3DHEALS2025 Pitch3D Demo Day (Premium)

There were too many pessimistic headlines in 3D printing in 2024!

Discussing anemic machine sales is a waste of time. 

In 1960, Theodore Levitt warned that America’s railroad industry declined because railroads assumed they were in the “railroad business rather than in the transportation business.”  Companies miss out on long-term growth when they fail to see the full spectrum of customer needs.

But that’s not everyone.

Many public and private companies have changed their focus and directions, understanding that healthcare, advanced manufacturing, robotics, specialty materials, and biotechnology are better at guiding a company’s mission statement than selling more machines, which is also essential.

Since 2018, 3DHEALS has been a platform connecting founders, investors, key operators in healthcare 3D technologies through the Pitch3D program. Since then, we have connected more than 70 companies to 30 institutional investors and angel investor groups. This upcoming event would be the first official event around Pitch3D, where we will virtually invite some of our investors, startups, and advisors to join us and kickoff a new year before the JP Morgan annual conference in San Francisco. 

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Speakers:

Investor Panel:

Nicole Black

Nicole Black, PhD is the Program Director for MedTech Innovator, a nonprofit supporting early-stage and mid-stage medical device and diagnostics startups. Nicole grew up in Michigan before attending Boston University to study Biomedical Engineering as a Trustee Scholar. In 2020, Nicole completed her PhD at Harvard University, working on interdisciplinary medtech projects between the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Mass Eye and Ear hospital. After graduating, Nicole launched a startup company, Beacon Bio, based on her PhD work as a Gliklich Healthcare Innovation Scholar developing regenerative materials for 3D printing tissue grafts. Following Beacon Bio’s acquisition by Desktop Metal, Nicole served as the Vice President of Biomaterials and Innovation in their Desktop Health division. Nicole’s accolades include the Collegiate Inventors Competition Graduate Winner (2018), the Baxter Young Investigator Award (2020), the Lemelson-MIT Student Prize (2021), and the MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 (2023).

Peter Mercelis

Peter Mercelis is a medical device and 3D printing entrepreneur who has been active in 3D printing
industry since 2003. After his PhD on 3D printing of titanium, he became cofounder and CEO of
LayerWise, a pioneer in titanium 3D printing. LayerWise quickly became a market leader in medical
device and high-tech metal 3D printing. After being acquired by 3D Systems, Peter worked a few more
years at 3D systems, shaping the medical division of 3D Systems.

Since 2018, Peter returned to his entrepreneurial roots and became active as investor/advisor in several
3D printing and healthcare startups (Aerosint, Antleron, Amnovis, Oqton, Additive Lab and Onicor). In
2022 Peter co-founded Replasia, a startup focused on developing innovative hardware and software
solutions in the hip preservation domain. He will also participate in the Pitch3D section of this event in addition to the investor panel. 

Jesse Courtier, MD

Dr. Jesse Courtier is Chief of Pediatric Radiology at UCSF Benioff Children’s -San Francisco, Founder of Sira Medical, a venture backed UCSF spinout in the Augmented Reality space, and serves as an advisor to a number of accelerators and VC firms including KidsX and Avon River Ventures. He has over a decade of clinical practice and clinical operations experience in the healthcare space, with special expertise in Pediatric Radiology and MRI. He was key in the initial prototype development, fundraising, team building, clinical pilot efforts, and FDA 510(k) clearance at Sira Medical. He is experienced in clinical research and has been the recipient of institutional, societal, and industry grants.

Operator Panel: 

Mr. Julian Chan

Mr. Julian Chan graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown University with a degree in business economics, as well as political science. He subsequently graduated from The University of Pennsylvania Law School.

He began his career at a software services start-up, Peritus Software Services, Inc. As acting General Counsel, he helped grow it from 30 employees to a company with over 500 employees and offices in five locations and four countries and $40 million in yearly revenue. He negotiated over $100 million in complex software licenses, service agreements, service licenses and software development agreements. He managed multiple rounds of venture capital totaling in excess of $20 million. He was involved in the acquisition of several companies for a total compensation in excess of $90 million, managing the integration of their legal teams and processes under him. Mr. Chan led legal efforts resulting in a 1997 IPO on Nasdaq, which raised $60 million.

Mr. Chan later founded the Wellspring Angel Fund and the Idealflow Angel Fund along with several founders of Intel, Global Crossing, JDS Uniphase, Gemstar, and other similar companies. He ran its incubator, managed review of all potential investments, negotiated investments in twelve start-ups, and led a team of four personnel in order to develop ideas originated by partners of the fund.

Later Mr. Chan served as the C.O.O. and General Counsel for Univessence Digital Studios, Ltd, at the time one of the largest distributor of games in China, distributing exclusively games such as “World of Warcraft” and “MU”. While he was there, Univessence, a Bermuda company, grew to having over 25 subsidiaries in China, Hong Kong, Japan and the US, approximately 300 employees, and $300 million in revenue. A sample of the work handled by him includes; incorporating the parent company and several key subsidiaries; completing the complex merger of the Bermuda parent company with Junnet, Inc, a BVI company, and conducted due diligence on its 20 Chinese subsidiaries; negotiating $30 million in international venture capital financing transactions; and drafting of key agreements with major game companies such as Sega, for exclusive territorial rights to China.

For a period of four years, he oversaw production at Media Revolution LLC, at the time one of the largest interactive marketing agencies in Los Angeles with clients such as Sony, Walt Disney, Warner Bros, Nestle, Honda, Coca-cola and Kyocera. He negotiated all internet marketing agreements, entertainment marketing and distribution agreements, traditional entertainment production agreements, and wireless content creation/distribution agreements during his time there. In his private practice, he has represented a billion dollar internet retailer, many internet businesses, consumer product developers, internet marketing companies representing fortune 500 clients, several best-selling authors, film production companies, and the official North and South American representative for the Shaolin Temple. 

In recent years, his client base has expanded to more than 400 clients, including Newegg, Bytedance, Gushcloud and Huberman Labs.

Mr. Chan has served as the General Counsel of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, Chairman of the Southern California Monte Jade Science and Technology Association, assistant secretary and senior advisor to the Shaolin Foundation, and as Chairman of FF Fraternity – Los Angeles Lodge. He also worked to review distressed charities on behalf of the United Way.

He is licensed to practice in Massachusetts and California.

Tom Anderton

Tom Anderton is currently a partner at K&L Gates, where his practice focuses on transactional and IP work exclusively in the Life Sciences.  He currently represents cutting edge 3D bioprinting companies.  He was formerly General Counsel, Secretary at Mindray/Zonare Medical Systems and Vice President, Intellectual Property & Legal Affairs at Presido Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw the legal function at Presidio.  Before Presidio, he was the Associate General Counsel and Chief Patent Counsel at Monogram Biosciences, Inc., where he built Monogram’s IP portfolio which then was consistently recognized as one of the best IP portfolios in the US.  Before going to Monogram, Tom was the Lead Attorney, Oncology at Genencor, Inc. where he developed and implemented Genencor’s oncology IP portfolio and led the due diligence team in their in-licensing of BL22, a lymphoma compound developed in Ira Pastan’s lab at the NCI.  Prior to that, Tom was responsible for envisioning, creating, developing and implementing the patent strategy and portfolio related to the ‘virtual’ kinase, phosphatase and protease genes that SUGEN cloned from J. Craig Ventner’s early human genome sequencing efforts and involved in developing the portfolio that relates to the current Pfizer compound SU11248 (SUTENT).  In private practice as a young associate, Tom drafted and prosecuted some of the early VEGF-related patents.  Before working in the biotech arena, Tom was focused on appellate, constitutional and First Amendment law and was responsible for co-writing trial briefs in the ISKCON v. City of Los Angeles (Hare Krishna/LAX) First Amendment case(s).  Tom earned a J.D. from the Vermont Law School, a B.S. in molecular biology from UCSD, and an M.S. in Cancer Biology from Stanford University.  He has been consistently recognized by his peers as one of the most influential IP practitioners in the United States.  He is a member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Adele Wang

Adele has over 18 years of experience in corporate finance, banking and M&A. Over the last 7 years she has worked with a number of biotech and professional services companies to build efficient operations and financial reporting to catalyze growth and shepherd them through sell-side preparation and M&A exists. She is meticulously focused on strategy as well as execution.

Steven Donaldson

Steven Donaldson is a founder and principal at RadiantBrands, a full-service branding and marketing agency that provides brand strategy, naming, design, digital communications strategy, and campaigns to a wide range of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies.

Donaldson and his agency focus on brand storytelling. Who are you as a brand? Why would customers want you? With over twenty-five years of experience in branding and marketing, and currently consults with startups and is a regular advisor at the UC Berkeley-sponsored SkyDeck incubator.

Pitching Startups:

Eric Bennett

Eric is a serial entrepreneur with expertise developing advanced technologies. Prior to Frontier Bio, he was the CTO at Aether, producing low-cost, feature-rich bioprinters. His extensive scientific background covers brain-computer interfacing, optogenetics, microfluidics, DNA assembly, in addition to bioprinting. He earned a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering, with his research centering on the use of optogenetics and brain-computer interfacing to study and mitigate neural disorders. Eric is committed to creating transformative technologies that push the frontier of what’s possible.

Gurkaran Chowdhry

Co-Founder and Director of Business Development at 3DBioFibR. My background is in polymer physics and rheology, which I applied in developing a novel biopolymer fiber fabrication technology. This patent-issued dry-spinning technology has over 3600 times the throughput of competing technologies. at 3DBioFibR, we are using this technology to solve biomaterial challenges in medical, defence, and industrial applications.

David Pearlstone

Dr. Pearlstone is a founder/principal and CEO of DICOM Director. LLC. Previously, he was Executive Director of HealthHavenHub, a digital healthcare incubator in New Haven, CT,. Prior to that, Dr. Pearlstone had a long career in academic medicine, previously serving as Medical Director for Vitas Healthcare of Connecticut, Director of Breast Services at Hackensack University Medical Center, and Associate Chairman of Surgery, Chief of Surgical Oncology, and Director of Surgical Research at Lincoln Hospital in New York City and as Assistant Professor of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Pearlstone graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy and received his B.Sc. with Honors from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Following a research fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Vanderbilt, he received his MD from New York University in 1989. He completed his residency in general surgery at NYU, including two years as a Clinical Research Fellow at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. He then went on to complete a clinical fellowship in surgical oncology at the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Dr. Pearlstone has worked in biomedical technology transfer since 2002, serving on the faculty of Clemson University College of Engineering in Clemson, SC, and the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. In 2010, Dr. Pearlstone received his MBA from the Leadership in Healthcare program at the Yale University School of Management.

Brad Estes

Dr. Estes received his Ph.D. from Duke University in Biomedical Engineering with an emphasis in chondrogenesis of fat-derived stem cells. Before earning his Ph.D., Brad served as the Manager of Research and Development in the spinal orthopedic division of Medtronic where he oversaw commercialization of medical devices from conception to market, including the achievement of regulatory approval for class III medical devices. He was also integrally involved in seeking intellectual property protection for the innovative products Medtronic was producing. In addition, Dr. Estes has acted as a consultant for both small and large medical device companies. In total, he has over 25 years of industry experience and holds 55 patents associated with medical devices. In his current role, Brad oversees all aspects of CytexOrtho operations with a focus on growth and success. In this position, he provides strategic leadership and sets the vision and direction for the company. His responsibilities include guiding research and development efforts, forging strategic partnerships, securing funding, and ensuring regulatory compliance. Additionally, he plays a hands-on role in fostering a collaborative and dynamic work culture, driving motivation and creativity among the tight-knit team at CytexOrtho.

Stephanie Willerth

Dr. Willerth is the C.E.O. and co-founder of Axolotl Biosciences – an award winning start-up focused on producing novel bioinks for 3D printing human tissues.

Renee Ryan

PinPrint

Renee Ryan is recognized as an industry insider and leading investor, deal-maker, and passionate innovator. She has over 25 years of building category-creating healthcare companies. Recently, Renee served as CEO and Board member of Cala Health, a pioneer in the field of wearable neuromodulaton therapy having launched two generations of product and consistently doubled revenue each year of her leadership. Previously, she led the medical technology investments for Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJDC) on the West Coast and Asia Pacific for 8 years. While at J&J, she made over 15 new investments, including the Series A for Cala Health. Other investments include Auris Health, Verb Surgical, PowerVision and Tusker Medical, all of which led to significant acquisitions. Previously, she was a healthcare investment banker at Goldman Sachs and Jefferies. She currently sits on the Boards of RefleXion Medical and Neuropace (NPCE).

Peter Mercelis

Peter Mercelis is a medical device and 3D printing entrepreneur who has been active in 3D printing
industry since 2003. After his PhD on 3D printing of titanium, he became cofounder and CEO of
LayerWise, a pioneer in titanium 3D printing. LayerWise quickly became a market leader in medical
device and high-tech metal 3D printing. After being acquired by 3D Systems, Peter worked a few more
years at 3D systems, shaping the medical division of 3D Systems.

Since 2018, Peter returned to his entrepreneurial roots and became active as investor/advisor in several
3D printing and healthcare startups (Aerosint, Antleron, Amnovis, Oqton, Additive Lab and Onicor). In
2022 Peter co-founded Replasia, a startup focused on developing innovative hardware and software
solutions in the hip preservation domain. He will also participate in the Pitch3D section of this event in addition to the investor panel.

Abel Teo

Abel is a co-founder and the CEO of Castomize Technologies. Providing leadership and direction to the company, he steers the overall strategy of Castomize to grow and deliver long-term value to healthcare ecosystems in Singapore and beyond. Since the inception of Castomize, Abel has established multiple collaborations with clinicians, universities, and distributors in Asia. He also led fundraising efforts for the Castomize, successfully raising half a million Singapore dollars. Under his leadership, the team attained the ASEAN outstanding engineering achievement award, and the founding team was included in the Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list for healthcare and science.

Alyssa Huffman

ALLUMIN8 is revolutionizing healthcare with its groundbreaking 3D Therapeutic Hardware, a new category in Orthopedics & Spine aimed at reducing global reoperation rates and transforming surgical care. By integrating advanced porous designs with therapeutic functionality, ALLUMIN8 empowers surgeons to diagnose, treat, and heal through the device itself, marking a paradigm shift in medical technology. These innovations aim to deliver unmatched patient outcomes, are backed by the highest levels of clinical evidence and cutting-edge science, ensuring that each device not only performs mechanically but actively contributes to healing and recovery.

With a mission to redefine standards in surgical success, ALLUMIN8 pioneers solutions that address the root causes of complications, reduce revision surgeries, and improve healthcare efficiency worldwide. Our devices represent the pinnacle of engineering and clinical excellence, providing healthcare providers with tools to elevate care, improve recovery, and optimize costs. ALLUMIN8 is more than a MedTech company—it’s a catalyst for change, setting a new benchmark for therapeutic innovation in Orthopedics & Spine.

Moderator: 

Dr. Jenny Chen

Dr. Jenny Chen is trained as a neuroradiologist, and founder/CEO of 3DHEALS. Her main interests include next-generation education, 3D printing in the healthcare sector, automated biology, and artificial intelligence. She is an angel investor who invests in Pitch3D companies.