OCTANe connects people, resources, capital for medtech ecosystem in Southern California

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — In opening remarks at OCTANe’s Medical Technology Innovation Forum, Bill Carpou, CEO of OCTANe, discussed the successes achieved so far and laid out the group’s mission for growth, called Vision 2025.

“Today what we want to accomplish is to provide relevant content, so you leave with new ideas, new relationships and become really integral to elevating our ecosystem here,” Carpou said.

“We drive innovation and growth by connecting people, resources and capital. Everything we do at OCTANe we do with that mission in mind. OCTANe’s reach is primarily Southern California with capital access originating in NYC, Boston, Toronto and other international money centers.

“Why is this important? First of all, there are 558 medical device establishments in Southern California,” he said.

The medical device industry in Southern California currently employs 33,820 people, which puts it ahead of the other four medical device ecosystems in the country, Carpou said. While those other regions — Northern California, Minneapolis, Boston and New York — have been losing employees in the 2 years ending in 2016, the Southern California area added more than 3,800 employees.

OCTANe has helped companies raise $1.6 billion since 2010. In the first half of 2017, OCTANe portfolio companies raised $401 million.

Vision 2025 goals for the area are to add 22,000 jobs and infuse $3.6 billion of capital into early-stage companies, while also reviewing 681 companies and funding 506. Additionally, the organization aims to produce 39 liquidity events through its growth services platform.

“There are metrics behind this. We’re not rounding up,” Carpou said.

There are four key areas of OCTANe: OCTANe Connect handles signature events such as the Medical Technology Innovation Forum; OCTANe Launchpad is the accelerator and capital strategy; OCTANe Growth Services provides expertise and resources; and OCTANe Capital contains the Visionary Venture Fund and future funds in other medical technology areas. – by David W. Mullin

Reference:

Carpou B. The medtech powerhouse: Southern California closes the gap as a leading innovation ecosystem. Presented at: OCTANe Medical Technology Innovation Forum; Oct. 30-31, 2017; Newport Beach, Calif.

Disclosure: Carpou reports he is the CEO of OCTANe.

Editor's Note: This article has been reposted to correct factual errors in the original. Healio.com regrets the errors.