Leto Solutions, San Antonio, Texas, an early-stage medical device startup company that is focused on improving the comfort and quality of life for lower-limb amputees was recognized as one of ten companies with the best business opportunity and promise for high-value commercialization at the Texas Life Science Forum held in Houston on February 20. The company was founded by students at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Its first product, expected to be commercially available in the first half of 2014, is the Aquilonix™ Prosthesis Cooling System, a thermoelectric cooling and heat dissipation system that can be integrated into a transtibial prosthetic socket and thereby reduce sweating.
Fifty-five medical technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical companies competed for the honor given by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Houston. The Texas Life Science Forum provides an opportunity for new life science technology companies to showcase their innovations before an audience of early-stage investors, venture capitalists, and industry leaders, according to its website, and is a joint effort hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, BioHouston, and the Texas Healthcare and BioScience Institute at the BioScience Research Collaborative, Austin.
“We are very honored to receive this award and recognition…,” said Becky Ariana, Leto Solutions’ president and CEO, in a UTSA press release. “Leto Solutions was certainly one of the earliest stage companies participating in the event. This recognition, validation, and exposure is extremely valuable…”
Leto Solutions also won first place and a $100,000 prize at the 2013 UTSA Center for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship (CITE) Student Technology Venture Competition.