University of Tennessee company, Endolimb wins statewide Scipreneur Challenge
The spin-out start-up from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is engineering a prosthetic thumb device.
The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) announced Monday that Entrepreneurial Fellow Dr. Katrina Easton won the statewide Scipreneur Challenge this summer.
Easton is part of EndoLimb, a Knoxville-based company developing a groundbreaking prosthetic called the EndoThumb. Unlike traditional devices worn on the outside of the body, the EndoThumb will be enclosed in living skin to restore both natural appearance and tactile sensation.
The innovation is led by UT, Knoxville Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Dr. Dustin Crouch and Easton, his research associate. In October 2024, Crouch officially launched EndoLimb with EndoThumb as its flagship product. The team is currently finalizing the design to prepare for FDA preclinical testing, which is the first step toward clinical trials and anticipated FDA approval in 2031.
Crouch sees the thumb as just the beginning. Here’s what he said in an interview with Teknovation at the beginning of the year: “Once we master the thumb, we could expand this technology to other fingers or toes. For more extensive amputation, we will have some devices that are jointed and powered by muscle,” he said.
Recognition for the technology is building. Earlier this year, EndoLimb was awarded a Chancellor’s Innovation Award by UTRF and the UT Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (ORIED).
The Scipreneur Challenge adds another milestone. The eight-week, cohort-based entrepreneurship program equips life science researchers, post-docs, and graduate students with the tools to explore the commercialization of cutting-edge technology. At the end of the summer, participants pitched their companies to a panel of industry leaders, funders, and commercialization experts.
Easton received $3,500 for her winning pitch, along with the opportunity to present at Life Science Tennessee’s annual LSTCON in November.
“Having the opportunity to get that exposure in front of a much larger group of people and getting to meet investors will be extremely beneficial,” Easton said in UTK’s news release. “I think it could help move this business forward and hopefully find funding outside of just the federal funding.”
The program is offered by the Life Science Tennessee Foundation, part of the statewide nonprofit Life Science Tennessee, which works to advance and grow the life science industry across the state.
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