I see big opportunities in non-implant ortho businesses, now more than ever.
In this article I am going to make the case for non-implant businesses and give you 15 examples of non-traditional ortho businesses that you have never heard of.
We all know that new Ortho implant businesses are facing mounting headwinds. This is well documented. Even the giant public implant businesses are struggling to grow at 5%. No wonder the public companies are spinning off their ortho divisions—recent jettisons include J&J Ortho, Stryker Spine, and ZB Spine.
By contrast, non-traditional non-implant Ortho businesses are popping up and thriving. As of this writing, the landscape is even more vibrant, with AI and digital therapeutics driving explosive growth in musculoskeletal care.
New orthopedics startups sidestep traditional pain points by embracing low-friction models—no physical implants, minimal inventory, lean sales via digital channels, and lighter regulatory footprints (often Class I or II software-as-a-medical-device)—accelerating at breakneck speed. These "frictionless" plays leverage SaaS scalability, AI-driven efficiencies, and subscription revenue to achieve viral adoption, lower ...
