From Long Island to Schenectady: NYC Innovation Hot Spot Startups, Epic Airway Systems and VascuArch, Advance Toward Commercialization

Story originally featured in the Summer 2026 State of Innovation newsletter from NYSTAR Executive Director, Ben Verschueren. This report highlighted recent life science-related successes in New York state. 

Epic Airway Systems, one of three New York businesses pioneering medical devices to meet industry needs, with the critical assistance of the NYSTAR support network.

NYC Innovation Hot Spot’s client Epic Airway Systems (Schenectady) is developing a patented airway management device—focused on improving patient safety and ease of use during emergency airway procedures and surgeries—designed for use by anesthesiologists, CRNAs, emergency medicine physicians, and paramedics.

Eric Moses, MD, MBA, CEO/CMO Epic Airway Systems

Innovators parlay recognition into momentum toward commercialization

For New York’s growing crop of life science startups, this past year’s been one of determination and discovery. But for two Long Island-based operations—VascuArch and Millennial Scientific—this work has come with big-time recognition that is now helping to propel the work forward.

Shi Fu, PhD., Gurtej Singh, PhD., and lab team

VascuArch is a medical device startup developing next-generation tissue-engineered skin substitutes designed to improve wound healing, reduce scarring, and enhance recovery outcomes for patients with severe burns, chronic wounds, and other complex skin injuries. The company first earned a Fall 2025 nomination to NSF National I-Corps Teams program, which came with $50,000 to continue customer discovery and commercialization activities. Following the completion of that program, VascuArch was selected by the National Science Foundation as one of the inaugural participants in the Spring 2026 AccelCorps program, a new $5 million post-I-Corps initiative launched in partnership with the Gies College of Business to support high-potential research teams advancing toward commercialization.

Through these selections—and continued support from the NYSTAR network and affiliated entrepreneurial programs of NYC Innovation Hot Spot—the Dr. Gurtej Singh-led company has subsequently secured $646,431 from The G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation (alongside a $50,000 award through the SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund) to support the continued development and commercialization of its advanced vascularized wound-care platform. Together, their accolades have helped accelerate translational research activities, commercialization planning, and validation of the company’s tissue-engineered skin substitute technology as it moved closer toward clinical and commercial applications.

In the case of Millennial Scientific [a NYC Innovation Hot Spot trained company,] the life sciences company earned a pair of accolades to mobilize its commercialization efforts.

First, it was awarded funding through NYSTAR’s competitive Innovation Matching Grants Program to advance its NanoPak-C, a 3D-printed all-carbon monolith platform for next-generation biologics chromatography and protein separation. This award was key to moving forward commercialization activities such as customer discovery, conference participation, and IP protection. Eventually, it also helped position Millennial Scientific for an even bigger honor: selection to the prestigious BioTools Innovator (BTI) 2026 Accelerator. 

The four-month program is focused exclusively on life science tools and diagnostics companies. The 2026 cohort was chosen from more than 550 applicants worldwide, with approximately 30 companies selected, representing the top 5% of all applicants. BTI—powered by the MedTech Innovator team—provides targeted mentorship, non-dilutive funding opportunities, and exposure to a broad network of corporate partners and investors. BTI alumni companies have collectively raised $12 billion in follow-on funding and brought over 500 products to market.

This is great news for Millennial Scientific, whose NanoPak-C technology makes an important lab process faster, more precise and less wasteful.