Aruga Technologies Wins $25,000 Prize in Business Pitch Competition

MINNEAPOLIS - June 21, 2019 - PRLog -- Pittsburgh-based startup Aruga Technologies won a $25,000 prize in a business pitch competition here for its unique synthetic vascular graft implant technology developed at the University of Pittsburgh.

The pitch competition took place on Wednesday at the GreenBiz Circularity19 (https://www.greenbiz.com/events/circularity/minneapolis/2019) conference in Minneapolis. It was hosted by the Biomimicry Institute (https://biomimicry.org/), a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable designs that mimic the natural world, and funded by the Ray C. Anderson Foundation. While the contest traditionally focuses on energy, waste, and climate change, it was a 20-minute pitch on synthetic arteries by Aruga CEO Joseph Pugar (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-pugar-313565125/) that ultimately bested 12 competitors for the $25,000 second prize.

Most synthetic arteries have to be replaced every two or three years because blood clots and platelets accumulate and slow the flow of blood. Aruga's novel technology  mimics the same mechanism that is used in nature to keep arteries clear.

With each heartbeat our arteries expand with the rush of blood and then contract, causing the walls to wrinkle like an accordion, which sheds platelets and clots. Aruga creates this same effect in a synthetic artery, doubling the typical lifespan before replacement is required, reducing costs, plastic waste and the risk of infection.

The Aruga technology is the product of a series of collaborations between Pitt and UPMC vascular surgery group. Dr. Luka Pocivavsek (https://www.linkedin.com/in/luka-pocivavsek-6768b2158/), a vascular surgeon, is the primary inventor of the technology and worked through Pitt's Innovation Institute (https://www.innovation.pitt.edu/a-new-wrinkle-on-an-old-medical-device/) to begin commercializing it.

Pugar, who was studying chemical and petroleum engineering at Pitt, became involved to help prototype the surface mechanics of the technology. The company was spun out of Pitt in 2018 and is a portfolio company of LifeX Labs (https://www.lifexventures.com/), a Pittsburgh-based life science startup accelerator.

About Aruga Technologies

Aruga Technologies (http://www.arugatechnologies.com/) is a medical device company that integrates a new, nature-inspired surface technology into the design of synthetic vascular reconstruction devices. The technology is designed to double the lifetime of a vascular implant by reducing blood clot buildup, providing preferred outcomes at affordable costs.

About LifeX Labs

LifeX Labs (https://www.lifexventures.com/) is a Pittsburgh-based life sciences accelerator that helps entrepreneurs translate world-class life science research into new companies and products that improve health, save lives and drive economic development.

Contact:

Wes Conard

VP Marketing & Communications

LifeX Labs

wconard@lifexventures.com

(412) 228-7282