Next Phase Newsletter

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

Life Science Nation (LSN) and our RESI partnering events are a deal-sourcing engine and sales funnel for any service provider with products for early-stage life science companies. The global platform LSN has developed gathers early-stage life science startup entities when they leave academia with a tech transfer license and matches them up with capital investors and licensing partners who do Seed, Series A, and Series B deals over five to ten years. LSN touches and serves twelve thousand global startups (the sell-side) whom we match up with four thousand capital investors and licensing partners (the buy-side). LSN can integrate a service provider into the buy-side and sell-side communities we have built. Below is the program guide from RESI JPM 2024, where LSN hosted six hundred startups and six hundred investors and licensing partners, and every one of those companies needs products and services on their journey to commercialization.

Life Science Nation has over a decade of expertise in helping match startup companies with capital investors and licensing partners. All the scientist-entrepreneurs need to gather knowledge about how to prepare and execute a global partnering campaign. If you are an early-stage life science company translating research, the juxtaposition is academic researchers moving from research into funding and scaling a commercial product. Once funded, that is where LSN’s service provider network enters the picture and can sell its products to the startups. By regularly attending RESI you develop a pipeline of targets for your products.

LSN works with startups to cover the nuts and bolts of preparing and executing a global fundraising campaign. Once they are prepared for a fundraising campaign, LSN provides a global target list of investors and licensing partners that fit their stage of development and product. Service providers play a large role in helping startups succeed, helping them avoid expensive pitfalls. LSN runs five RESI partnering conferences annually around the planet, and RESI provides a platform for startups to leverage and execute their campaign. If you are a service provider, attend RESI events to establish a pipeline of leads and opportunities to meet one-on-one with the early-stage founders.  Many service providers also meet with investors who attend RESI and offer discounted services to the portfolio being managed by the investors.  A win/win for everyone.

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

The secret is out, and LSN sees firsthand that the Southeastern states have been an under served nascent marketplace for discovering early-stage technology assets. Investors have told me that “it’s booming in the South,” with highly competitive technology assets at more reasonable valuations, making for a dynamic marketplace for identifying and investing in early-stage companies across drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital health.

Over the last six months, I have become familiar with the seven southeast states (GA, VA, NC, SC, AL, TN, and FL) partnered with LSN as co-developers of the RESI South March 25-27th event in Atlanta. A common theme is running through this multi-state alliance: each state seems to have broken the code that to create a life science innovation economy, you need the buy-in and deep participation from academia, industry, and government. In this cross-sector leadership dynamic, the magic happens with a concentration of industry players, a highly educated workforce, and a supportive environment for startups and established companies where innovation can flourish.

Each state in the southeast alliance checks off all the boxes with a preponderance of diverse clusters throughout their region, a high concentration of BioTech, MedTech, and HealthCare companies, and strong support from hospitals, colleges, and research institutions contribute to its dynamic life sciences landscape.

I have witnessed firsthand how each state has a unique and dynamic ecosystem of government, academic, and industry stakeholders working together. Each state’s life sciences industry is not exclusively based in one metro area. There are multiple clusters around the state. This geographical diversity has contributed to the industry’s dynamism.

The last puzzle piece is investment and incentives, and we are seeing a combination of grants, loans, capital infrastructure investments, tax incentives, and workforce programs. These investments have created thousands of jobs and propelled the development of new therapies, devices, and scientific advancements that improve patient health and well-being in the Southeast region and worldwide.

LSN has an investor and licensing partner network of over four thousand entities that leverage LSN and the RESI conference series to identify and invest in companies for their portfolios and product pipelines. RESI South is currently seeing a brisk signup rate and is expecting 300 investors and licensing partners to participate in the one-day face-to-face meeting in Atlanta and the two-day virtual global meeting on March 25- 27.

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

By helping startups develop compelling narratives for their fundraising campaigns and facilitating strategic partnerships through its extensive network, LSN plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between academia and industry. Life Science Nation has developed a set of products and services that help startups navigate the fundraising chasm and find the right partners to aid them in their journey to commercialization. These challenges include:

1. Navigating a New Field: Moving from academia to industry requires adapting to a new environment, understanding the rules, and building a professional network within the life science industry.
2. Acquiring New Skillsets: Scientists-Entrepreneurs need to be open to learning or having staff that understand Sales, Marketing, and Business Development.
3. Fundraising, Licensing, and Collaboration Trends: Early-stage life science companies face the challenge of staying informed about investment trends and securing funding, especially in the face of broader market challenges and uncertainties.
4. Competition and Innovation: Rapid innovation and competition characterize the life science industry. To remain competitive, startups must stay abreast of the latest scientific advancements and disruptive technologies.
5. Networking and Collaboration: Building a strong network of collaborators, investors, and partners is essential for early-stage life science companies. This includes understanding the dynamics of potential partnerships and effectively engaging with investors and partners.
6. Market Dynamics and Global Expansion: Understanding market dynamics, both locally and globally, is crucial for startups. They must also develop a strategic plan for global expansion and navigate the complexities of launching and executing a global campaign and roadshow.
7. Fostering Ongoing Partnerships: Successful partnerships require ongoing effort and a dedicated plan to maintain a consistent pipeline of partner meetings, even as these meetings ebb and flow over time.

Contrary to the popular assumption that science is enough, and focusing on that will lead to successful fundraising, making the transition from a scientist to an entrepreneur requires flexibility, passion, and a lot of drive and determination. A scientist has to transform and adapt, learning new skill sets and entering a new world, but those that want it can be extremely successful. Let us help you on that journey.