Next Phase Newsletter

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