Tucson-based medical startup Salutaris Medical Devices is among 10 finalists for the spring 2016 round of the Arizona Innovation Challenge, a competitive grant program sponsored by the Arizona Commerce Authority.
Grant winners will be announced later this month.
Salutaris — the only Southern Arizona company among the spring finalists — has developed a new, minimally invasive instrument for delivering radiation to the eye to treat wet age-related macular degeneration, and a radiation source for such treatments.
The technology was invented by Russell Hamilton, a University of Arizona associate professor of radiation oncology.
The Commerce Authority provides $3 million in grants annually — $1.5 million in the spring and $1.5 million in the fall — to the most qualified, innovative startups and early-stage companies. Typically a half-dozen companies are awarded grants.
Up to $250,000 is granted to each recipient to commercialize their technologies and grow their businesses, with grant money released as each company reaches specific business milestones over a year.
The other nine spring 2016 finalists are Allbound, a Phoenix software company; Chandler-based AniCell BioTech; health app developer Breezing Co., based in Tempe; Clean Router of Gilbert; LocalWork.com, Scottsdale; MWI Laboratories, a Tempe firm specializing in testing of materials used in electronics; PerioEndoscopy and SalesTalk Technologies, both based in Scottsdale; and SMART Brain Aging of Phoenix.
Past Tucson-area awardees include R-Bar Energy, NuvOx Pharma and Triton Mictrotechnologies.
