The Olympus Blog

Innovation

Research Round-Up

Olympus Innovation Ventures: Charting the Course for Medtech Breakthroughs in 2026 and Beyond

The venture capital arm of Olympus Corp. recently announced its next phase of funding since its launch in 2021: A 10-year, $150 million investment in future medtech endeavors. How will this next round of portfolio picks take shape based on previous experience and new corporate strategy?

Podcasts

AI in Medtech: How Olympus Is Doing the Math and Why You Shouldn’t Be Scared

AI adoption in endoscopy was the topic of this podcast, featuring Senior Vice President of R&D and Chief Digital Officer, Smart Connected Care Slawek Kierner, and Director of Marketing for GI Digital Solutions Neviana Terzieva. Discussions ranged from the theoretical and visionary goals of improved efficiencies and health outcomes to the practical and incremental adoption of potentially game-changing Olympus® endoscopy technology.

Medical Technologies

AI Integrated Wearables for Gut Health Diagnosis: Olympus Innovation Ventures Invests in Alimetry

The clinician-founded team behind Alimetry recently announced the close of their Series A2 round of funding to pursue broad commercialization of their AI-powered, wearable device. The Alimetry device is designed to be used as an aid in the diagnosis of gut disorders that have proven difficult to solve using conventional diagnostics and testing.

Medical Technologies

A Patient-first Approach to Improve Bladder Control: Olympus Innovation Ventures Invests in Neuspera

Olympus Innovation Ventures (OIV) recently announced a Series D investment in Neuspera Medical, Inc. This move underscores OIV’s commitment to investing in pioneering minimally invasive solutions that have the potential to enhance patient care and quality of life.

Inside Olympus

Impact Starts with Awareness: 2024 Simmons Leadership Conference

Making life choices that are authentic to ourselves was a common theme at the [45th Simmons Leadership] conference, held April 3 at Hynes Convention Center in Boston. When we do this, we can fulfill our potential as women, and we help advance the inclusivity of the organizations in which we work.

Medical Technologies

Harvard Gynecologist Reviews Olympus® Contained Tissue Extraction System

In “Guardenia: A ‘Really Great Solution’ for Contained Tissue Extraction,” published on MDedge® by OBG Management, Dr. Greenberg shares his opinion and perspective of the design, functionality, and level of innovation of the Guardenia™ Contained Tissue Extraction System.

Medical Technologies

Illuminating Cancer Cells During Surgery: A Worthy Olympus Investment

On November 16, 2023, Olympus Innovation Ventures (OIV) announced its participation in the $30M Series C funding round to help West Lafayette, Ind. based On Target Laboratories (OTL). The team is working to accelerate commercialization of their novel compound—used in conjunction with near infrared surgical imaging devices.

Medical Technologies

Medtech: Boldly Going Where Women Have Not Gone Before

But with representation still under a quarter of medtech leadership roles, organizations like the nonprofit MedExecWomen have emerged to support female leadership in this space. Olympus Corporation was one of the sponsors of its fourth annual conference, “Growing Your Business, Yourself, and Your Leaders,” held May 16, 2023, in Cambridge, MA.

Medical Technologies

When Little Things are a Big Deal: Olympus’ Investment in Eximis Aims to Keep Incisions Small

"Olympus is excited to support Eximis Surgical in the development of this promising new technology,” said Nacho Abia, Chief Strategy Officer for Olympus Corporation. “Supporting physicians in elevating the standard of care for patients is a priority for Olympus.”

Medical Technologies

Exclusive Q&A with Newly Appointed Director of Olympus Innovation Ventures

Abby Hunter-Syed has always been fascinated with innovation, particularly how technologies are leveraged to improve lives. That is one of the reasons why she’s so thrilled to be appointed Director of Olympus Innovation Ventures (OIV), the $50 million venture capital arm of Olympus Corporation of the Americas. OIV does any-stage deals in emerging medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

Research Round-Up

Highlights: Case Study Article, Video a Window into Next-generation Duodenoscope

Adoption of new technology, such as Olympus’ TJF-Q190V duodenoscope, for ERCP procedures does not present a substantial learning curve to Muhammad K. Hasan, MD, FACG, medical director for the Center for Interventional Endoscopy at AdventHealth in Orlando, FL. He used the scope, designed with a disposable distal endcap and features intended to improve visualization, during two clinical cases described in “Drivers Ed: Behind the Wheel of a Next-generation Duodenoscope” (“Article”) (see instructions for downloading this free article at the end of this post).

At Our Core

Olympus Executives Talk About Going Global, Shifting Focus

Within the last 100 years, Olympus’ core success was founded on its technology and innovation, according to COO Nacho Abia. To those outside of the organization, Olympus’ pervasive branding as “the camera company” still sticks, despite the divestiture of that business in 2020. The company continues to pivot, and with recent news of impressive earnings in FY22, a listen back to a January 2022 MassDevice podcast in which Nacho was interviewed, along with Gabriela Kaynor, Division Head of Therapeutics Solutions, proves insightful to some of these shifts.