surgical will partake in the four-month program along with 60 other successful companies. The program will launch at the Innovator Summit in Mountain View, California, on the 14-15^th June and will pitch at the WSGR Medical Device Conference (https://mdc.wsgrevents.com/medtech-innovator/) on the 16^th June in San Francisco.

The Plio Surgical team, including Cristina Purtill (CEO), Gareth Gallagher (CTO) and Stephen Johnson Barker (Lead Design Engineer), undertook the second round of pre-clinical porcine animal studies in Strasbourg’s IHU facility. Supported by Dr Lee Swanstrom and Dr Juan Verde, the Plio implant was successfully deployed to form a small bowel end-to-end anastomosis in two live pigs. The animal’s health and condition will be monitored over the coming 30 days.

Plio Surgical are delighted to be selected as finalists and receive the opportunity to pitch at the following days MedTech Strategist Conference. After an intense but immensely valuable day of pitching and engaging with the carefully selected MedTech Innovator judging groups, it was just rewards to receive the news of success during the reception held at the world-renowned setting of Trinity College’s Long Room Library.

Plio Surgical were one of five selected finalists from a group of over 30 start-ups who attended the MedTech Innovator event. The finalists will pitch to a full audience and panel of experts for a chance to win the coveted first place in the MedTech Innovator Accelerator Programme.

The Plio Surgical team were in attendance at this year’s SAGES annual meeting, held in Montreal Canada. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to speak with KoL’s, understand the latest trends in gastrointestinal surgery and speak to industry leads.

The Plio Surgical team were in attendance at the ESCP (European Society of Coloproctology, https://www.escp.eu.com) annual meeting, held in Dublin. The conference provided an excellent opportunity to speak with KoL’s, understand the latest trends in gastrointestinal surgery and speak to industry leads.

Plio Surgical are proud to announce that CEO, Cristina Purtill was selected to participate in the 1^st cohort of the GRIT International Female Accelerator (https://grit-femaleaccelerator.com).

GRIT’s mission is to bridge the gap in gender divide and promote female founders working in underrepresented industries such as digital health and life science. We work with female founders to develop the key skills and confidence required to build a global organisation and attract investment.

Having been selected to progress to the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) Health Catapult UK and Ireland regional final, Pilo Surgical CEO Cristina Purtill pitched remotely over Zoom to a panel of multidisciplinary expert judges. The 5-minute pitch and 5-minute Q&A is the last opportunity to be selected for the Catapult mentorship and training program. Those selected will go forth to represent their region at the semi-final stage, where they will again pitch to an investor jury for a chance to secure a place at the finals, held at the Bits and Pretzels HealthTech event (https://www.bitsandpretzels.com/healthtech).

The EIT Health Catapult (https://eithealth.eu/programmes/catapult/) is a competition and training program for Medtech and Lifesciences start-ups, which awards the best business concepts and innovative technologies. The successful start-ups receive focused training and support, fostering their development, networking and provides excellent pan-European and investor exposure. Finalists pitch at the Bits & Pretzels HealthTech event as they go head-to-head for cash and industry prizes, and the opportunity to be displayed on the New York Nasdaq Tower.

CEO, Cristina Purtill, pitched the Plio anastomosis implant to a full house at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, on the evening of the first day of the MedTech Strategist Conference. Plio Surgical were one of five start-ups selected by the large cohort of judges made up of industry leaders, strategists and investors. The night provided an opportunity to showcase the Plio technology and ambition, gaining some well received feedback from the expert panel and members of the audience. The winner was decided by an audience vote and unfortunately, Plio did not come out on top, but would like to sincerely like to congratulate Xtremedy Medical who came out as winners on the night.

The team at Plio Surgical are delighted to announce the appointment of Gareth Gallagher as CTO and to welcome him to the team. Gareth has an excellent track record in developing diagnostic and surgical devices for the gastrointestinal tract. He has previously worked in both start-up and multinational Medtech companies, experiencing each stage of the device development cycle from concept to pre-market approval.

Dr Faraz Khan, resident surgeon at the Mater Hospital Dublin, led the usability testing and device feedback session alongside the Plio Surgical team. The longstanding collaboration with Dr Khan and the UCD Centre for Precision Surgery has been an invaluable assist in the development of the Plio implant and delivery tool. This study marks the 5^th collaborative engagement held in the Maters surgical training labs. These valuable porcine model and cadaver session provide device usability assessment and a opportunity for direct end-user discussions.

The Plio implant device was successfully deployed and tested in a pre-clinical animal study performed under the guidance of renowned surgeons Dr Lee Swanstrom and Dr Juan Verde at IHU, Strasbourg.  The surgeons deployed the implants in two live pigs forming a small bowel end-to-end anastomosis. The animal’s health and condition will be monitored over the coming 30 days.

Plio Surgical are proud to announce that CEO, Cristina Purtill was approved to join the 1^st cohort of the EIC Women in Leadership Programme (https://eic.ec.europa.eu/eic-funding-opportunities/business-acceleration-services/eic-women-leadership-programme_en#alumni-group) and has successfully completed all activities. This EIC programme, in partnership with the EIT, aims to support the role of women in innovation and tech, offering skills enhancement training and networking opportunities to women researchers and entrepreneurs in leadership roles.