NEW YORK, NY, November 12, 2026 — The most promising health technology in the world won’t reach patients if it can’t get funded. And today, getting funded means proving it works. HITLAB, the New York-based health innovation and research organization, today announced a partnership with Aquillius, a San Diego life science and medtech innovation hub. The partnership has two aims: helping Aquillius companies access capital, generate the clinical and real-world evidence that decision-makers look for, and putting Aquillius founders in front of the health system, pharmaceutical and investment leaders who decide what gets adopted.

Aquillius supports early-stage life science and medtech companies, many of them built in its own San Diego labs. Its shared infrastructure, from wet labs and cleanrooms to rapid prototyping workstations, and streamlined processes for scale-up manufacturing, help founders reach key milestones faster and with less capital.

The timing is no accident. After years of fast money in digital health, investors have grown more careful. They want clinical data, real-world results and a clear path to adoption before they write a check. Funds that back companies with real evidence behind them have a stronger story to tell and a better shot at helping those companies succeed.

Aquillius builds companies from the lab bench up. For nearly three decades, HITLAB has run the usability testing, technology assessments and clinical validation studies that show whether a health technology works, evaluating useability and clincial and validation studies for these innovations along the way. Together, they are betting that evidence will separate the next generation of health companies from the rest.

HITLAB will help Aquillius sharpen its evidence-based, de-risking strategy by providing connections with health system and industry partners to help guide founders from first study to adoption.

The partnership works in both directions. For HITLAB, it opens a direct line to promising medtech companies at the lab stage and carries its evidence model into early-stage investing, where the right study can shape a company before it scales.

Aquillius will also step onto HITLAB’s stage. Its leaders will take part in a featured session at the HITLAB Fall 2026 Innovators Summit and appear at an upcoming HITLAB Digital Health Symposium, reaching an international audience of health system leaders, pharmaceutical executives and investors. HITLAB will also share Aquillius news with its community through its social channels and weekly newsletter.

“Every investor I talk to is asking the same question: where’s the evidence?” said Dr. Stan Kachnowski, Chair of HITLAB. “Aquillius works with founders right where that answer gets built. That’s a compelling story for investors, and we’re excited to help tell it.”

“Our founders are building technologies that can change how patients are diagnosed and treated, and investors want to see the proof early,” said MyPhuong Le, Co-Founder and CEO of Aquillius. “With HITLAB, we’ll bring evidence into the conversation from day one, for every company we back. “

Aquillius will join HITLAB at the Fall 2026 Innovators Summit, December 1–3 at the Microsoft Technology Center in New York City.