By Max Braht, VP of Business Development, LSN
At most conferences, startup pitch competitions are treated as side programming. Founders present a deck, judges select winners, applause follows, and the event moves on.
At RESI San Diego, the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) is designed differently.
The IPC is not simply about winning a competition. It is designed to help early-stage life science companies generate investor attention, create business development momentum, and accelerate conversations that continue long after the presentation ends.
For many companies, that interaction becomes the most valuable part of the experience.
“The discussions also felt far more relationship-driven than transactional,” said Sian Farrell, CEO of StimOxyGen. “Conversations extended beyond the pitch itself and focused on clinical strategy, regulatory pathways, commercialization, and long-term value creation.”
Unlike standalone pitch competitions, the IPC is integrated directly into the larger RESI partnering ecosystem. Participating companies also receive partnering access, poster presentation visibility, and exposure throughout the conference environment, creating multiple opportunities for follow-up interaction.
“The combination of the presentation and the partnering platform made a significant difference,” said Bram de Moor, CEO of You2Yourself. “RESI brought us into direct contact with European and transatlantic life science investors who specifically seek early-stage diagnostic and biomarker companies — an audience difficult to reach through cold outreach.”
The IPC also introduces an interactive audience component through “RESI cash,” distributed to attendees during registration. Participants allocate their RESI cash to the companies they believe demonstrate the strongest potential, creating additional visibility and engagement throughout the event.
For founders navigating today’s capital environment, opportunities that combine exposure with concentrated investor access are increasingly valuable.
As fundraising conditions continue to demand stronger differentiation and clearer commercialization pathways, platforms that help companies sharpen messaging and generate high-quality investor interaction have become increasingly important.
At RESI, the IPC is intended to serve exactly that purpose.
Selected companies receive:
- Two 5-day RESI registrations
- A six-minute company presentation followed by seven minutes of investor Q&A
- Poster presentation space
- Full partnering access
- Exposure to investors, strategic partners, and pharma business development teams throughout Convention Week
For many founders, the IPC becomes more than a presentation opportunity. It becomes the place where investor conversations begin, strategic relationships form, and fundraising momentum accelerates.
Applications for the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge at RESI San Diego are currently open, with limited presentation slots remaining.
| Apply to Pitch at RESI San Diego |
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