Pirouette

Pirouette is on a mission to revolutionize healthcare accessibility by ushering in the future of injections.

The company makes auto-injectors designed to be approachable and easy to use. Whether a patient is facing an overdose or a child is suffering from severe allergies, Pirouette’s auto injectors are designed to help.

Startup accelerator Y Combinator, along with venture-capital funds Safar Partners, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Gaingels all agree — Pirouette can be a disruptive force in the $600 billion injectable drug-delivery market.

For more than fifty years, injection technology has remained largely unchanged. The injection process relies on outdated syringes wrapped in plastic to reduce accidents and errors. But these safety measures are far from perfect.

Furthermore, injections continue to cause fear and anxiety, often stemming from a patient’s anticipation of pain or the visual impact of a giant needle penetrating their skin. This fear can prevent patients from receiving the medications they need.

In the 1970s, the idea of auto-injection systems was introduced, with the goal of reducing the need for healthcare providers. But these injectors failed to reduce use errors or “needle phobia.” They also increased healthcare costs.

Now Pirouette has re-imagined the auto-injection system by making injections as easy as pushing a button.

Its injection product is circular in shape, and looks like a regular water-bottle cap. All instructions for a specific medication are displayed on top of the injector. And a safety cap is included to ensure that patients are kept free from accidental sticks.

Notably, patients administering the injection never see the needle. This reduces fears and gives patients confidence to complete the injection. In a study with users who had never used Pirouette’s device, the company recorded a 100% attempt rate and 100% administration success rate.

Pirouette’s injection system was created to be standard — in other words, it can be used to administer multiple types of medications, from treatments for opioid overdoses to routine allergy medications.

The company has eighteen utility patents and seven pending patents globally. And its team is led by three rocket scientists from Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, MIT, General Electric, and NASA.

Pirouette is on track to receive FDA approval and commercialize its device by 2027. The company projects to generate twenty-one million dollars of revenue in 2027 and $244 million in 2028.

Team Background

Conor Cullinane - President & CEO

Conor is a former rocket scientist with extensive experience in the healthcare sector.

Prior to starting Pirouette, he worked for NASA, serving as a space technology research fellow. Before that, he was a Ph.D. candidate with the Harvard-MIT Program, which combines MIT and Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals to solve health-related problems. During this time, he was also an associate editor with the Encyclopedia of Bioastronautics.

Earlier in his career, Conor was a flight engineer with the Commemorative Air Force, the largest flying museum in the world and a non-profit dedicated to honoring American military aviation. Before that, he was a radiation oncology research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital.

He began his career co-founding roCKeT Division, an aerospace startup. And he also spent time as a research assistant with Clarkson University, focusing on a feedback system to help amputees control prosthetic limbs.

Conor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from Clarkson University, a Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from MIT, and studied Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Eli Kapas - Chief Technology Officer

Eli has experience with FDA regulation and intellectual-property strategy.

He began his career as a manufacturing engineer with General Electric, then became a field engineer with Bechtel, a multi-billion-dollar oil and gas company.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University.

Matthew Kane - Chief Operating Officer

Prior to Pirouette, Matthew was a test engineer at Notre Dame’s Turbomachinery Laboratory. Before that, he co-founded roCKeT Division, the aerospace startup also co-founded by Conor Cullinane.

Matthew holds a Bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University and a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.

Co-Investors

Y Combinator

Seed-stage accelerator whose alumni include Scribd, Reddit, Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe

Gaingels

Investing in companies led by LGBT founders and executives. Portfolio includes Excision (biotech company), Breaking Fourth (virtual reality company) and Chicory (a grocery advertising company).

Safar Partners

A venture fund investing in technology companies sprung from MIT and Harvard.

Liquid 2 Ventures

A seed-stage investment fund based in San Francisco, California.