By combining research, serial production, and manufacturing, ACMIT and the WILD Group form a partnership that is extremely interesting not only for startups.

When it comes to research and development, the WILD Group has long ceased to resort solely to its own potential. Instead, the technology partner is driving innovation forward through collaboration, and today relies on various forms of cooperation within the WIN partner network. A new member of this knowledge hub is ACMIT Gmbh, the Austrian Center for Medical Innovation
and Technology, which offers genuine added value for WILD and Photonic customers.

ACMIT combines R&D services both with clinical requirements and with medical-technical basic research and product development at a corporate level. ”Our core topics include smart tools, medical robotics, fibre-optic tissue sensors, and the design of novel intraocular lenses. In general, we already get started when the idea for a product is born, be it from a market leader or a startup. In both cases, it requires processes and regulatory expertise to develop a medical technology product and bring it to serial production,“ explains ACMIT CEO Nikolaus Dellantoni.

CO-FINANCING FOR STARTUPS
The range of services extends far beyond that, though. ”As a publicly funded COMET research centre, we are also in a position to support projects that match our research areas with co-financing of up to 50%. We do not acquire any share in a company in the process but recover the invested funds through a temporary licence instead. The essential element for the customers is that the intellectual property created is fully transferred to them,“ Dellantoni explains.

WELL-CONNECTED
Since the approx. 50 employees of ACMIT are closely linked to technical and medical universities around the world, they add
extra speed to the development projects. They can handle tasks from the idea to the clinical application, including ethical approval, clinical studies and pilot series. When larger quantities are required, however, the WILD Group comes into the picture. ”We soon realised that we had to think beyond what we could manage ourselves. Therefore, we already try to anticipate a later serial production when volumes are still small. As a certified medical equipment manufacturer who can quickly scale up production volumes when required, WILD is the ideal partner for us,“ says Dellantoni. ”We are currently working together on an innovative medical device, where we can ideally contribute our expertise in the area of optics development and manufacturing“, predicts Photonic Managing Director Stefan Zotter.