EL PASO, TX – April 3, 2019 – Last month, MCA Innovation Center Startup, OTEN Medical, traveled to Austin, Texas to attend the renowned South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference to network, learn, and market themselves, their product, and the MCA Innovation Center. The OTEN Medical team made such an impact at the conference that they continue to see benefits of the connections they made nearly a month later.

OTEN Medical is one of the first startups to have graduated from the MCA Innovation Center’s programs. The OTEN team developed the DiFoBod (Diabetic Foot Body Center), a patented device that properly dries the feet of diabetic patients to mitigate ulcers, provides clinical quality images remotely to a patient’s physician, and integrates glucometer data and vital signs into a single platform. This device ultimately seeks to prevent ulcerations, infections and hospital readmissions and to provide a better quality of life for patients suffering from diabetes.

OTEN Medical attended the SXSW conference to participate in the opportunities that the conference had to offer and to market themselves and the MCA Foundation in general. They attended the SPIT Podcast panel discussion, featuring Tracy Brown, the CEO of the American Diabetes Association, and other influential speakers like country singer Tim McGraw. The OTEN team also met with several Austin healthcare companies throughout their time at SXSW to present the DiFoBod prototype and raise interest, awareness, and money for their startup.

“SXSW is THE place to attend and capture the attention of many people that would otherwise be extremely difficult to talk to just staying in El Paso and sending out emails,” CEO and Founder of OTEN Medical Ernesto Holguin explains, “Attending the key talks at SXSW has given me a clear view of the next steps I should take in order to bring my device to the market.”

The SXSW conference spanned 25 tracks of programming with multiple opportunities for networking, learning, and discovery. With events like the Austin CEO Diaries, Austinpreneur Series, and Entrepreneur and Startup Workshops of varying themes, the conference is a great place for new and developing startups to grow their network, their impact, and to learn about their industry and the key players of the market that they will eventually play into.

“I think all startups should attend SXSW because it is a way to connect with others that may help your company grow or may even end up joining your team,” Ernesto Holguin explains, “It involves an extensive amount of work but with the help of the MCA and local resources it is possible to grow your business and make an impact. Coming back from SXSW I am more refreshed and motivated than ever to make this happen.”

Since SXSW, OTEN Medical has followed up with a number of important people and companies that they had the opportunity of meeting at the conference to further discuss the growth and impact of the startup. OTEN Medical was even featured in an article for the magazine Dallas Innovates. To read the article online, visit https://dallasinnovates.com/icymi-sxsw-recap/.

For more information about how to get involved with the MCA Innovation Center or the Startup and Innovator Programs visit mcamericas.org/innovation.