MedStartr Thinks Crowdfunding Will Work For Med-Tech

Crowdfunding—the new, hip way to raise money for early-stage technologies and interesting projects—has found a happy home in the world of high-tech, where many people are eager to experiment with new models and new approaches. But can the same model work for the much stodgier health-care industry?

The founders of MedStartr, a crowdfunding platform for medical technologies, say that it will. On the 4th of July, the site will go live, with dozens of health-related technologies and services looking for benefactors.

“Working with start-ups, I’ve seen a big bottleneck when it comes to getting funded and getting on the market. If patients could get involved, and fund what they care about, it could lead to a forest of innovation,” said Alex Fair, a MedStartr founder who also runs industry association Health 2.0 in New York...