AHA Names Eight Startups to Heart and Brain Track of MedTech Innovator Accelerator

The American Heart Association has selected eight companies for its Heart and Brain Health Accelerator, a specialty track within the 2026 MedTech Innovator accelerator program, the association announced on June 4 in a release posted on EurekAlert.

The companies are Cerevia Neurosciences of North Bethesda, Maryland; Chambertech of Richmond, UK; Envera Medical of Irvine, California; Eupnoos of London; Flux Robotics of Enschede, the Netherlands; Lucentia of New York; OMINI of Suresnes, France; and Prima Medical of Cleveland. An association advisory committee of clinical, investment and industry experts chose them on innovation, clinical impact and potential to improve patient care, the release said.

What the eight companies are building

According to the association's descriptions, the group spans devices, software and diagnostics. Chambertech is developing a minimally invasive hybrid ablation approach for persistent atrial fibrillation, and Prima Medical offers real-time AI treatment guidance for pulsed field catheter ablation. Envera Medical is working on a neurovascular balloon catheter for intracranial embolization procedures, and Flux Robotics on magnetically guided systems to steer instruments through arteries.

Lucentia has software that aims to turn routine non-contrast CT scans into virtual coronary CT angiography. Eupnoos uses acoustic breath biomarkers to detect early cardiopulmonary changes of heart failure at home, OMINI is developing a portable point-of-care platform that measures several blood biomarkers at once, and Cerevia is developing a non-invasive neuromodulation platform intended to restore cognitive function in dementia. These are the companies' development goals as described by the association, not regulatory decisions.

"Through the Heart and Brain Health Accelerator, we are connecting high-potential companies with the expertise, resources and networks needed to bring more trustworthy, rapid and impactful product and service advancements to patients and the clinicians who care for them," said Lisa Suennen, managing partner of American Heart Association Ventures, the association's venture capital program.

A 65-company cohort and a new index

The track sits inside a larger cohort. MedTech Innovator said on May 27 that it had selected 65 companies for 2026, representing the top 4% of 1,835 global applicants, in a release distributed by Business Wire, read via BioSpace. The 65 companies also make up the first MTI Index, which the organization described as a benchmark meant to track the growth, survival and commercial traction of medtech startups for investors, health systems and media.

Thirteen of the 65 are in specialty tracks: the eight in the heart association track and five in a plastic surgery track run with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, according to the release. The program opened at the invitation-only Innovator Summit on June 2-4 in San Francisco, and the cohort was scheduled to present at an investor showcase at Wilson Sonsini's Medical Device Digital Health Conference on June 5.

Over four months, the companies get access to mentors, coaches and a peer network, with emphasis on the evidence physicians, professional societies, payers and health systems will require, MedTech Innovator said. The accelerator ends with showcases and competitions for a share of $800,000 in funding. All 65 companies are to take part in The MedTech Conference in Boston on October 18-21, where the early-stage finals are set for October 20; the mid-stage finals are scheduled for November 3-5 at the MedTech Strategist Innovation Summit in San Diego.