EL PASO, TX –October 22,2018 – The Medical Center of the Americas Foundation hosted its second investor pitch event of the year where startups from its first Proof-of-Concept Competition vied for a total of $50,000 in pre-seed funding.

Demo Day 1.1, held at the Cardwell Collaborative on October 18, focused on innovation, emerging enterprise, and supporting entrepreneurship in El Paso. Innovators and entrepreneurs who have been incubated at the MCA for the past year were invited to pitch to investors their newest tech ventures and compete for MCA prize money.

Out of the eight startups that pitched their ideas and progress to the audience, four were awarded with money to continue developing their businesses which address problems in our community, region, and the world.

Atlas Regeneration Technologies, coming in first place, was awarded $20,000 to commercialize a sensor invented at UTEP that measures water hardness to improve the performance of water softening systems. OTEN Medical was awarded $15,000 to further its patented device that takes images and properly dries the feet of diabetic patients to mitigate ulcers. VemiDoc, an app that extends telemedicine to bilingual populations, was awarded $10,000, and finally, Star Innovations, who seeks to monitor our cumulative daily exposure to UV light, received a fourth-place prize of $5,000.

“A vital part of the MCA mission is to provide support to early stage technology ventures as they launch their companies, reach their first commercialization milestones, and begin raising capital,” said Jeff Fuchsberg, Senior Director of Innovations Projects for the MCA. “We are proud to be investing in the future of El Paso, and look forward to see the impact that will be made by these bright and talented entrepreneurs.”