Invention Accelerator Program

Stronger Together

A long-time partner of Stanford Biodesign, Fogarty Innovation is an educational incubator that provides hands-on training and mentoring to help innovators transform promising product or service ideas into successful, sustainable businesses. Their team of seasoned industry professionals and innovators have created and brought to market a wide range of health technology innovations that provide significant benefits to patients.

Working together, we have developed an Invention Accelerator Program (IAP) to address the gap between promising translational projects and their ability to launch as viable businesses that can deliver innovative new technologies to patients.

Invention Accelerator Program

The IAP is a competitive program that equips inventors to think like entrepreneurs and accelerate their path from discovery to patient care.

Through close collaboration with Stanford researchers and clinicians, the program transforms promising health technology ideas into actionable solutions. Over six months, teams refine their technology, tackle commercialization challenges, and gain access to a powerful network of mentors, partners, and resources to speed their path to impact.

Each IAP project follows a tailored development plan to assess and address the areas most critical to moving the specific innovation closer to patients. Focus areas generally fall into two categories:


Technical Development

• Needs validation – confirm the problem through stakeholder interviews and workflow analysis
• Product design – align the solution with clinical workflows and user needs
• Prototype refinement – improve function, usability, and performance
• Preclinical and early clinical testing – generate evidence to de-risk translation

Commercial Strategy & Execution

• Value proposition – define clinical, economic, and competitive benefits for stakeholders
• IP strategy – secure protection and strengthen positioning
• Market analysis – size and segment high-impact opportunities
• Reimbursement – understand payer needs and support adoption
• Business model – create a sustainable plan to deliver value
• Fundraising – secure grants, investors, or partners to advance development
• Team development – assemble expertise needed to execute and scale

Questions?

To learn more about the IAP or apply, contact Brandon Felkins or John Morriss.