By Yang (Kenny) Zhou, VP of Marketing, LSN

1. Book Your Travel to RESI Early

Life Science Nation (LSN) offers early bird rates for significant savings on your registration. Similarly, planning your trip early will save you money on travel and accommodation. In addition to cost savings, booking early ensures that you will be among the first attendees to access the RESI Partnering system.

2. Complete Your Profile in the RESI Partnering System and Make Sure You Are Ready to Message Investors

Once the RESI partnering login is delivered to your email, first, edit your company profile, fill in details about your company, and upload your marketing materials. Investors will review your profile before accepting meeting requests. An incomplete company profile page will most likely get a decline from the investor. When you have completed the profile page, READ the RESI Survey Guide and Writing Tips 101, to make sure you know how to best reach out to the right investors.  Ask your LSN BD REP for help if you need it.

3. Fill Your RESI Calendar

Now that you are ready to reach out to investors, use the filter function to find investors who fit your company stage, indication, and fundraising size, and then message the investor based on the instructions in the partnering tutorial. Scheduling partnering meetings is the top priority. Review the investor’s mandate in the partnering system and make sure you are reaching out to the right person. The in-person registration gives you 16 face-to-face meeting slots on the first day of RESI, followed by 48-hour non-stop virtual meetings if you are also registered for two-day virtual partnering.  Remember that most investors will not contact you proactively.

4. Skip the Line – Pick Your RESI Badge a Day Before the Conference and Check Out the Venue

You can pick up the RESI badge the day before the conference at the venue. Keep an eye out, Life Science Nation will announce early registration times prior to the event.  While you are picking up your badge, feel free to get a lay of the land and consider your best routes between sessions to maximize your time. LSN staff will be available at early pick-up to help with questions.

5. There Are No Breaks in Fundraising

Socializing over breakfast, lunch, and during the cocktail reception is an important part of the RESI experience. Capitalize on the opportunity to mingle with the who’s who in the industry and be prepared to exchange your contact information and expand your network. You never know who you may meet and what gains can be made.

6. Consider All Meeting Types

At a RESI conference, Life Science Nation hosts dedicated partnering tables, meeting space, and a virtual meeting platform. However, your meetings do not have to be limited to partnering tables or virtual meetings. If the investor turns down a meeting request due to timing issues or if there is a mishap with the initial meeting scheduled, you should follow up. You can always reschedule with them, even if the meeting is outside of RESI. And again, remember the importance of ad hoc meeting opportunities.

7. Plan to attend the Investor Panels, Workshops, and Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) Sessions

Investor panels will be dedicated to a specific sector in the life science industry. Early-stage investor panelists will discuss the latest industry trends and offer valuable insights to stand out and build relationships with potential partners. Take the time to seek out investor panels that are relevant to you. You can mingle with these panelists at the conference and hearing their presentations is a suitable place to begin a conversation and build a connection. The Workshops are designed to educate leaders of fundraising companies on crucial elements of the early-stage landscape, which can include patents, recruitment, intellectual property, insurance, fiscal management, and more. The Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) is an opportunity for early-stage life science and healthcare companies to gain additional exposure to conference attendees and pitch directly to a panel of judges, featuring active investors and industry experts. Applications for the IPC are considered on a rolling basis during each conference cycle. IPC participation includes a 3-day standard registration ticket, exhibition space to host a poster, and participation in an in-person, live Q&A session with investor judges.  Being part of the IPC session will give you additional exposure to conference attendees. LSN promotes finalists to the LSN and RESI community through email campaigns and social media. You do not have to be an IPC finalist to benefit from the IPC. Add IPC sessions to your RESI calendar that are of interest to you. You can hear from peers in space, hear the questions from investor judges, and gain takeaways from hearing pitches.

8. Talk to Everyone

RESI is a partnering conference and Life Science Nation strikes a balance of investors and early-stage entrepreneurs as attendees. Everyone wants to talk to investors, but do not forget the value of meeting other founders & CEOs, service providers, and industry experts. Understanding industry trends and obtaining professional service support is important. Feel free to stop by the LSN exhibit table. We can answer your questions regarding RESI or other LSN services, which can help improve your fundraising strategy.

9. Continue Your Conversation After RESI

You can access the partnering system for four weeks after the conference ends. Continue reaching out to investors to prompt new conversations. Also, do not forget to organize your lot – business cards exchanged at RESI and add these new contacts to your professional social network.

10. Fundraising Is a Numbers Game

LSN hosts five RESI conferences a year which provides thousands of partnering meetings for fundraising companies. It is important to have the full-year RESI schedule on your calendar and plan for them as part of your fundraising journey.  LSN also curates an investor and licensing partner database that tracks 10,000+ early-stage life science investors representing several thousand global firms across Angel, Corporate Venture Capital, Endowments/Foundations, Family Office/Private Wealth, Government Organizations, Hedge Funds, Large Pharma, Medtech Strategics, Private Equity, and Venture Capital. In the past decade, LSN has helped 400+ companies raise $5B+ through 45+ RESIs and the LSN investor and licensing partner database. Contact us at RESI@LifeScienceNation.com, the LSN Business Development team would like to help you achieve your goal.

By Caitlin Dolegowski, Marketing Manager, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) has been curating a database of global early-stage partners for life science startups, including therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health, for over 10 years and has the best offering in the industry. LSN maintains up-to-date profiles of capital investors and licensing partners, that are present, and future-looking. LSN profiles provide information on the investor and licensing partner’s interests in the sector, modality, indication, stage of development, and geographic preference, allowing startups to identify a target list of partners that are a fit for them. This is an invaluable tool for identifying your best-fit target list, based on the stage of development and product, which aids in launching and executing a successful campaign. The LSN Investor and Licensing Partner Database consists of 10 categories of over 3,000 firms with 10,000 contacts.

LSN’s database is available in two formats, as a standalone database, or integrated into Salesforce via the Salesforce AppExchange as the LSN Global Partnering Campaign (GPC) App. The GPC product is a Salesforce App that must be downloaded off the Salesforce AppExchange and installed into the company’s Salesforce account. This new product is available through Salesforce only. Using a CRM like Salesforce is a crucial tool for managing a fundraising campaign and tracking all your contacts with investors and licensing partners – ensuring no missed opportunities or dropped balls.

If you are not already a Salesforce client, subscribe to Salesforce (Professional license or above required), go to the Salesforce AppExchange, and find and install the Life Science Nation – Global Partnering Campaign (GPC) app. Once you have installed the app, you will need to subscribe to the Essential or Premium plan through this link and contact LSN at gpc@lifesciencenation.com for your onboarding with your BD representative. After the onboarding is complete, LSN staff will activate the GPC app, and you can start identifying your Global Target List of investors and licensing partners and begin your outreach!

LSN will offer several packages of the salesforce and LSN partnering database ranging from $300 and $500 dollars a month. These packages have real-time access to LSN partner data. $500 package also combined with RESI ticket discounts to the 5 international partnering events that LSN put on every year. Clients can choose a monthly fee structure with terms that are a minimum 6-month commitment or elect a one-time annual subscription fee.

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

An entrepreneur’s attitude and ability to execute the plan enormously impact their overall success or failure. Life Science Nation (LSN) has created an ecosystem where entrepreneurs who are seeking capital or licensing deals can identify and match themselves up with partners that are precisely right for their stage of development and product.

LSN sees things break down when entrepreneurs decide to pause their partnering efforts or skip the next partnering event because they are not getting the desired results. They fail to stick with the plan that fundraising is a pure numbers game, and it takes 9-18 months and hundreds of partnering meetings to find the few compelling partners that are a great fit and can lead to transactions. You need to buy off on a process for finding and meeting potential partners and work that process knowing it is always going to be a tough road.

What entrepreneurs forget is that it only takes one good connection, one good meeting, to turn the momentum around, change the partnering campaign’s dynamic, and start picking up momentum.

Entrepreneurs with a positive attitude and a relentless willingness to stick with the process will be more motivated to take risks and push themselves to go the extra mile. They must remain focused on their goals and be open to feedback and criticism and always move forward as a global partnering campaign ebbs and flows. None of this is news but at the end of the day persistence is what will make the difference and that is why LSN has 5 RESI conferences a year, with options for in-person, hybrid, and virtual, to provide an ecosystem that will allow the buyers and sellers to meet and get matched up, create a dialogue that can lead to a relationship and eventual transaction.

LSN’s flagship RESI conference – RESI JPM, returns to the Marine’s Memorial Club & Hotel in San Francisco on January 9, 2024, followed by two days of virtual partnering. This conference will host 500+ early-stage life science investors and licensing partners, Innovator’s Pitch Challenge, Entrepreneurial Education, funding and partnering panels, and workshops.  I submit that if you are a startup looking for global partners you must keep up the effort through digital and face2face events and not let chances slip by.

By Love Chung, Investor Research Analyst, LSN

Life Science Nation‘s flagship RESI conference – RESI JPM, returns to the Marine’s Memorial Club & Hotel in San Francisco on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, followed by two days of virtual partnering, during JP Morgan Healthcare Week. Monday will feature our Investor Panels, entrepreneur workshops led by industry experts and service providers, and our popular Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC) sessions. All alongside one-on-one partnering meetings.

The super early bird rates end tomorrow, Friday, October 20. Early-stage startups can save $600 when they register by tomorrow!

RESI JPM will host US domestic and international investors. We are expecting over 500 investors to join us at this upcoming conference, including big pharma, medtech, CVCs, venture capital funds, angel groups, family offices, and more. The LSN investor research team has been busy inviting investors to this event, while making sure that their investment interest fits the company profiles at RESI, and they are actively looking for investment opportunities and partnerships in the space. This unique vetting process ensures the quality of partnering at RESI, which separates RESI from the other conferences. Through RESI’s powerful partnering platform, attendees can identify those that best fit their interests with ease.  Whether you represent an early-stage company, service provider or investment firm, RESI JPM will be an opportunity to grow your network and connect with key players within the industries. Below are the confirmed investor attendees who will be at RESI JPM, January 9-11.

Confirmed RESI JPM Investors and More on the Way

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

2024 will be a big year for the Southeast life sciences community with an expected growth in innovation and access to investment dollars in the region. Last Thursday, Life Science Nation visited Georgia Tech Venture Lab’s facility to meet with their portfolio companies and educate them on topics ranging from successful fundraising and licensing to articulating your value proposition. Mark your calendar for JPM Healthcare Week at Life Science Nation’s Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference on January 9th where the SE Life Sci Investor Coalition (SE LifeSci) will be a title sponsor of the event. Shortly after, in March 2024, join LSN and SE LifeSci in Atlanta, Georgia for their first RESI South event.

RESI JPM title sponsor, SE LifeSci Investor Coalition, is proud to represent 7 states across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia:

BIO Alabama

BIO Alabama is a statewide organization representing bio-related industries, research scientists, clinicians and business professionals – all working together to foster, develop and support life sciences in Alabama. BIO Alabama’s events, programs and member benefits offer real value, and are designed to enhance progress in our industry. For more information, visit bioalabama.com

BioFlorida

BioFlorida is the voice of Florida’s life sciences industry, representing 8,600 establishments and research organizations in the biopharmaceuticals, medical technology, digital health and health systems sectors that collectively employ 107,000 Floridians. For more information, visit http://www.bioflorida.com

Georgia Bio

Georgia Bio represents more than 250 pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, universities, research institutes, government groups and other business organizations involved in the development of products that improve the health and quality of life people worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.gabio.org

NC Life Sciences

As the trade association for North Carolina’s life sciences industry, the NC Life Sciences Organization advances the industry and ecosystem and enables its members to innovate and collaborate for success in a global marketplace. NCLifeSci delivers policy and advocacy leadership, future-focused workforce development programs, industry connections and mission-driven member services. For more information, visit http://www.ncbioscience.net

SCbio

SCbio is a statewide, not-for-profit, public/private life sciences industry association and economic development organization formed to actively promote, build, support, expand, and convene South Carolina’s life sciences industry. For more information, visit http://www.scbio.org

Life Science Tennessee

Life Science Tennessee is a statewide, non-profit, member organization of more than 100 companies whose mission is to advance and grow the life science industry in Tennessee through advocacy, partnerships and alignment with economic and workforce development. For more information, visit http://www.lifesciencetn.org

Virginia Bio

The Virginia Biotechnology Association (Virginia Bio), formed in 1992, is the premier statewide non-profit trade association representing the life sciences industry in the Commonwealth of Virginia. More than 200 member organizations have joined forces to make Virginia Bio an effective advocate for the biopharmaceutical and device industries before federal, state and local policymakers. For more information, visit http://www.vabio.org

About the SE LifeSci Coaltion

The SE LifeSci is a coalition of independent life science associations that work to build life sciences business in their respective states. Participating organizations include BioAlabama, BioFlorida, Georgia Bio, NC Life Sciences, SCbio, Life Science Tennessee, and Virginia Bio.

Kari Haab Head of Operations Light Line Medical

Kevin Shifrin Vice President of Marketing Light Line Medical

Caitlin Dolegowski Marketing Manager Life Science Nation

Caitlin Dolegowski (CD): Please introduce us to Light Line Medical and the company’s technology.

Kari Haab (KH): Light Line Medical (LLM) was started by a team of University of Utah undergraduate students who participated in a bench-to-bedside competition to solve an unmet medical need. These students recognized that catheter-associated infections (CAIs) are a huge global health problem and are increasingly difficult to treat because of the growing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens (i.e., MRSA, ERSA, and CRE). To solve the problem, they investigated ultraviolet light as a possible solution but found it degrades catheter material and is unsafe for human tissue. In that research, they also found visible light has very similar pathogen-killing capabilities but was much safer. To deliver the lifesaving visible light within a catheter, the team developed an innovative fiber optic to deliver high-intensity light, successfully killing pathogens and preventing infections while doing no harm to the patient’s tissue and preserving the catheter’s structural integrity.  To protect the value of their ideas, the students also initiated a patent process that provided the initial basis for an IP portfolio that includes 30 issued patents with additional applications pending.

CD: Tell us about Light Line Medical’s team.

KH: Light Line Medical’s team has significant experience in catheter-related technology within the medical device industry. Each of the following leaders has successfully brought new products to market. Vicki is an IP attorney and the former founder/CEO of Catheter Connections (an infection control company acquired by Merit Medical). Vicki has over 40 years of pharmaceutical, MedTech, IP, and commercialization experience. Robert Hitchcock, Ph.D., is the Chief Technical Officer with over 35 years of medical device expertise (co-founder of Catheter Connections) and a professor of Bioengineering at the University of Utah. I (Kari Haab) am the Head of Operations and have over 15 years of experience in medical device operations and quality in start-ups and Becton Dickenson. Lastly, Kevin Shifrin is the Vice President of Marketing with over 25 years as a medical device executive (Hospira and C.R. Bard).

CD: Light Line Medical has been to RESI conferences before. How did you initially learn about the conference and what works for you attending RESI?

Kevin Shifrin (KS): RESI provides a dynamic and focused environment for start-up leaders to engage with investors, service providers, and suppliers. We learned about RESI from our discussions with other start-ups and our networking efforts on the east coast. The primary reason we returned in 2023 is because we saw it as a good opportunity to engage with new potential investors.

CD: What stage of fundraising is Light Line Medical in and what are your goals in 2024?

KS: We are currently in Series A with a target of $7M with only about $875k available left for additional investors, which will be followed by a $30M Series B. Series B funds will be used to drive the commercialization effort of our first product targeted for Peritoneal Dialysis and fund the product Development and Clinical trials for our urological foley catheter product.

CD: Congratulations on your first-place win in RESI Boston September Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC)! What do you think was the key to your success at RESI September?

KH: Thanks for the opportunity to provide an overview of Light Line Medical (LLM).  I think that LLM’s mission of using visible light to solve the world’s greatest cause of morbidity and the largest source of avoidable medical costs today was a key factor in the win. The LLM technology addresses a substantial “unmet need”.  The positive feedback we received at RESI highlighted key points about the current reimbursement strategy, the extensive IP coverage, and our key partnerships with Mayo Clinic and Medline industries — all of these are additional positive elements of the Light Line story.

CD: What advice would you like to give to fellow entrepreneurs about RESI conferences?

KS: Our advice is to ensure you start scheduling your investor meetings early and sign up for the presentation. While the poster is a great way to provide key highlights, most of the visits to our poster were driven by the pitch I gave to the panel of judges.

By Caitlin Dolegowski, Marketing Manager, LSN

Life Science Nation (LSN) prepares early-stage entrepreneurs for their Global Roadshow Campaign. This begins with determining where you are in the preparation and execution process. LSN specializes in the process of launching your fundraising campaign.

Are you prepared to launch?

Do you have your unique and compelling story down? Successful entrepreneurs are always the best storytellers. LSN can help determine if you do, we can offer suggestions and education on developing a compelling narrative.	Watch LSN Webinar – It All Starts with The Story
Is your story supported by a strong elevator pitch, pitch deck and executive summary?  LSN provides templates and formats to prepare for potential investors. Click logos below to see examples.
What does your current partner and investor target list look like?  LSN can ignite and create a better global target list. The LSN Investor Database covers over 10 types of investors including: Angel Groups Corporate Venture Capital Endowments/Foundations Family Office/Private Wealth Funds Government Organizations Hedge Funds Institutional Alternative Investors Large Pharma/ Biotech Companies Private Equity Venture Capital Companies can cast a wide net, looking at all types of investors and assessing which would be the best partner moving forward. When evaluating investors, companies can download or export search results and set up email alerts, taking advantage of the constantly updated new profiles as LSN continues to curate the database…Learn More
Do you have a CRM to organize and manage the process? It is impossible to manage 600-800 accounts in a spreadsheet. The LSN investor database can be integrated into Salesforce…Learn More
Do you have the right staff person that is assigned to setting up meetings? This is where 99% of the startups fail. They have no designated part-time or full-time staff dedicated to setting up meetings for the CEO and then monitoring and documenting how the meeting went and what the deliverables and next steps are. This is a crucial but overlooked aspect of fundraising and why most attempts fail. RAISING MONEY IS A NUMBERS GAME. Having a dedicated staff person who can do the canvassing, tracking, and follow-up is how the game is played.
Do you have meaningful conferences scheduled and accounted for on your calendar? Remember the NUMBERS GAME? LSN hosts The Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference series that connects start-ups to early-stage investors and strategic channel partners. RESI maximizes fundraising companies’ efforts to find partners who are a fit for their technology and stage of development. RESI is uniquely cross-border and cross-domain, connecting start-ups with 10 categories of global investors across the silos of drugs, devices, diagnostics, and digital health (4 Ds). RESI caters to both the earliest-stage start-ups, those seeking grants, seed, and angel capital, and the early-stage firms who seek series A and B funding. RESI is a unique and powerful tool for sourcing assets and advancing innovation across early-stage life science and healthcare…Learn More	Visit RESI Website: RESIConference.com

At Life Science Nation we have a dedicated research team that meets regularly with early-stage investors. The LSN team has a keen understanding of what investors and strategic partners are looking for and we specialize in working with startups and plugging them into the LSN platform and aiding in their global fundraising and partnering initiatives. Let us take you through this step-by-step process and see where you are and how we can prepare you for success.

Read This: 7 Startups, 7 Unicorns, and $7M of a $37M Round Raised at RESI – An interview with Thomas Farb-Horch, CEO, Thrive Bioscience