|

Festo and MassRobotics Select Companies for the Inaugural Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst Program

PB-50-Festo-HealthcareRobotics-400.jpg

October 27, 2021

The first four companies in the inaugural Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program have been selected by Festo and MassRobotics. The Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst is a new program for the global robotics startup community to advance healthcare developments by providing promising companies with investor and customer introductions, access to subject-matter experts, and a range of technical and marketing support resources.

The robotics companies selected include Assistive Technology, an American startup dedicated to at-home physical therapy solutions that are operable at a low cost and always accessible to rural patients and those who need closer monitoring for recovery. Swiss firm Bionomous provides laboratory equipment to automate the screening, sorting, and pipetting of miniature biological entities for more ethical and faster research in life science. Eureka Robotics, Singapore-based, develops and commercializes cutting-edge robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to automate high-accuracy, high-agility tasks. Finally, Canada’s Kinarm uses robotic arms to provide an objective assessment method to identify, measure, and track cognitive, motor, or sensory impairments resulting from injury or disease. These four startups will have access to the innovation centers and engineering teams of Festo, one of the world’s leading automation companies, and collaborating corporate partners.

With the onset of the pandemic, the lack of awareness between the healthcare and technology communities was evident in terms of how robotics could be applied to ease staffing concerns and reduce the potential spread of the virus. Many unmet and untapped white spaces were identified, which initiated the development of a MassRobotics Healthcare Robotics Working Group and the Catalyst Program. 

“To fill these spaces, we encouraged healthcare robotics startups in the following areas to apply to the catalyst program – clinical care, public safety, laboratory and supply chain automation, out-of-hospital care, quality of life, continuity of work and education, and healthcare professional training and support,” said Fady Saad, MassRobotics Co-founder and Vice President of Strategic Partnerships. “The response and quality of the companies were overwhelming. We believe this inaugural group represents an excellent cross-section of the many initiatives in healthcare robotics.”

“Our mission is to ultimately improve patient outcomes and the quality of healthcare with transformative innovations brought to market by startups through the catalyst program,” said Nuzha Yakoob, Head of Technology & Innovation North America, Festo Corporation.

The inaugural catalyst program runs from now through March 2022. For additional information visit the Healthcare Robotics Startup Catalyst program webpage.

Related Articles


Latest Articles

  • ABB Contactor Selection Guide Canada

    October 1, 2025 ABB contactors are among the most reliable electrical switching devices in industrial automation. As Canada’s leading ABB authorized distributor, Proax has helped thousands of engineers and technicians select the right ABB contactor for their applications. Whether you’re designing a new motor control panel or replacing existing equipment, choosing the right ABB contactor can… Read More…

  • 25 Advanced Motion Control Questions Answered

    October 1, 2025 Electromate has compiled a list of 25 advanced mechatronic engineering FAQs covering inertia, vibration, servo safety, control tuning, encoder resolution, and motion system design, and provided answers from their team of experts across the country. How do I model moment loading in real-world applications with offset payloads? Moment loading should be calculated… Read More…


Featured Article

Revolutionizing Material Movement with Autonomous Mobile Robots

Revolutionizing Material Movement with Autonomous Mobile Robots

In today’s fast-paced manufacturing and logistics industries, the need for efficient and flexible material movement solutions has never been greater. Traditional methods like conveyor systems, forklifts, and manual pushcarts have served us well, but they come with limitations.

That’s why Omron is thrilled to announce the launch of their game-changing MD Series of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). Read more


Products

  • Schneider Electric Unveils New AI Data Centre Reference Designs with NVIDIA

    October 6, 2025 Schneider Electric, a leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, has announced new reference designs developed with NVIDIA that significantly accelerate time to deployment and aid operators as they adopt AI-ready infrastructure solutions. The first reference design delivers the industry’s first and only critical framework for integrated power management and liquid… Read More…

  • PISA-M Electronic Circuit Breakers: New NEC Class 2 Compliant Variants Available

    October 6, 2025 PULS introduces new 4-channel electronic circuit breakers designed specifically for power distribution in NEC Class 2 circuits, expanding the existing PISA-M series. PISA-M enables the safe distribution of load current into four individual Class 2 circuits. This offers a cost-effective alternative to multiple individually approved NEC Class 2 compliant power supplies, reducing both acquisition costs and… Read More…