While hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers are eager for meaningful innovation, onboarding new technologies often brings operational complexity and adoption risk. The Medtech Incubator–Leap partnership aims to streamline this process by delivering not only new devices but also supported, compliant, and operationally ready launches. In this conversation with MedTech Spectrum, Josh Sandberg and Allen Mason outline how the collaboration improves clinical adoption, reduces friction for facilities, and ensures that innovation translates into sustained patient impact.

Early-stage medtech companies often struggle more with market access than technology readiness. How does this partnership specifically address that gap?

Josh Sandberg (Medtech Incubator)
Market access is definitely a systemic problem. One of the major issues that early-stage companies don’t always have a plan for is existing contract categorization and compliance. At the end of the day, the hospital wants to give the surgeon what they feel is the best product for their patients but contracting and categorization can fundamentally change the overall process. This partnership will further align the executive suite of the company and the field to have total alignment, which will drive savings through the many efficiencies that we have embedded. 

Allen Mason (Leap)

Early-stage teams can build something clinically meaningful and still get stuck at the same choke points: access, onboarding, contracting pathways, and the “how do we actually launch this” mechanics. This partnership addresses that gap by pairing Medtech Incubator’s early validation and preparation with Leap’s commercialization engine. We bring real-world field insight, launch planning support, and a nationwide distribution network that can execute. That combination turns “we think this will work” into “we have a practical path to adoption.”

What advantages does Leap’s blended model of direct sales teams and independent distributors offer to emerging innovators?

Allen Mason (Leap)

The blended model is built for speed and coverage. Direct teams drive consistency in execution and launch discipline. Independent distributors bring the local trust and clinical relationships that actually move adoption in the OR and in facilities day-to-day. For emerging innovators, that means you’re not choosing between national scale and local credibility. You get both. And you get them in a way that’s coordinated, measurable, and built around compliant execution.

At what stage does this partnership engage with a company, and how are technologies selected for commercial support through Leap’s network?

Josh Sandberg (Medtech Incubator)
We engage with founders early, but the Leap component becomes most valuable as a company moves toward commercialization planning. Our evaluation process is designed to surface technologies with high clinical impact and strong market potential. From there, we align on readiness and fit with Leap’s network. The goal is to be intentional: we bring the right companies forward at the right time, so commercial support is timely, realistic and actionable, not premature.

Allen Mason (Leap)

We engage once a technology is ready to move from “development milestone” to “commercial readiness,” meaning the team is preparing for launch planning, initial field engagement, and scaling in a compliant way. Selection is driven by fit: clinical value, clear use case, realistic adoption pathway, and readiness for a structured commercial plan. We want products that solve real problems for clinicians and hospitals, and can stand up to the realities of onboarding, training, and contracting.

How will this collaboration help startups navigate reimbursement, contracting, and GPO strategy earlier in the commercialisation lifecycle?

Allen Mason (Leap)

Reimbursement and contracting are not “later problems.” They shape product positioning, pricing logic, and adoption speed. Leap brings experience across contracting and GPO strategy, plus field feedback that tells you what decision-makers actually need to say “yes.” Through this partnership, startups can pressure-test assumptions earlier, get smarter on the contracting path, and reduce avoidable delays after they’re technically ready to sell.

Josh Sandberg (Medtech Incubator)

Our portfolio of companies is supported immediately to understand the landscape of the challenges their products solve. This collaboration will provide more battle tested experience from the ground up to ensure that our focus remains on delivering the highest level of impact to the hospital system in addition to a better experience for the surgeon and patient. The Medtech Incubator team will continue to find those points of leverage to expand access from the top-down, making our collaboration the only commercialization accelerator for medical technology that not only provides consulting and guidance, but also full-scale operational support at every level.  

From the perspective of hospitals and ASCs, what problems does this partnership solve regarding onboarding and clinical adoption?

Josh Sandberg (Medtech Incubator)
Hospitals and ASCs are rightfully cautious. They need confidence that a product will be supported, integrated into workflow, and implemented responsibly. By pairing our evaluation and preparation with Leap’s commercialization capabilities, we can present innovations in a way that is more operationally ready. That improves the experience for facilities and increases the likelihood that good technology becomes sustainable adoption, not a short-lived trial.

Allen Mason (Leap)

Hospitals and ASCs don’t want more complexity. They want fewer points of friction: standardized contracting, consistent training, reliable logistics, and clear accountability. Innovation without the headache or overhead. This partnership helps deliver that. When a product comes through this pathway, the goal is a cleaner adoption experience for facilities and clinicians. It is not just “here’s a new device.” It is “here’s a supported launch with clinical value for patients, and the infrastructure to make it work in the real world.”

How do you anticipate this partnership will influence time-to-market and investor confidence for companies within the Medtech Incubator ecosystem?

Allen Mason (Leap)

Time-to-market improves when the commercial plan is real, not theoretical. Early field insight, launch planning support, and a clear distribution pathway reduce the dead time between “we’re ready” and “we’re adopted.” From an investor perspective, commercialization risk is often the biggest question mark. This partnership helps companies show a believable path to revenue and adoption, which increases confidence.

Josh Sandberg (Medtech Incubator)

Investors and acquirers look for de-risking signals: clinical validation, commercial velocity, and margin durability. This partnership significantly strengthens those signals. It also helps founders make earlier, sharper decisions that reduce time lost to misaligned go-to-market assumptions, including better resource management. Net effect: a tighter story, a clearer pathway, and improved confidence for both customers and investors.