Fayetteville startup awarded $1M to further develop medical device

The National Science Foundation has awarded a grant to medical device startup Lapovations LLC of Fayetteville.

The funding of $999,429 is a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant. The company said in a news release Wednesday (Sept. 16 the funding is based on results achieved during a $225,000 NSF SBIR Phase I grant awarded to the company in 2019.

Lapovations said it will use the grant to further develop and commercialize AbGrab, a trademarked Class 1 medical device that’s used to non-invasively lift the adnominal wall at the start of laparoscopic surgery.

“This grant validates the scientific merit and commercial opportunity of AbGrab,” Nhiem Cao, director of operations for Lapovations, said in the news release. “We are excited to receive this SBIR award from the National Science Foundation. This grant is a significant step forward in achieving our goals of improving outcomes for patients and improving satisfaction for surgeons performing laparoscopies.”