How design and engineering firms find new medical device clients

Why design work starts early

Design work comes before almost everything else in a device's life. A company with an idea and new money has to turn that idea into a device the company can test, file and build. Many small device companies bring in an outside design firm for that step.

So the best time to reach a company is right after the money arrives. The signs are public, but they sit in grant databases, press releases, filings and job boards. Sorting through them for every early company takes hours.

Your job is to win new business, not to spend hours researching medical device companies.

Read federal grants, especially the move to a bigger second grant

The SBIR and STTR programs give funding to small US companies to develop new technology. A Phase I award is the first, smaller step. A Phase II award is larger and pays for further development. Source: SBIR.gov.

A move from Phase I to Phase II is one of the best signs for a design firm. The company proved the idea and now has money to build the next version.

Search NIH RePORTER for NIH-funded device projects, and SBIR.gov awards for awards across agencies. Read more on NIH device grants.

Read funding news at early device companies

Private money is a sign too. Look for:

• Press releases about a seed round or a first round of funding.
• SEC Form D filings, which companies file when they raise money privately. Search SEC EDGAR.

A newly funded company often hires for design help before the company hires a full engineering team.

Look at early device studies

An early feasibility study tests a device in a small number of people, often before the design is final. The FDA has an Early Feasibility Studies Program for these studies, linked from the FDA's IDE page. A company in that stage may still change the design, and that is design work.

Many device studies appear on ClinicalTrials.gov. Companies also announce IDE approvals in press releases. Read more on IDE approvals.

Look at hiring for mechanical, electrical and human factors engineers

Job posts show what a company plans next. A post for a mechanical, electrical or human factors engineer shows design work under way. A small company hiring its first engineer may also bring in an outside firm to cover the rest.

In Whimbrel, ask: "Find wearable device companies in Colorado hiring human factors engineers."

Put the companies in order for your firm

Paste the companies from a trade show or an accelerator demo day into Whimbrel. Whimbrel puts them in order for your firm and says why, with the newest evidence and a source link for each. Names outside Whimbrel's coverage come back on their own, with the reason.

How Whimbrel saves you the research hours

Whimbrel reads FDA records, device studies, federal grants, company news and job posts. Each fact links to its public source. You ask in plain words, inside ChatGPT or Claude.

• Look up one company. "Give me a rundown of [company website], including its 510(k) history." Whimbrel shows what the company makes, where the company is based, and dated events like grants, funding, device studies and clearances.
• Find companies. "Find surgical robotics companies in Pennsylvania hiring mechanical engineers."
• See what is new. "What's new at digital health device companies in Massachusetts?"
• Put your names in order. "Here are the exhibitors from a trade show. Put them in order for my firm."
• Check the sources. "Where does Whimbrel's data come from?"

Set up your firm profile at sign-up, and Whimbrel tailors answers to the design work your firm does. You can skip that step, and Whimbrel still answers.

In Whimbrel, a company's website is the company's identity. If a name could fit more than one company, Whimbrel asks for the website.

Get back the hours you spend researching medtech device companies.

Example: Varrowmede Surgical (Example)

Varrowmede Surgical (Example) won a federal grant to build a new version of the company's device. Grants like this can pay for design work.

Ask Whimbrel about Varrowmede Surgical (Example) in ChatGPT or Claude. Whimbrel shows the grant and recent news, with a link to each source. You reach out while the design work is still open.

Common questions