“Three tipped for the top” (National Press)
Posted on Mon 13th November 2006
HERALD, Nov 13th, 2007 - “Scotland’s entrepreneurial spirit will be recognised when The Entrepreneur of the Year 2006 awards are presented in front of 700 guests at a dinner at the Glasgow Hilton Hotel on Thursday, November 23. Sponsored by The Herald, Bank of Scotland and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the awards fall into two categories: Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year. Our preview of the three short-listed finalists in each category begins with the nominations for Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.
Name: Matt McGrath
Company: Aircraft Medical
Location: Edinburgh
Started: 2001
McGrath’s success has been based on a design for a portable laryngoscope which was his first foray into medical design, and for which he won a Royal Society of the Arts award in 1999. Doctors have been using laryngoscopes for years, to view a patient’s airway and insert breathing apparatus into the airway for assisted breathing. They form a standard tool of anaesthesiology and cardiac care. However, McGrath developed technology which allowed experts to get a better view of the airways using a miniature LCD screen, while reducing the risks of damaging teeth, tissues or vocal chords. On the back of the RSA award, McGrath won further backing to develop a prototype for the NHS, encouraging him to take the plunge in 2001, when he formed Aircraft Medical to focus on the development of the laryngoscope.
McGrath worked alone until 2003, when he received further endorsement of his vision in the form of a SMART award. This was followed by a Wellcome Trust investment in 2004.
In March 2006, Aircraft Medical launched the McGRATH® Series 5 Portable Video Laryngoscope, backed by seven patents and two trademarks. The company has received accreditation and approval for its product in the USA, UK and Eire. It has signed a distribution contract with LMA North America thought to be worth $50m (£26.3m) for US sales alone and has started to roll out across the UK. McGrath’s team is thinking about how the technology could be adapted to other hand-held products to improve infection control while making products easier to use.
PwC verdict: The combination of Matt’s entrepreneurial spirit and industrial design background underpinned the commercial launch of the world’s first portable video laryngoscope in 2006. Having attracted significant external investment and backing from a number of high profile individuals in the medical devices sector, he already has a strong platform to generate significant
growth within a global market.