St. Teresa Medical, a medical-device startup from Maple Grove, competes tonight in the final round of "Get in the Ring: The American Startup Clash." Folks can watch the stream at 7 p.m. Central Time and cast votes for their favorite startup at www.Kauffman.org/GITR.
The company is commercializing a new technology called FASTCLOT that stops bleeding more quickly and has less potential for adverse side effects than current products, according to company officials.
FASTCLOT combines a fiber dressing "delivery system" with two human-derived clot-forming proteins. When applied, the dressing rapidly dissolves and speeds the formation of a clot over a bleeding injury. It is also quickly absorbed. Other such products are either applied as a patch or with a syringe, making them less user-friendly for the surgeon, St. Teresa said. The product can be used in surgical, trauma, dental, veterinary, military and consumer applications.
The company has conducted 12 pre-clinical studies. Two FASTCLOT products are being used on dogs and horses with "excellent results," officials said. The company anticipates European regulatory approval for human use in mid-2014 and in the United States in early 2016.
St. Teresa Medical was founded 2010. The company is one of eight organizations from seven states facing off in the final round tonight. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is hosting the first-ever U.S. competition and will live stream the competition for the title of America's most promising entrepreneur.
A cash prize of $10,000 will be awarded to the top U.S. finisher; $5,000 will go to the runner-up. Online viewers will be able to vote for the "audience favorite" via a special URL to be announced during the event.
In addition to the cash prize, the startup named U.S. champion will travel the next day to the Nov. 22 Get in the Ring global finals in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. That entrepreneur will face seven other international finalists, selected from 30 participating nations, for a chance to secure angel investment from a potential pool of €1,000,000, or approximately $1.3 million.
The U.S. finalists were selected from 283 applicants from around the country. They are:
