RYAN RAMKHELAWAN
My journey began November 26, 1980 in Suriname a country located on the northern coast of South America. My parents and I relocated to Holland a few years after I was born and we eventually moved to America where I spent most of my childhood and teenage years in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
In 1999, I trained as a Surgical First Assistant and worked for hospitals and physician groups for several years. I became credentialed as an organ transplant perfusionist and worked on the organ procurement and transplant team for the state of Georgia for 5 years. In addition to my surgical career, I worked on several process improvement projects focused on increasing efficiency in surgery and sterile processing.
In 2008, I developed a perfusion clamp for pulsatile kidney perfusion, which exposed me to the world of startups. I learned how to build prototypes, gain market feedback and business strategy development.
In 2011, I worked on a process improvement project for one of the largest hospitals in Atlanta and came up with a product concept that would help improve efficiency within surgery and sterile processing. After developing prototypes, filing a patent, gaining end user feedback and investing in production tooling I decided to seek venture funding. The product quickly turned into a company Restore Medical Solutions, which was offered a seat in the inaugural cohort of Zeroto510 Medical Device Accelerator located in Memphis, TN. During my role as CEO and CTO of Restore the company raised $4.2 million in VC funding, received FDA 510k clearance, achieved ISO 13485 certification and launched multiple product lines. The company was acquired in 2018.
In 2015, I founded CleanEndo a company focused on enhancing the pre-cleaning process of flexible endoscopes and other minimally invasive surgical devices. Currently we are in 10 States in the US and have expanded in the Asian market.
In addition to developing products and managing companies I mentor new startups from concept to market. I also serve on several advisory boards for companies across the country.