They say that success happens when preparation meets opportunity. This embodies Somnair’s journey.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a relatively common condition that interrupts normal breathing during sleep, affecting 54 million Americans every night. OSA puts patients at an increased risk of developing conditions, including heart attack, stroke, and diabetes. Current treatment methods can often be invasive and ineffective.
After seeing first-hand the challenges sleep apnea patients faced in the field, Mitchell Turley and Dr. Anders Sideris knew they needed to revolutionize the obstructive sleep apnea treatment space. Along with co-founders Phoebe Dijour and Shri Prabha Shivram, they developed Somnair, a first-in-class, non-invasive neurostimulation device that opens the airway using a proprietary therapy delivery system.
Mitchell Turley spent four years at Cook Advanced Technologies taking an FDA Class III Breakthrough heart failure device from initial concept to clinical early feasibility study application. Dr. Anders Sideris is a medical doctor with 10 years’ experience in otolaryngology (head and neck surgery), medical device innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Somnair’s hard work would pay off. They quickly won pitch competitions for their venture and were accepted into the 2024 StarTUp Accelerator, even receiving financial backing from one of Maryland’s largest healthcare organizations, MedStar Health, as the Accelerator’s first MedStar Health Innovation Venture.
MedStar Health support
Stephen Kinsey, director of MedStar Inventor Services, pitched Patrick McQuown, executive director of entrepreneurship at Towson University, the idea of MedStar sponsoring a medical-focused venture in the StarTUp Accelerator after seeing the success of previous ventures. There are only two criteria for ventures to receive the MedStar Health Innovation Venture funding: 1) the venture must be accepted into and complete the StarTUp Accelerator and 2) they must be a medical-focused venture.
Somnair fit the bill and became the first MedStar Health Innovation Venture as part of the 2024 StarTUp Accelerator. With this sponsorship, Somnair has been able to further their mission of revolutionizing their neurostimulation solution for obstructive sleep apnea.
“We are super thankful and really excited to work with MedStar, one of the largest hospital systems in the area. We’re thrilled to be here,” said Mitch Turley, co-founder of Somnair.
As the success of this partnership grows, MedStar Health is committed to uplifting and propelling innovative medical-focused ventures into the next stage of their entrepreneurial journey. The StarTUp Accelerator is also committed to providing those ventures with mentorship, resources, and guidance throughout their journey.
