By Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN
At the inaugural RESI South, we had 43 companies participate in the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC). These finalist companies pitched to an audience and fielded questions from a panel of investor judges and exhibited a poster showing their technology at the conference. Many of the pitch companies were representative of the seven southern states that were selected by the SE Life Science Investor Coalition and the entities that make up the investor group; Bio Alabama, Bio Florida, Georgia Bio, Life Science Tennessee, NC Life Sciences Organization, SC Bio and Virginia Bio.
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 their pitch session.
Life Science Nation is pleased to share the winners who received the most votes during the RESI South. Congratulations to the winners!
1st Place – SiNON Nano Sciences
At SiNON Nano Sciences we specialize in a patented Carbon Nano Particle (CNP) drug delivery system, specifically designed for targeted treatment of Central Nervous System (CNS) diseases. Our unique release mechanism sets us apart in the market. Our tunable platform delivery system can encapsulate multiple therapeutics, including biologics weighing up to 500kD, and efficiently deliver them across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat various neurological diseases. One of the key advantages of our CNPs is that they only open at the site of the disease, enabling higher concentrated doses while significantly reducing overall toxicity and enhancing therapeutic efficacy. Additionally, our carbon-based nanoparticles go undetected by the immune system.
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 | Afreen Allam, CEO, SiNON Nano Sciences | Laura Gunter, President, North Carolina Life Sciences Organization
2nd Place – Sanguina
Sanguina is a B2B company with a digital health platform and test kits for point of care and home-based diagnostics that measure key biomarkers of wellness and chronic disease.
The first release on the platform, AnemoCheck, is for anemia management and consists of a patented and FDA-cleared home test kit that uses a fingerstick and smartphone app (patent pending and trade secret algorithms) that noninvasively estimates hemoglobin level from a “fingernail selfie”. Anemia is defined as low hemoglobin levels and is a biomarker of disease/treatment progression. The platform is designed to serve clinical trial, point-of-care and home testing markets for those at high risk of anemia via pharmaceutical, supplement, pharmacy and telehealth B2B customers. Specifically, Sanguina focuses on development of tests for biomarkers that are associated with chronic diseases, often associated with treatments, that have traditionally been inaccessible or invasive.
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 | Erika Tyburski, CEO, Sanguina | Maria Thacker, President & CEO, Georgia Bio
3rd Place – Liquet Medical
Liquet Medical is a development stage medical device company. Their first product to market will be the Versus™ Catheter – a localized drug delivery catheter to treat blood clots in the lungs. This device allows for a personalized approach to each patient through real-time biometric data monitoring. It will also speed time-to-treatment and lower hospital costs.
Momo Yamamoto, Investor Research Analyst, LSN | Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO of Life Science Nation, Creator of the RESI Conference Series | John Schindler, CEO & Co-Founder, Liquet Medical | John Newby, CEO, Virginia Bio
If you’re interested in the next upcoming Innovator’s Pitch Challenge, you can apply for the RESI Europe 2024 IPC taking place June 17-19 with a 1-day in-person conference follow by 2-day virtual partnering at Hilton Diagonal Mar Barcelona in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, so get your application submitted today!
RESI Europe registration opens at super early bird rates. Register now to save $500 by Friday, April 12.
This interactive workshop, organized and led by McDermott Will & Emery, will provide wisdom to early-stage CEOs and management on the latest trends in term sheets, with a focus on founder and management equity opportunities. The workshop will cover common issues of concern to entrepreneurs (valuation/dilution, liquidation preference, board makeup, protective provisions, anti-dilution). Experts from the legal, investment and entrepreneurial community will discuss the interplay of financing milestones in the term sheet discussion.
Startups that need access to incubators, laboratory space, and medical and research equipment have many options today. This workshop will map out how to determine the best opportunities for you and best practices to manage the process of evaluating lab space and procuring equipment. Topics discussed are the current laboratory and startup incubator space business models, equipment choices, and other auxiliary offerings like consulting and introduction to partners. How does a startup determine the best lab model and equipment for your current needs? Understand how to find and locate lab space and then ask the right questions to meet your current and future needs. The main topics to explore are inexperienced realtors with the cookie-cutter preconfigured lab space versus experienced customized midlevel and high-end build-out and the used versus new equipment. The workshop will explain what and where the pivot points are for shelling out the dollars for something new that will enhance and speed up product development and when to save money and go with the used, tried, and true. This workshop will empower you to navigate and make better choices and ask the right questions when choosing your laboratory and equipment providers.
Once you are ready to embark on your fundraising campaign, how do you know whom to target? What investors are the best fit for you, how do different investors invest and partner, and how do you get in touch with them? Identifying investors, learning about the differences between investor types, accessing a database to provide you with key information to filter your best-fit investors, and finally, using a CRM to manage your fundraise are critical to an efficient and successful fundraise.
