Maria Artunduaga

Maria Artunduaga left her career in plastic surgery to found a medical technology company to prevent misdiagnosis-related deaths.

Her company Samay Health was inspired by her grandmother Sylvia’s fatal struggle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This experience led her to invent Sylvee, an affordable, non-invasive device that uses acoustics to monitor lung function, and to develop an AI-based platform for people with respiratory health issues.

“I would say that resilience is just as important as innovation: Every obstacle — regulatory, financial, or technical — is a learning opportunity, and trusting your team and asking for support early on makes all the difference,” Artunduaga told VentureWell.

Under her leadership, Samay has grown from a startup with one prototype to a global leader in medical innovation with 12 patents and six pending approval. The company won Colombia’s Best Startup 2025 and the MedTech Innovation 2025 award, and was included on Forbes’s list of “100 Startups to Watch in Colombia.” Artunduaga has also received over 50 prizes for her groundbreaking work as a physician-scientist and inventor.