Pitch Contest
PhoenixAID on the rise
A unique bandage that blocks infections and accelerates healing caught the attention of Silicon Valley’s Pegasus Tech Ventures last month, earning Oshkosh-based PhoenixAID a chance to compete on the world stage.
Twenty-three technology-based emerging companies from across the Midwest presented to the Tech Council Investor Network during the Early Stage Symposium hosted by the Wisconsin Technology Council (WTC).
For the first time, WTC partnered with Pegasus Tech Ventures, the venture firm that produces the Startup World Cup. The international startup pitch competition offers a $1 million investment for the winning company and countless networking opportunities. Representatives from Pegasus Tech Ventures observed the startup pitches to choose one of the emerging companies to participate in the 2025 Startup World Cup.
The judges chose PhoenixAID to attend the international event. The company developed a five-layer bandage that prevents infections, blocks pathogens and accelerates the healing of chronic wounds. The cost-effective wound care solution was designed to be used outside of a clinical setting.
This early-stage medical technology has the potential to impact medical practices and patient outcomes around the world.
Founder Ashwinraj Karthikeyan, an aerospace engineer, launched his company under the name InMEDBio in 2018. The bootstrapped company has raised $97,000 in grant funding to date.
Inspired by the work of his father, material physicist Dr. Annamalai Karthikeyan, Ashwinraj looked to material science for a solution when his grandmother living in India lost her foot due to a diabetes-related foot wound.
Unfortunately, her story is not an uncommon one. According to the National Institutes of Health, 537 million people in the world have diabetes, and an estimated 19% to 34% of them will develop at least one diabetic foot ulcer in their lifetime. As the number of diabetic patients continues to grow, these numbers are expected to increase.
We spoke with Ashwinraj Karthikeyan about his unique wound care product and what is next for PhoenixAID.
MSUN: What stage is the product currently in?
AK: We did a preclinical study where we didn’t put it on people, but we simulated the conditions and then we tested what was being currently used. Early next year, we’re going to start a mouse study. For years now, we’ve had working product prototypes tested in lab settings and other preclinical settings.
We are done with all of that and were able to get approval to do the clinical trials, which will start in Q3 of 2025. One of the reasons we’re using mice is there’s an existing protocol model for diabetic feet in mice. They’ve (scientists) already created a model to simulate a diabetic foot ulcer as a type of wound on a mouse.
Those existing models made a lot of sense for the initial stage, but the most significant clinical data that we collected in India was an actual clinical trial with 120 patients. It is a direct comparison of data between us and what’s currently being used.
MSUN: What is the technology behind the wound dressing?
AK: We call it nanocomposite carbon polymers. The carbon is activated carbon, but there are other things in the polymer. This is a platform technology. First, there is the base polymer, but you can add all sorts of things to it.
For example, we can make it germicidal, so we can add silver. There are other compounds you can use to accelerate healing and maintain an ideal moisture environment on the wound.
Wounds are both simple and complicated. The type of wounds that we are looking at are chronic wounds. An example of an acute wound is if you get a paper cut and don’t have any other condition. Normally, it’s going to heal within a few days. Very rarely do you get an infection, but you can put a Band-Aid on it, and it will be fine.
A chronic wound is the type we focus on—wounds that last a long time. To be considered chronic, generally, the wounds last at least three months—and in some cases, they last for years. These wounds are also very susceptible to infection, and they have a complicated healing process. People who have chronic wounds generally have some other condition, such as diabetes or advanced age.
A diabetic foot ulcer is a type of ulcer wound on the foot of someone with diabetes. It’s so common because people who have diabetes generally have a condition called neuropathy. They can’t feel the bottom of their feet.
I’ve witnessed over 250 surgeries to date involving chronic wounds. The most memorable one I recall is a patient who unfortunately lost a large part of his foot.
He was a farmer in India and was wearing plastic flip-flops. There was a rough edge on the sandal, and it was enough to give him a paper-cut-type wound on the bottom of his foot. The wound never healed. It started out very small, and he thought, ‘this isn’t a big deal.’ The wound got progressively larger, and he ended up needing to have a significant portion of his foot amputated.
MSUN: What makes this wound dressing unique?
AK: For the farmer in India, the treatment currently being used is very complex and cumbersome. The process is expensive, and you can’t just take what we do in America and put it there because the treatments here require expensive machines.
We are trying to simplify the process and we’re targeting these underserved markets to offer attainable treatment. The product follows the ABCs—accelerating healing, blocking infection, and comforting the wound—of chronic wound care. It uses the same principles doctors have been taught.
The ABCs are our core principles, and we fulfill each one to create a product that seamlessly replaces current treatments in a way everyone is happy to implement. It should improve healing outcomes for doctors because it integrates into their existing workflow. Hospitals are happy because it’s a profitable product.
MSUN will follow PhoenixAID’s path to the 2025 Startup World Cup.
