Morgantown, W.Va. – Morgantown-based biotechnology firm IstoVisio Inc., developer of scientific data visualization and annotation system “syGlass”, announced it has been accepted into the prestigious University of California at Berkeley SkyDeck Accelerator program.
“SyGlass really is a new way to look at this data,” Co-founder and CEO, Michael Morehead said,”By combining high-speed computing, very efficient software engineering and virtual reality.”
The company is one of 26 firms to be accepted into the program out of 1,600 applicants.
Morehead says the technology is very useful in the medical field and has potential in the oil and gas industry.
“3D TVs allow you to get a sense of depth, these VR headsets also provide stereoscopic visualization,”Morehead said,”This can be very powerful in assessing distance and relationships at a spatial level.”
“If you were to view a CT scan with a tumor inside of SyGlass you could move your head around the tumor as if it were a hologram floating in front of you,” Morehead said,”That extra insight may mean the difference between discovery or not.”
IstoVisio will receive a $100,000 investment from the Berkeley SkyDeck Fund, will be paired with key advisors, go through the six-month Berkeley Acceleration Method Program, and receive guided access to the SkyDeck community including Silicon Valley investors and venture funds.
“This is a major step forward for our company and a validation of our syGlass system, which is a technology that allows massive images to be viewed in high-res virtual reality,” said Michael Morehead, Chief Executive Officer of IstoVisio.
Morehead announced the firm has also been awarded a Direct-to-Phase II, 2-year, $1.6 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant through the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative.
Under the SBIR program, intellectual property garnered through the research is the property of IstoVisio and can be commercialized for the company’s use.
The company’s syGlass technology is now used in more than 100 international research institutions, including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Institute de la Vision in Paris, and multiple Max Planck institutions. The company also received the 2019 Governor’s Commendation for International Market Entry Award for sales to the following new countries: Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
IstoVisio has an agreement with Epica International, an upcoming CT and Robotics company, to include syGlass with their scanners in the veterinary medicine market. Epica will soon be cleared by the FDA to sell scanners into the human market and seeks an additional agreement with IstoVisio to pair the software with their scanners.
Participation in the SkyDeck Acelerator program will give the company access to advisors that can lead to investments from Silicon Valley venture capitalists.
Since its founding in 2015, the company has worked with a host of West Virginia assistance providers to help it grow and evolve its technology and manage business development.
“We will be doubling our engineering staff in Morgantown, West Virginia,” Morehead said,”As the company grows more and more positions will be needed to support the application.
The INNOVA Commercialization Group and WV Jobs Investment Trust were early investors in IstoVisio, providing commercialization assistance and strategic planning.
“IstoVisio is one of the bright shining lights whose current, and future, success will highlight the transformative technological medical device and diagnostic sector initiatives launching in West Virginia,” said Guy Peduto, Director of INNOVA.
Andy Zulauf, Executive Director of the WV Jobs Investment Trust, stated, “IstoVisio has grown from a West Virginia-based company into a regional and national player in the medical/diagnostic technology space. The executive leadership of this company has done an outstanding job with executing on their vision and strategy. We look forward to supporting their efforts with these new exciting initiatives and collaborations.”
West Virginia University John Chambers School of Business contributed to business research and planning with follow-on funding provided by the WVU Research Corporation. TechConnect West Virginia was an aggregator of technical and professional funds procured through the US EDA and investment and commercialization funds were also provided by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.