AcceLINX Announces New Leadership

WARSAW, IN – February 15, 2023 – AcceLINX, a musculoskeletal health business accelerator launched by OrthoWorx, today announced the appointment of Mark Schindel to oversee the general operations of AcceLINX.  In this new capacity, Mr. Schindel, a Commercial Affairs Consultant for AcceLINX since 2021, will assume leadership for all daily commercial and general management activities, along with the oversight for the organization’s subject matter expert (SME) consultant group. AcceLINX improves the likelihood of start-up business success by providing industry-specific support to inventors and entrepreneurs mainly through involvement of its SME consultants and access to its network of critical suppliers, service providers, clinicians, academic resources, sources of capital, and strategic acquirers.

Commenting on Mr. Schindel’s appointment, Bob Vitoux, OrthoWorx’s President and CEO said, “Both the AcceLINX Board and I are extremely excited for Mark to assume his new set of responsibilities and elated to have someone with all the varied orthopedic and entrepreneurial experience that he brings into this role. Mark’s successful track record of having been instrumental in his role as Co-Founder and CEO at Owl Manor Medical during the company’s start-up, development, and eventual sale, along with his broad range of medical device experience and present connectivity, will be invaluable in his new role at AcceLINX serving our clients and leading us into the future.”

Mr. Schindel obtained his B.S. Degree from Purdue University and an MBA from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management. He has held various leadership positions across start-ups through larger corporations including Roche, Biomet, Zimmer, and Tornier. He has been active serving on various boards, as an ‘Executive in Residence’ for IU Ventures and an ‘Entrepreneur in Residence’ for the Purdue Foundry. Mr. Schindel shared, “I look forward to working with the AcceLINX team and building on its history of value creation for medical device technologies and companies. I also am anxious to work with Bob, OrthoWorx, and the esteemed and newly reconstructed AcceLINX board to advance the technologies, services, and products offered across the musculoskeletal industry.”

Mr. Schindel will succeed David Anderson, who was a Co-Founder of AcceLINX, and led its overall development and operations since it launched in 2017. During David’s involvement with the organization, AcceLINX provided support to over 160 start-ups, including 20 from academic research centers. Regarding David’s departure, Vitoux stated, “David has been tireless in his efforts at AcceLINX and his commitment to the orthopedic and medical device start-up community, coupled with his network in the Orthopedic Capital of the World® and around the world, have been foundational for the organization and highly beneficial to all those he’s served. We are grateful for his service and leadership, and we wish him continued success at Mach Medical and SITES Medical where he is Co-Founder and Co-Owner, respectively.”

AcceLINX was initiated with a primary goal of supporting and serving the orthopedic start-up community, which included engaging and building relationships with Indiana colleges and universities to support innovators there, as well as provide linkages to start-ups in need of services the academic institutions were uniquely able to provide. It also set out to raise a fund, called ‘Homecourt Ventures’, that would be used in seed-funding for orthopedic start-ups. While this fund did not materialize, investments from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) as well the cities of Warsaw and Fort Wayne and Kosciusko and Allen County, along with other local sponsors helped to launch AcceLINX. Going forward, AcceLINX expects to announce some additions and changes to its board following the upcoming March board meeting and will be looking to partner closely with other organizations to further advance the medical device entrepreneurial ecosystem with the continued goal of further acceleration of business growth in the Orthopedic Capital of the World®.