A synapse of BioTechnologists, engineers and entrepreneurs
Synapse is leading accelerator of In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) technologies, empowering founders building with biomedical sciences, mechatronics, software, digital health, and industrial technologies. The Synapse acceleration Program combines hands-on co-development with our experienced product development team, mentors, venture capital investment building IVD products and services startups. Since 2018, Synapse has invested in over 25 startups on IVD technology and services across its locations in Tehran.
with a global network of suppliers, manufacturers, experts and investors focused on In vitro Diagnostics technologies such as high throughput professional instruments to home test & biosensors.
Synapse Acceleration program combines early stage investment, 4-12 months of collaboration building IVD startups. Founders join us across our locations in Iran to collaborate with our in-house team of Biotechnologists, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs. Startups get access to full equipped labs and co-working space, dedicated mentorship, investors, manufacturers and global supply chains to thrive as an early stage In Vitro Diagnostic startup.
Building a medical and biotechnology startup is hard. It requires complex combinations of medical biotechnology, electronics, mechanisms, materials, manufacturing and supply chains (and software that connects it all together). It’s not standard startup playbook and it requires founders that are ready to get their hands wet and dirty, and go far beyond what can be accomplished alone at your own lab and computer.
This is why we engage beyond investment. We know with the right combination of experience, tools, partners and community into early stage teams, they can move at unbelievable speed and scale. With over 10 Synapse startups completing the program since 2018, we have continuously evolved our approach, infrastructure and team to help startups go faster and further.
Startups apply with concept vision, customer understanding or initial prototypes. All Synapse teams spend 4-18 months at our locations in Tehran, where they collaborate with our in-house team of biomedical scientists, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs. We also give them access to the in-house experts, investors, manufacturers and supply chains needed to succeed.
As startups reach critical milestones, Synapse supports fundraising strategy and corporate partnerships. We are actively investing over 2 million USD per year into our portfolio.
The most valuable and unique aspect of the Synapse program is engagement with a well-known entrepreneur in IVD industry. Many have been successful, many have learned hard lessons, and everyone is eager to help teams succeed. The community has grown to include a group of mentors, experts and partners, giving early stage startups the global reach and resources.
We break the 4-12 months into 3 phases that help us get to know startups and rapidly scale our engagement. This starts with a deep dive, and quickly ramps to hands-on engagement at our office.
Onboarding, Design plan, Road mapping, Risk assessment
Rapid prototyping, Iterative product development
Next round of funding & manufacturing
We help founders understand how to test their early-stage products and fit to their healthcare and public customers.
Our diverse network of mentors and advisors have experience launching IVD products. With experience from industries like medical laboratories and manufacturing
Our teams go through multiple product versions, testing on biological raw materials and test design to the stage where it can be piloted and tested in the field laboratory.
Our team of Mechatronic and software engineers knows how to de-risk complex electro-mechanical challenges
Our team of industrial designers work to communicate the form and function of your product through design, shape to be safe and user friendly
with 22 years of experience in IVD directives and regulation, Synapse helps to meet the regulatory requirements and documentations properly.
We help teams realize the complexity of manufacturing, and use our resources to help make right decisions like where to manufacture and assemble products
we continue to invest up to $1M USD into our growing startups. We also leverage our network of medical device and IVD investors to help fund teams.
Startups need full-bodied and agile teams to navigate an uncertain world and move quickly. We leverage our network to help teams find talent
Selling a self-test or professional medical devices or service is much more challenging than selling a product or services to the public. We recommend teams on how to build strong sales pipelines
We help teams understand how to plan for their manufacturing runs and how to cope future manufacturing, marketing, completion and customer complaint
The combination of so many technologies and skills can often be too broad for a small team of founders with a finite amount of money. We’ve built our team and networks to help teams get a breadth of advanced skillsets, access to resources and global ecosystems so they don’t have to waste precious time or money getting them. Even more important is the experience of our team, bringing decades of learning and launching products to help teams go as fast as possible.
We are a Synapse of biomedical sciences, medical laboratory experts, engineers, designers and entrepreneurs brought together to support early stage startups working on medical diagnostics hard tech. We have pulled together the people, resources and investment capital with the goal of enabling the next generation of IVD startups.
We’ve brought together experienced engineers, designers and entrepreneurs to be on our full time staff. Many of us have started our own businesses or been part of high growth startups. We know what it takes and also empathy for the hard work every one of our founders puts in.
The Synapse team works hands-on with startups and working members of their product development and business teams. We aim to not just give advice but do the work to meaningful move forward every startup. Our teams will work deeply with teams electrical engineering, mechanical design, industrial design, design for manufacturing, branding, communication assets, business model development and go-to-market strategy. We know every startup is different so we inject the right amount of effort into each team depending on what they need the most to move forward.
Spaces and Tools: Our facilities, are combined over 50,000 square feet of space designed for development of complex IVD products. We’ve built out advanced mechatronic workshops (ProtoLab), large QC areas, bio-chem lab (Wet Lab), Bio-Safety level lab, Animal Lab, shared office (Dry Lab) and community spaces, All in One. Our inventory of tools and advance equipment is comprehensive, not available, we have expanded our global and local networks to outsource. Our spaces are also strategically located in the best ecosystems in the world for hard tech so teams spend just as much time out of the office working with partners.
There are several ways startups can enter the Synapse. Most come through direct applications on our website, but some come through invitation and referrals
– Proof of concept or Actively building prototypes
– Committed members of team (importance of team and not sole founders)
– Deep customer understanding (more than just market reports)
Startups apply via the portal here.
We ask for an initial amount of information for us to best understand your team, technology and market. The assets that we value most is your story, team and prototypes and what you’d like to do next with them. We review every application within 1 week of submission.
After our initial review, we will email a select number of startups to begin interviewing with the Synapse team remotely. This will include interviews from various members of the Synapse board into the details of a startup’s business model, market and technology. We will also work with our network of experts across technology fields and industries to best understand startups.
Our team works hard to maintain transparency and clarity throughout the interview and diligence process.
At the end of the interview and diligence process, we will send an offer and investment terms to those accepted into the program. Synapse invests in around 30 new startups and products every year with an average of 2-3 every month. Upon paperwork, we get teams started in onboarding into the program.