Volusia County, Florida
Founded: 2018
Techfit improves patient outcomes by providing Oral and Maxillofacial surgeons with to access the latest technologies in 3D surgical planning and 3D printing through their proprietary cloud-based workflow management platform, their point-of-care 3D printing service, and our FDA-registered device manufacturing site in Daytona Beach.
Manufacturing
2100% increase from 2018 – 2021
211224000% increase from 2018 – 2021
Tell us a bit about your background.
I am a mechanical engineer by training and have a master’s degree in Motorsports Engineering. Before going into the medical device space, I used to work on the aerodynamics of race cars in the UK and then I pivoted into the medical device field where I have more than 12 years of experience in R&D, Product Development, Innovation, Sales, and Marketing, and Quality Assurance.
Was there an ah-ha moment that led you to you starting your company?
When I started working with orthopedics, I realized that doctors come into the OR, and make the decisions on which implants to use based on heuristics and trialing implants on the patients while they are under anesthesia (What I call the shoe store approach). In the racing industry, we had virtual models of the cars where we tested the aerodynamic performance before we ever made the parts. Making this achievable in surgery became the purpose that drove the creation of TECHFIT.
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
I have always loved blank canvas problems, building something that isn’t there. I have also been a risk-taker my whole life. Early in my career, I realized that the place where the two intersect are in entrepreneurship. For this reason, I have always ser-arched for career opportunities where I can be an intrapreneur or entrepreneur.
Tell us about your business and the value it brings to your customers.
We make musculoskeletal surgery faster, more accurate, and safer for the patients by allowing surgeons to perform the surgery virtually as many times as needed before ever touching the patient and by enabling them to create tailor-made implants and instruments to ensure that the plan gets translated into the best possible outcome for the patient.
What makes your company culture unique?
TECHFIT’s culture is driven by purpose, we want to make sure if we are ever in need of surgical treatment, we get the best possible care. We wake up every day to make this a reality for more and more patients. We believe in boundaryless management where hierarchy or tenure are not the main factors defining what we do, but rather data and customer-centricity.
What makes your company different than others in your market?
We differentiate ourselves with agility, medical innovation is traditionally very slow, and we work hard to iterate and evolve faster. We also generate IP in the form of patents that we protect. For this reason, our software tool for surgical planning was developed in a very short time span and is now being used by multiple surgeons across the globe.
Since starting, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a business owner?
The biggest challenge you face as a business owner is making sure you build a collective vision beyond your own and building a team to execute that vision. To overcome this, we have been developing our talent selection and management practices to ensure that we can attract talent that will share the purpose and evaluate that talent is acting in accordance with this purpose. We have also established open-all-hands communications channels that allow us to be aligned with the company’s purpose.
What goals do you have for your company?
Our short-term goal is to establish a partnership for distribution for the US market. This will allow us to reach more markets in different states, we will couple this with our current innovation projects to allow us to increase our reach and help more patients.
What has been your proudest moment as CEO?
Every time a new surgeon uses a TECHFIT product and helps a patient when they need it is the proudest moment. We’re here to help people when they need us and this is the moment when this help comes to fruition. We share the number of patients helped weekly with our whole team and that’s what makes us wake up in the morning.
What does it mean to be selected as an Honoree?
For me, it’s a validation of all that we’ve done, and it emboldens me to continue to relentlessly go after bigger and bigger challenges and help more and more people. I am sure our team is incredibly proud to work for a company recognized as a GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch and that the fact that others are noticing their progress motivates them to work harder and move faster.
Is there anyone special you’d like to thank?
I want to thank my wife, who has believed in this gamble and moved to another country to chase the dream of making this company a reality, I want to thank Embry-Riddle and the UCF Business Incubation Program for being so helpful with every step of the journey and the Volusia County business community that doesn’t miss an opportunity to demonstrate that we’ve chosen the right location for our company.
Build from a purpose, economic results are that, results come if you’re building a product that matters and that helps others.
GrowFL is driven by one goal – to cultivate second-stage growth companies across the state. Second-stage companies are the backbone of Florida’s economy and the definition of economic success and prosperity.
GrowFL, through our diverse programs and services, provides proven methods to help overcome unique challenges facing second-stage companies as they grow.
