Leveraging PR to Support Medtech Start-Ups

Originally Published MX January/February 2002

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Leveraging PR to Support Medtech Start-Ups

Blended into planning at the right time and in the right way, good PR can help catapult a company from start-up to stardom.

Sandy Bodner and Steven Immergut

While mature companies, large and small, may have different ends in mind, the foremost PR goals for medtech start-ups are usually survival-related. The two standard goals for such companies are to raise essential capital and to attract potential R&D and marketing partners. In a best-case scenario, good PR can make a significant contribution to achieving both these goals. It can catapult an unknown company into the public eye—and provide validation for an early-stage technology —in a virtual instant.

For medtech start-ups, the public relations ingredient serves as catalyst of the marketing mix. But PR works best when introduced at the proper time in the right way. This article discusses how and when PR can best help a medical technology start-up company, and explores nuances of the field that companies may encounter.