Next Phase Newsletter

By Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN

At RESI JPM, we had 56 companies participate in the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC). These finalist companies pitched to an audience and fielded questions from an investor judges panel, as well as exhibited a poster showcasing their technology at the conference.

Registered RESI attendees (startup executives, early-stage investors, and industry experts), ‘invest’ or vote for their favorite IPC company with RESI cash provided, based on the pitch company’s poster board displayed at RESI’s exhibit hall and their performance in the Q&A portion of their pitch session.

Life Science Nation is pleased to share the winners who received the most votes during the RESI JPM. Congratulations to the winners!

1^st Place – Cardathea

Cardathea has the potential to disrupt the $16B cardiac pacing systems market by making fast, easy, reliable “conduction system pacing” (CSP, considered the gold standard by rhythm societies around the world but currently only done ~1% of the time due to lack of needed tools) finally possible with its EFI (electric field imaging) system. A pacing system manufacturer with exclusive access to our system would have an unfair advantage as pacing practice shifts from current methods to CSP. A 5% shift in market share is worth >$1B to a pacing system acquirer … not counting revenue from our system. Cardathea has already used its non-invasive imaging and guidance system in 8 pigs and 14 people.

Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN | Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series | Rick Berenson, Founder & Serial Entrepreneur, Cardathea | Brian Craig, Founder & Medical Device Commercialization Wiz, Cardathea

2^nd Place – Convergence Medical

Convergence Medical Pty Ltd is a Brisbane based medical device company, focused on the advancing arthroscopy with design and development of the world’s first arthroscopic robot (the V01 – Arthroscopic Surgical Robot).

We exist to address the significant problems in arthroscopic surgery, improving the lives of the 50 million patients treated every year and the 30 thousand surgeons who perform these operations.

The V01 is developed to change practice by providing ridged stability and robotic precision, power by an immersive and intuitive interface making operations simpler and more efficient. These innovations are designed to help the 70% of surgeons who perform these procedures and regularly experience significant muscular skeletal pain, the 30% of surgeons forced to retire early, the third of surgeons that state they don’t feel confident with their abilities and the 40% of patients which have observable damage during an operation.

Cameron Hurlburt, Director of Business Development – West Coast (US), LSN | Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series | Chris Jeffery, CEO, Convergence Medical

3^rd Place – Gelomics

Gelomics fast-tracks drug development by enabling pharmaceutical companies to grow human tissues as an ethical, economical, and highly predictive alternative to animal experiments. The company has validated its MVP with 200+ paying customers in 22 markets, achieving >30% MoM revenue growth, >80% demo-to-sales conversion, and >$500,000 in sales, all through self-funding efforts. In Q4 2023, Gelomics closed its $2m pre-seed round and secured an additional $1.15m in non-dilutive funding to progress its R&D pipeline and enter the Drug Development Technology market, addressing a TAM of >$100bn. The company is seeking to expand its network of US-based venture capital and strategic partners in preparation for its next major investment round and the strategic entry into the US market.Momo Yamamoto, Investor Research Analyst, LSN | Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series | Christoph Meinert, PhD, CEO & Co-Founder, Gelomics

By Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series

Life Science Nation (LSN) is excited to announce two significant RESI partnering events in 2024. The first, RESI South, will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 25, and the second, RESI Europe, will occur in Barcelona, Spain, on June 17th. These events mark a strategic expansion of LSN’s global partnering platform, providing a unique opportunity for its network of capital investors and licensing partners to engage with two dynamic innovation regions. The Super Early Bird rates are currently available for two upcoming RESIs. This is an excellent opportunity to register at a reduced cost before the deadline.

RESI South in Atlanta is particularly significant as it will showcase the burgeoning life science innovation ecosystem in the Southeastern United States. The Southeast LifeSci Investor Coalition, representing seven southern states (AL, FL, GA, NC, SC, TN, and VA), has united to spotlight the region’s wealth of early-stage drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital health technologies. Thousands of startups are invigorating this innovation region. LSN estimates that hundreds of startups with technology transfer licenses are ready to explore the partnering opportunities that RESI South will bring.

The untapped potential of the Southeast is underscored by its receipt of 5.5 billion in NIH funding and 8.3 billion in academic research expenditures, making up 16% of all academic Bioscience R&D U.S. funding. LSN is thrilled to partner with the Southeast LifeSci Investor Coalition and is confident that its global partnering network will be able to explore this previously underserved market.

Following RESI South, LSN will host RESI Europe in Barcelona, Spain. The BioRegion of Catalonia has emerged as a leading force in the global life science landscape, boasting a thriving biotech and medtech startup ecosystem. The region’s strategic focus on business automation, connectivity, and the application of AI within diagnostics and treatments has attracted international life science players and positioned Catalonia as a hub for advanced therapeutics.

RESI Europe in Barcelona will leverage the BioRegion and showcase the broader Spanish life science ecosystems. RESI Europe also provides a great opportunity for global startups in Europe, North America, and APAC to get to Europe and meet the early-stage global players in the LSN European network. LSN expects a strong showing from its global capital investor and licensing partner network to attend this inaugural event.

LSN’s RESI Partnering Events in 2024 are set to provide a unique platform for global investors and startups to engage with two vibrant innovation regions. These events underscore LSN’s commitment to fostering cross-border partnerships and driving innovation across the global life science landscape. For more information about LSN and its initiatives, you can visit their official website at Life Science Nation.

By Karen Deyo, VP of Product, Israel BD, LSN

Life Science Nation’s (LSN) biggest Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) event of the year, taking place during JP Morgan Healthcare week in San Francisco, was a huge success last week. With over 3000 meetings and connections made through RESI, it will be weeks before the true outcomes will be fully realized. With over 1100 attendees, spanning 35 countries and 5 continents, RESI hit a record high investor registrations, with 650 investors registered to attend, both in person and virtually. Of these investors, one third were investors who were new to RESI. RESI is the premier event for investors wanting to connect with early stage life science startups, and for every event, the LSN Investor Research team received outreach from new investors interested in joining our network and connecting with exciting new innovators.

In addition to meetings, RESI’s compelling content provides startups with opportunities to learn from investors, industry experts and their peers tips and techniques to make their fundraise successful. With panels such as the Family Offices, Big Pharma, Health System Partners and Cross Border Investors, companies were able to learn how different investor types partner in the early stages, and how to approach these investors most successfully. Other panels covered different sectors, such as Early Stage Therapeutics and Medical Devices, and even focused on areas gaining increasing traction such as Mental and Behavioral Health. These investor panels focused on current trends in the industry, and where they think it is headed in the near future. Panels hosted by industry experts focused on challenges companies can face and experts that can help them avoid issues that can delay them in their quest to bring their technologies to market. Cambridge Scientific hosted a session on procuring space in incubators and labs, as well as equipment, and how to navigate that to best advantage. Husch Blackwell hosted a session on navigating a fundraise with a complex technology, and how to explain your technology to best advantage when there is a complicated regulatory and intellectual property landscape.

The LSN network continues to expand with every RESI we organize, with new attendees and new content, and we are excited for 2024, which will include several new locations hosting our RESI conference. Check out our schedule for 2024, and join us for what is sure to be a full year of fantastic events.