By Cole Bunn, Senior Research Analyst, LSN
Life Science Nation (LSN) brought the Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference to life four years ago with the vision of creating a circuit of events focused on bringing together life science entrepreneurs and early-stage investors, from a wide variety of categories, based on mutual fit. One of the most prominent themes we’ve witnessed, after 15 RESI conferences in cities across North America, is the complexity and evolution of the early-stage healthcare ecosystem. The variety of capital sources, strategic partners and other critical stakeholders in the industry has created an environment where investment groups/firms find tremendous value in working together to finance, scale and exit companies.
Investors are primarily drawn to RESI by the large number of top tier startups that attend, but RESI has become much more than a place for investors to find startups and vice versa. While the bulk of the meetings that take place at RESI are between investors and entrepreneurs, RESI also provides a venue for investors to find the newest capital sources, complimentary co-investors and foster relationships with a range of otherwise strategic and exit partners.
We took a look at the partnering meeting data, and discovered that in terms of who meets with whom at RESI conferences, investor-to-investor partnering meetings represent the third largest category, after investor-to-startup meetings and startup-to-service provider meetings. Driven by the unique nature of the early-stage healthcare landscape, LSN’s dedication to bringing in a diverse pool of capital providers makes RESI a must-attend event for all investors and entrepreneurs alike.
We asked some regular attendees their thoughts on RESI’s capacity to help investors connect, and here’s what they said:
“RESI provides a dynamic and fast-paced setting for strategic investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to explore the latest innovations that will disrupt conventional healthcare and redefine the means by which we enable health and wellness in our communities. As strategic investors, we are particularly interested in RESI to find opportunities to build more patient-centric care models, pilot scalable and efficient delivery models and identify business opportunities to successfully tackle the ‘big’ challenges in healthcare.”
– Eric Louie, CMO, Healthbox Global Partners
“I have attended multiple RESIs over the years in SF, NYC and Toronto. Each has given me a unique perspective on the ecosystem of the area and allowed me to connect with like-minded co-investors and strategic partners. I will definitely be at the RESI in SF this January.”
–Sam Ifergan, President & CEO, iGan Partners
“The RESI conference platform is a highly productive forum for me to engage with both early-stage entrepreneurs and investors. The 30-minute format allows for just enough time to gain a high level understanding of an opportunity or an investors profile. I attend several each year and recommend highly when speaking with both founders and co-investors.”
–Sean Kearney, Managing Director, Fosun Group
Qualified investment firms can receive up to two complimentary passes to attend the upcoming RESI conference in San Francisco on January 9, 2018. The previous RESI @ JPM event hit capacity two weeks prior to the date of the conference. Please reach out to research@lifesciencenation.com to request registration for the event and take advantage of the RESI partnering system to secure meetings and get the most out of your Tuesday during JPM week.
Nonprofits and foundations have long played a part in funding basic research into disease biology. However, it takes more financing and development resources for this valuable work to create new products that make an impact on patients. This has caused a trend in the philanthropic space toward investing in early stage life science ventures that have the power to transform treatment in a space of unmet need or to significantly improve health outcomes. Simultaneously, some financially-minded investors have seen the possibility of investing more meaningfully, and have chosen to put their wealth to work in venture funds that look for a ‘double bottom line’ – a good return on capital plus a positive result for the world.
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