Next Phase Newsletter

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

Partnering events are a pivotal tool to engage with potential investors and strategic partners in the early-stage arena – they are a great way to gain exposure and feedback, as well as building critical relationships. Life Science Nation is offering a series of free webinars to help life science and healthcare entrepreneurs put their best foot forward at partnering events, in preparation for the upcoming RESI South partnering conference, on Monday, March 25 in Atlanta. These free webinars offer tactical advice to early-stage companies on how to maximize outcomes when attending conferences like RESI and moving connections beyond the event. Attend these complimentary webinars Life Science Nation offers.

Register or listening to previous recordings at the links below:

By Erika Wu, Business Development Manager, Global Tech Hubs, LSN

Life Science Nation’s RESI conferences aren’t just limited to early-stage life science startups and investors. There’s also another yet equally important group in this space: tech hubs.  

Tech hubs comprise of incubators, accelerators, non-profits, universities, and government organizations. A special thank you to our tech hubs at RESI JPM 2024 Arizona Bioindustry Association (AZBio), BIOCAT, Brisbane Economic Development Agency (BEDA), California Life Sciences (CLS), Connect, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Endless Frontiers Labs, Enterprise Singapore, Frederick National Laboratory, Life Sciences BC, MaRS Discovery District, Monash University, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Nest Catalyst, NLC, Ontario Brain Institute, Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO), The Ganesha Lab, and Trade and Investment Queensland. These tech hubs attended RESI to learn from and partner with other startups and investors. 

Here are different ways that tech hubs interact with Life Science Nation (LSN) and the RESI conferences: 

Tech hubs & RESI collaboration: 

1. Ability to meet with investors, startups, and service providers
   
2. Ability to host an exhibition table and/or workshop with sponsorship

3. Ability to sponsor an Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) session featuring your startups in the same sector

4. Discounted rates! Promote a unique discount code for the “tech hub rate”. After 1 startup registers using the unique discount code, then 1 tech hub staff will get free registration to RESI 

Tech hubs & LSN (non-RESI collaboration): 

1. Sponsor an in-person or virtual education course for selected startups. In 2023, we hosted education courses with BioMedSA, CLS, Georgia Bio, GA Tech VentureLab, HKSTP, Government of Ontario, OBIO, and BEDA.

2. Sponsor the LSN Investor Database subscription for your startups 

Interest in attending an upcoming RESI? Our next RESI is in Atlanta, March 25-27. The first day on March 25th will be held in-person in Atlanta, Georgia at The Whitely Hotel (Buckhead) with 1-1 partnering meetings, Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) sessions, investor-led panels, sponsored workshops, exhibition, and a cocktail reception. The remaining two days, March 26-27th, will be virtual 1-1 partnering meetings only. The partnering platform LSN uses for RESI is called Meeting Mojo which will be launched 3 weeks beforehand for attendees to utilize to book meetings.

Contact Erika Wu e.wu@lifesciencenation.com for the discounted “tech hub rate” or any other questions you may have about joining LSN as a tech hub. 

By Caitlin Dolegowski, Marketing Manager, LSN

Stand Out at RESI South

Redefining Early-Stage Investments (RESI) South conference is set to take place in person on March 25 at the Whitley Atlanta Buckhead in Atlanta, followed by two days of virtual partnering. 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.

Applications for the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge are now open for RESI South. The Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) is an opportunity for early-stage life science and healthcare companies to apply to gain additional exposure to conference attendees and pitch directly to a panel of judges, featuring active investors and industry experts. Each finalist company also prepares a posterboard to be showcased in the exhibit hall and competes for “RESI Cash” which attendees use to “invest” in their favorite presenters for the final prizes.

LSN is running a Tagline Competition, and the winners will receive tickets to RESI South. The tagline serves as the foundation of your company’s identity, encapsulating it in a single line. Crafting an effective tagline demands meticulous attention to detail. Entrepreneurs are challenged to articulate their company’s essence in 5-8 words, ideally encompassing the technology modality, indication procedure, and unique qualities. A compelling tagline is paramount for making a positive first impression, enabling investors to quickly gauge alignment with their interests. How can you distill your identity into a single line and create a lasting impression for potential investors? Submit your tagline by February 7. The announcement of winners and promotion of their taglines will feature in our Next Phase newsletter, reaching LSN’s expansive readership of 45,000+.

Submit Your Tagline by February 7

By Cameron Hurlburt, Director of Business Development, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) is gearing up for the Redefining Early-Stage Investments (RESI) South debut conference set to take place in-person on March 25 at the Whitley Atlanta Buckhead in Atlanta, followed by two days of virtual partnering. LSN is actively involved in supporting early-stage startups through educational boot camps, free online webinars, and consulting. The tagline holds a pivotal role in our communication strategy with clients as they prepare to perfect their pitch.

Explore the Power of Your Message: Your tagline serves as the foundation of your company’s identity, encapsulating it in a single line. Crafting an effective tagline demands meticulous attention to detail. Entrepreneurs are challenged to articulate their company’s essence in 5-8 words, ideally encompassing the technology modality, indication procedure, and unique qualities. A compelling tagline is paramount for making a positive first impression, enabling investors to quickly gauge alignment with their interests. How can you distill your identity into a single line and create a lasting impression for potential investors?

Share Your Tagline! Life Science Nation will assess and recognize the top tagline submissions. Winners will receive a complimentary RESI South registration, covering a standard 3-day registration, inclusive of in-person partnering on March 25th, and two days of virtual partnering on March 26-27. In honor of  RESI South, a winner will be chosen from each of the seven states represented by RESI co-organizer, the SE LifeSci Investor Coalition, and an additional three winners chosen nationally. 

The announcement of winners and promotion of their taglines will feature in our Next Phase newsletter, reaching LSN’s expansive readership of 45,000+. Don’t miss out on this opportunity—submit your tagline to us ASAP!

Submit Your Tagline by February 28

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

The Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) is an opportunity for early-stage life science and healthcare companies to apply to gain additional exposure to conference attendees and pitch directly to a panel of judges, featuring active investors and industry experts. Each finalist company also prepares a posterboard to be showcased in the exhibit hall and competes for “RESI Cash” which attendees use to “invest” in their favorite presenters for the final prizes.

Learn more about the IPC and hear from 2023 winners. The following interviews were with companies and founders who have found value in the process and connections associated with their pitch experience with RESI:

• Gliachem’s Innovator’s Pitch Challenge Success at RESI
• Light Line Medical wins the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge and Looks Toward Their Series B Raise

By Max Braht, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

Life Science Nation is thrilled to be bringing our Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference to Atlanta, Georgia with RESI South, March 2024. The conference, which has served as a catalyst for connecting early-stage life science companies with investors and licensing partners for over a decade, will take place in person on March 25 at The Whitley Atlanta Buckhead Hotel and will be followed by two days of virtual partnering on March 26– 27. In addition to partnering, the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge, and educational workshops, RESI will feature seven investor panels, including a return of popular panel topics as well as new content.

Each panel will feature a unique group of experienced investors and industry experts discussing some of the most relevant and impactful topics within the life sciences investment space. A full list of panel topics can be found below. Be sure to register before Friday, February 2 for Super Early Bird ticket pricing to save $500.

Panel recruitment remains ongoing, as we seek out speakers and their unique experiences throughout early-stage investing. If you are an accredited investor and are interested in joining any of these panels, please contact the LSN research team at research@lifesciencenation.com.

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