Mir Imran

Mir A. Imran (born 1956, Hyderabad, India), is an Indian medical inventor, entrepreneur and venture capitalist. Imran has formed over 20 medical device companies since the early 1980s and holds over 400 patents. He is known for his role in developing the world's first implantable cardiac defibrillator.

In 2017, Imran was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for his role in creating the first implantable cardiac defibrillator, and for developing multiple other technologies as inventor and entrepreneur.

Early life and education Born and raised in Hyderabad, India, the son of a doctor, Imran was a problem-solver from a young age. As a child, he enjoyed taking toys apart to see how they worked, and as a teenager learned how to repair and build AM radios.

After attending All Saints High School in Hyderabad, Imran moved to New Jersey in 1973 to attend Rutgers University. At Rutgers he received a BS in electrical engineering in 1976, followed by an MS in biomedical engineering. He then spent three years At Rutgers Medical School before deciding to leave and work on the first implantable cardioverter-defibrillator with Intec Systems.

Imran attributes his pursuit of innovation to being inspired by an experience he had as a college student: “I had a summer job working at The Matheney School for Cerebral Palsy Children. They needed engineers to develop communication devices for quadriplegic cerebral palsy children, so I built a machine for one severely afflicted girl. The unit translated her facial expressions using pre-recorded phrases, allowing her to communicate.” Imran describes this development as “a mini swallowable auto-injector” that delivers the drug directly into the highly vascular intestine wall, allowing the drug to be absorbed quickly into the bloodstream.

Venture capital

Imran is an active angel investor and a limited partner in several venture funds. He is the founder and Managing Director of InCube Ventures, a medical device venture fund.

InCube Ventures InCube Ventures is an early stage life science venture capital fund. Imran co-founded InCube Ventures with Andrew Farquharson and Wayne Roe. The fund invests in both InCube Labs’ companies as well as external companies. The fund primarily invests in novel therapies that have the potential to dramatically improve patient care.

Awards and recognition