Paris-headquartered URGO Group has opened applications for its annual mentorship programme, which aims to support and speed up the growth of a European medtech startup through one year of tailored coaching.

The business that will be selected will benefit from support ranging from marketing to clinical trial design or product registration, and URGO Group says they could work together to form “possible long-term strategic partnerships”.

“We know how difficult it is to create a company and we believe that using the URGO Group's expertise to help these startups with their launch is a key part of our role as an older medtech mentor. It also keeps us up-to-date and helps us stay flexible through exchange of best practices," said CEO Pierre Moustial.

Six startups - which have until 30 April to apply - will be selected to pitch their projects at their HQ in Paris at the end of June ahead of the final decision.

Their work has to meet four requirements:

• Target one of the following areas: plastic surgery or aesthetic medicine, wound closure, tissue engineering and cellular therapy, vascular therapy and compression, or digital health
• Look at medical devices, already with a pre-production prototype or a Minimum Viable Product
• Require less than five years of product development (time to market)
• Have a strong differentiation compared to other solutions currently available.

Irish startup Bluedrop Medical was selected to take part in last year’s scheme, and its founders Chris Murphy and Simon Kiersey said it enabled them to work with "one of the most innovative companies in wound treatment”.

“We are keen to continue our relationship in the future and use the work we have accomplished on this program,” they added.

More information about the second edition of the programme can be found here.