Author: Alicia Montgomery, Chief Talent Officer

I had the great pleasure of attending the recent 4th Annual MedTech Color Pitch Competition in Los Angeles, featuring 13 African American and Hispanic company founders pitching their medtech innovations in hopes of securing additional funding.

It was such a powerful and engaging half-day of enlightening and inspiring talks by impassioned and radiant visionaries working to bring sorely needed medtech innovation to life. It was surprising and disappointing to learn that African American and Hispanic entrepreneurs receive less than 4% of all venture capital funding. This event was an opportunity to bring attention to that inequity.

The competition featured two sessions – one for pediatrics and the other for medtech specifically. Though there is some hesitation to do research in the pediatric space, there is an incredible need for devices and solutions in this sector. It was encouraging to see the great thought and care the featured innovators are taking when working to bring new devices to the space. One of the presenters, Sanna Gaspard, founder of Rubitection, displayed the device she developed that aids in skin health detection. This device is critical in diagnosing skin conditions, especially in people of color where normal methods of diagnosis are inconsistent.

Each of the founders brought incredible energy and passion to their presentations. A few shared personal stories about what inspired them to develop their platform or technology including Jaki Johnson, founder of WellMiss, an organization offering integrative care for women who have suffered a traumatic event or circumstance. She explained how she built her platform after tragically losing her son. She has since channeled her grief to help others and provide a holistic solution not available when she experienced her own tragedy.

This emotional and inspiring event serves as an important reminder for all of us to help diverse entrepreneurs overcome unnecessary barriers to accessing needed capital. I look forward to attending again next year!