Kat Innovation Inc

OSTAAT A Future Free From Fractures A non-invasive smart clothing medical device that naturally stimulates bone growth to prevent osteoporosis fractures.

  • Stage Product In Development
  • Industry Medical Devices and Equipment
  • Location Chicago, IL, USA
  • Currency USD
  • Founded October 2024
  • Employees 6
  • Incorporation Type C-corp
  • Website katinnovation.com

Company Summary

KAT Innovation is closing a critical gap in osteoporosis care. Over 200 million people suffer from it; 80% are women. Medications take 6–12 months to work, leaving patients at risk of fractures. For those with Chronic Kidney Disease, drugs are often not an option. OSTAAT™ is a smart wearable clothing that delivers non-invasive, drug-free support from day one, at home, comfortably. We're seeking investors to bring this solution to market.

Team

  • CEO-Founder leading KAT in Canada, U.S., France, Spain. Leads strategy, fundraising, partnerships, & execution across R&D, clinical studies, regulatory planning, IP, GTM, aligning teams, budgets, & milestones. Focused on ROI + disciplined delivery.

    40+ years building & scaling health & sports businesses, including a Quebec paramedical & sports medicine center. 15+ Taekwondo schools Quebec, France, California. Created and hosted Quebec national TV fitness shows and training DVDs distributed across Canada. Since 2010, focused on medical-device R&D, leading financing, development plans, and clinical studies across KAT entities and partners. Proven operator with global execution experience.

  • Scientific Advisor/co-inventor. Provides physiology leadership, guiding stimulation parameter rationale, methodology, & data interpretation. Aligns academic evidence with clinical translation & supports space-countermeasure positioning & strategy.

    Prof/Director of the Depart of Physical Activity at UQAM. Active researcher with Canadian Space Agency, informing musculoskeletal & cardiorespiratory physiology in microgravity. Contributes to stimulation parameter selection, study design, data interpretation, bridging academic research, clinical application, & future space-countermeasure opportunities. Maintains strong research & industry partnerships that support validation & credibility.

  • Chief Medical Officer Tunisia & lead orthopedic investigator. Leads execution, investigator training, patient pathway & safety oversight, & ensures protocol adherence, data quality, & ethics alignment for Tunisia clinical studies & expansion planning.

    Professor of Orthopedic Surgery in Tunis, head of an orthopaedic department since 2013. General orthopedic surgeon focused on hip, knee arthroplasty, adult spine surgery. Board member and founding board member of the Tunisian Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research. Provides site leadership, surgical insight, & investigator network for OSTAAT™ trials in Tunisia, strengthening hospital operations & ethics compliance.

  • Dr Stuart L. Silverman
    U.S. Principal Investigator & clinical lead. Designs protocols & endpoints, oversees safety & data quality, and supports investigator engagement to ensure IRB/GCP-aligned execution & evidence for regulators, payers, & commercialization in the U.S.

    Rheumatologist and Clinical Professor at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai. Medical Director at the Osteoporosis Medical Center and its Clinical Research Center. Osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease specialist. Led NIH, state, and industry trials; 200+ peer-reviewed papers; advisory boards. Brings endpoints and trial-ops expertise plus KOLs' credibility to OSTAAT accelerating IRB readiness, site activation, and recruitment worldwide, with tight oversight.

  • Dr James Andrew Hodgdon
    Scientific Advisor/co-inventor. Brings applied physiology to strengthen study design, measurement strategy, and interpretation of musculoskeletal adaptation. Advises on biomarkers, DXA, and performance factors to support translational evidence for OSTAAT.

    Retired applied physiologist & co-inventor of OSTAAT. Spent 35 years at the Navy Naval Health Research Center, then founded & led a performance laboratory. Expertise includes body composition, thermal stress, vibration/shock and bone & musculoskeletal adaptation measured via biomarkers, DXA and loading models. Brings measurement discipline and translational physiology to clinical device studies, strengthening protocols and outcome interpretation.

  • Keklevi Ansah
    Engineering Project Manager coordinating biomedical & electrical development. Owns plans, timelines & documentation; drives execution in vitro/ex vivo studies & verification ensuring delivery from requirements to outputs on schedule with fast reports.

    Biomedical-electrical engineer coordinating day-to-day R&D across biomedical and electrical teams. Leads literature synthesis, experimental planning, and support for in vitro and ex vivo work. Builds project plans, manages timelines and resources, and maintains clear documentation for decisions, progress, and results. Strengthens integration between device engineering, biology, and study deliverables for OSTAAT, improving speeds and traceability.

  • Samantha Heard
    Biomedical engineer validating hip-tissue response & stimulation parameters. Runs models & tests, manages lab setup and data capture, and supports analysis & reports for ex vivo work plus upcoming in vivo studies to refine settings safely for OSTAAT well.

    Biomedical engineer validating OSTAAT stimulation in hip tissues. Conducts literature reviews, supports LTspice modeling, and verifies results through bench testing. Supported ex vivo pig-hip studies (setup, data capture, analysis, reporting). Will support upcoming in vivo work to refine stimulation parameters and enable safe translation into 2026 clinical programs and protocols. Brings disciplined documentation experimental rigor, and reporting.

  • Nicholas Dernovsek
    Biomedical engineer focused on verification & V&V. Builds LTspice, & tissue models, designs bench tests, supports ex vivo lab setup, analysis, & packages evidence to optimize stimulation parameters & support regulatory-ready documentation for next studies

    Biomedical engineer driving verification of hip-tissue stimulation for OSTAAT. Translates literature into testable hypotheses, builds LTspice models, and designs bench protocols. Supported ex vivo pig-hip experiments (setup, recording, analysis, reporting). Will support upcoming in vivo work to refine parameters and produce traceable, regulatory-ready evidence packages with strong analytical reporting. Focuses on V&V rigor and documentation.

  • Brigitte Marcheterre
    Chief Clinical Operations Officer leading feasibility & clinical execution in North America. Manages sites, CROs, timelines, & quality oversight to deliver GCP-aligned operations, clean data flow, & readiness for regulatory interactions & scale-up.

    Clinical operations leader with 30+ years in pharma & clinical research, including 11 at Eli Lilly Canada. CEO North America at Keyrus Life Science; co-founded MedQualis and led its merger with Keyrus/Alsinova. Expert in site/CRO management, budgets, timelines, and quality oversight aligned with regulatory expectations. Drives feasibility and scalable operations for OSTAAT in North America, delivering trials on time and to standard under GCP too.

  • Eric Szmutny
    Chief Quality, Innovation and Compliance Officer. Leads QMS build-out, design controls, risk management, supplier quality, and certification readiness, driving ISO-aligned processes and documentation to scale OSTAAT development safely and compliantly.

    Quality & regulatory leader with 25+ years in project leadership and process optimization, plus 15 years in hardware and MedTech roles. Led multiple ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 certifications. Builds QMS, drives design controls and risk management, and strengthens supplier quality and compliance. Delivers audit-ready documentation and scalable processes supporting safe development and manufacturing scale-up for OSTAAT, through audits, CAPAs, and DHF.

  • Caroline Chevrier
    Strategic Business Advisor, North America. Shapes positioning, GTM strategy, partnerships & fundraising; sharpens messaging and customer pathways; strengthens investor outreach. Connects KAT to high-leverage advisors, platforms and relationships at scale.

    Three-time health entrepreneur and marketing strategist. Founded SIXDEGRÉS (acquired by Edelman) and the Probiotic Education Alliance (acquired). Entrepreneur-in-Residence at CENTECH; mentored 100+ Tech & MedTech startups. Brings positioning, partnerships & fundraising experience to craft GTM pathways and investor narratives grounded in stakeholder value and practical execution. Strong North American network for intros and deal flows with impact.

  • Mellissa Lederer
    Board Advisor through mHUB investment. Advises KAT leadership on growth, partnerships, and scaling, sharing ecosystem access and practical go-to-market guidance. Supports strategic introductions, stakeholder alignment, and execution priorities in Chicago.

    Strategic business leader with 20+ years supporting startups and organizations on go-to-market and growth. Chief Experience Officer at mHUB Chicago; helped build 1871, MATTER, and mHUB. Board advisor to KAT via mHUB’s investment, bringing ecosystem expertise, partnership access, and practical guidance on scaling operations, customer discovery, and growth strategy. Strong Midwest network and venture ties for partnerships and follow-on fundraising.

  • Dr Julio C. Fernandes
    Clinical Advisor/Principal Investigator in Canada. Guides orthopedic strategy, endpoint selection, & academic-hospital execution. Supports protocol refinement & translation from preclinical to publishable clinical evidence at CHUM & partner sites.

    Orthopaedic surgeon & Full Professor at Université de Montréal; Endowed Chair in Osteoarthritis & Chief of Staff (Orthopedic Surgery) at CHUM. Hip/knee reconstruction expert; Past President, SICOT World Congress 2018. Leads a Gene Therapy & Nanotech lab; raised $15M+ CAD. Authored 114+ papers, bringing academic rigor & hospital execution to OSTAAT. Experienced PI with broad networks. Guides protocol design, endpoints, and execution across Canada.

Previous Investors

  • mHUB Ventures
    Unconfirmed

Starting a startup?

Join the world's largest startup network for guidance, tools, and fundraising opportunities.

Get Started for Free