Bridging Global Health Innovation to the US Market

HealthTech Bridge helps international healthtech startups understand the U.S. healthcare system, build U.S.-focused strategies, and embed directly into U.S. hospitals to conduct clinical studies.

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Become A Partner

HealthTech Bridge

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US Market Entry

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Guaranteed Pilots

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GTM Resources

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Investment Access

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HealthTech Bridge ✳︎ US Market Entry ✳︎ Guaranteed Pilots ✳︎ GTM Resources ✳︎ Investment Access ✳︎

How Important is Clinical Validation for Medtech Startups?

Clinical evidence is a strategic advantage, and not something to check off your To Do list.

From interviews of more than 200 medtech CEOs through MedSider, a clear pattern emerged: medtech startups that treat clinical studies as a strategic imperative - and not a “must do” on the development pathway - outperform those that don’t.

HTB helps international medtech startups design and execute high-impact clinical studies, generating critical evidence.

Source: Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry. "How MedTech Startups Turn Clinical Studies into Strategic Advantages”. December 15, 2025.

Return on investment and clinical evidence are the two most important factors for the success of digital health companies.

Through facilitated clinical studies and ROI analyses, HTB addresses these two points, improving medtech companies’ prospects for raising investment capital.

Source: 2022 survey of over 50 investors by GSR Ventures. Source: MobiHealthNews. "Survey: Digital health investments will rely on ROI and clinical validation in 2023”. December 2, 2022.

75% of US-based medical device startups fail, and 98% of digital health startups fail.

HTB helps to overcome one of the key drivers of this failure rate: lack of compelling clinical evidence.

Source: Focused Ultrasound Foundation. “The Complex Ecosystem of a Medical Device Startup”. June 9, 2022.

Customer engagement is a critically important success factors for digital health startups.

HTB guarantees deep, partnership levels of customer engagement. Our clinical partners choose the companies in our cohorts. When they choose you, it’s because they believe in your technology and want to help you validate it.

Source: Journal of Medical Internet Research. “Success Factors of Growth-Stage Digital Health Companies: Systematic Literature Review”. December 11, 2024.

Reducing friction between global innovation and real-world US healthcare deployment

HealthTech Bridge is the accelerator designed to meet the real needs of global startups entering the US.

The opportunity is straightforward: we take a small, carefully selected cohort and match each company to a real priority from our coalition of hospital and clinical partners consistent with the theme of the current cohort. Real clinical validation ensues. Instead of exporting hope, we help build validated demand: proof of impact that a value analysis committee, payer, and investor can respect.

US hospital pilots, guaranteed.

Value-based model alignment.

Support from a dedicated clinical trials manager.

Built for internationalization.

Commercial GTM partners for scale.

Investor engagement via VC Demo Day.

2026 Program: Rural Health

Applications open June 1 - August 31, 2026.
Program kicks off November 1, 2026.

The U.S. faces acute healthcare challenges for rural Americans, as evidenced by the following:

Age-adjusted deaths from heart disease are 21% higher, cancer 15% higher, and chronic lower respiratory disease 48% higher in rural vs urban counties. (Source: CDC)
Geographic isolation, lower socioeconomic status, limited access to specialists, lower rates of health insurance, and higher rates of risk behaviors all contribute to poor health outcomes in rural communities. (Source: Ruralhealthinfo.org)
Rural residents have higher rates of cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and other risk factors. One example: 8.2% of adults in rural areas have COPD — nearly double the 4.7% seen in large metropolitan areas. (Source: CDC)
Less than 11% of U.S. physicians practice in rural areas, though roughly 20% of the population lives there. (Source: Health Policy Institute)
Rural areas typically have ~1,961 people per primary care physician, compared with 1,485 in urban areas — a 39% higher patient burden on rural providers. (Source: Concordia University)
Over 20 million rural Americans live in areas designated as health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), with very limited access to primary care. (Source: Health Policy Institute)
Rural residents more often have multiple chronic conditions and lower health literacy than urban residents, compounding health care challenges. (Source: PubMed Central)

These data underscore a critical need for targeted innovation in rural health — especially solutions that improve care access, enable earlier diagnoses, facilitate chronic disease management, and support preventive care and clinical research in rural settings. HTB is directly addressing those needs with its first cohort, to be launched in Q4 2026. This cohort will be comprised of just six early-stage cohort companies from Canada and Europe, all of which have innovations and technologies poised to make a significant impact in rural health, and which are stage-sufficient to conduct human-centered pilot projects and clinical studies.

For this rural health cohort, innovations that improve cardiometabolic health will be emphasized. As such, HTB seeks early-stage medtech/healthtech companies with innovations including, but not limited to:

Remote patient monitoring
Screening and diagnostic tools
New care delivery models
Virtual specialty care
Workforce-extending tools
Medication access and adherence innovations
Transportation & logistics innovations
Maternal, newborn & women’s health innovations
Behavioral health and substance use innovation

To be considered for inclusion in this cohort, early-stage companies must:

Have a medical innovation that clearly improves rural health.
Have existing data that de-risks the technology. This can’t be the company’s first pilot project or clinical study.
Be ready to launch a clinical study in the HTB program within three months of program entry.
Have raised at least $1 million USD in external funding from dilutive or non-dilutive sources.
Have one-half of HTB entry fees sponsored by the company’s federal government or a trade organization in the country where the company is based

Apply To The Program

How HealthTech Bridge Works

A comprehensive three-phase program designed to transform international healthtech companies into US market-ready innovators.

US Healthcare Education

Build a practical understanding of the US healthcare ecosystems

US healthcare commercial models
Health economics and real-world adoption

US-Focused Strategy Development

Develop a tailored approach entering the US

Regulatory, reimbursement, clinical, commercial, and investment
1:1 support and development

Hospital Embedding + Clinical Studies

Gain real-world clinical exposure and evidence

Pilot or execute a clinical study in a relevant US hospital
Direct access with clinical support

Built on World-Class Partnerships

HealthTech Bridge brings together the expertise, networks, and resources needed to accelerate your US market entry—and set you up for long-term success.