By Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN
Life Science Nation (LSN) is excited to announce the lineup of investor panels at RESI JPM 2026, taking place January 12–13. These panels bring together leading venture capitalists, corporate investors, and strategic partners to discuss the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in life science investing. From early-stage “first check” VCs to specialized sectors like Cell & Gene Therapy, AI in Healthcare, and Longevity, RESI JPM offers unparalleled insight into the funding landscape.
Day 1 – January 12
9:00 AM | “First Check” VCs Panel: Learn how early-stage investors evaluate founders, milestones, and the critical first institutional check.
10:00 AM | Medtech Strategics Panel: Explore how strategic investors from leading medtech companies drive growth through partnerships and acquisitions.
11:00 AM | Asia Cross Border Investments Panel: Sponsored by Enterprise Singapore, a RESI JPM Title Sponsor
1:00 PM | Family Offices Panel: Hear how family offices provide patient, mission-driven capital to early- and growth-stage companies.
2:00 PM | Cell & Gene Therapy Panel: Discover where capital is flowing in this transformative area of medicine.
3:00 PM | When Should Companies Exit Stealth Mode?: Gain insight into timing the transition from quiet development to public visibility.
4:00 PM | Aging and Longevity Panel: Learn how investors are deploying capital to solutions addressing the world’s aging population.
Day 2 – January 13
9:00 AM | Partnering with Global Pharma Panel: Understand how big pharma approaches early-stage partnerships and collaboration.
10:00 AM | Women’s Health Panel: Explore investment opportunities in an underserved market with enormous potential.
11:00 AM | AI in Healthcare: Discover how AI is reshaping drug development and care delivery.
1:00 PM | Orphan & Rare Diseases Panel: Learn about unique challenges and opportunities in niche, high-need markets.
2:00 PM | Corporate VC Panel: Hear how corporate venture capital balances strategic and financial goals to accelerate innovation.
3:00 PM | Techbio & Synthetic Biology Panel: Explore investment trends at the intersection of biology and technology.
4:00 PM | 2026 Outlook: VC Perspectives Panel: Gain insight into where investors see healthcare innovation heading in the coming year.
These panels are designed not only to share insights but also to foster dialogue between investors and innovators. If you are interested in speaking on a RESI JPM investor panel, please reach out here.
Registration for RESI JPM 2026 is now open, with Early Bird rates available until October 24. Don’t miss your chance to connect with top investors, strategic partners, and fellow innovators at one of the premier life science partnering events. Register for RESI JPM 2026
By Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN
At RESI Boston September 2025, over 50 innovative companies participated in the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge (IPC), providing early-stage life science and healthcare companies with a unique platform to present their technologies and connect with potential investors.
The IPC finalists delivered 6-minute pitches followed by a 7-minute interactive Q&A session with a panel of investor judges. Each participating company also showcased its technology at a personalized table space in the RESI Exhibition Hall, creating additional opportunities for engagement.
A distinctive feature of the Innovator’s Pitch Challenge is its voting system. Registered RESI attendees—including startup executives, early-stage investors, and industry experts— “invested” in their favorite IPC companies using RESI cash provided at check-in. Attendees base their decisions on both the pitch presentations, the companies’ responses during Q&A, meeting with them in the exhibition hall at their table space, and during partnering or ad-hoc meetings at RESI.
Applications are now open for the next Innovator’s Pitch Challenge at RESI London 2025 and RESI JPM 2026, with spots filled on a rolling basis.
IsoTech Ltd is developing a novel wearable therapeutic medical device that stabilises blood pressure on standing to help older adults avoid dizziness and falls from orthostatic hypotension. The device guides a 30–60-second, on-demand isometric muscle contraction via a discreet retractable tether with visual and haptic cues, turning an evidence-based counter-manoeuvre into a simple, repeatable action without drug side effects. A completed proof-of-concept clinical study demonstrated clinically meaningful blood-pressure stabilisation in a substantial subset of patients with high usability and no unwanted adverse effects. The next phase is straightforward but execution-critical: design-for-manufacture and verification, Class I UKCA/CE technical documentation and light-touch QMS, tooling and pilot build, and a KOL-led seeded launch while preparing reimbursement pilots and strategic licensing options. Protected by patents on mechanism and form factor, ISO-101 aims to become the category-defining, real-time therapy for OH, improving independence for ageing populations and reducing falls-related costs for health systems at scale.
Dr Lochlainn Connolly, Founder – EVP Medical Affairs, Isotech | Dr Neil Fawkes, Founder / EVP R&D, Isotech | Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO, Life Science Nation | Iggy McGowan, Founder / CEO, Isotech
Bilix, founded in Oct 2018, raised $21 million in investments and received $3 million in government grants to develop a new drug for various inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Our first target is ischemia-reperfusion injury, where unmet medical needs are high and no drugs. Global companies (Novartis, Roche, AstraZeneca, Argenx) are in Phase 2 or 3 trials with single-modality drugs (likely to fail). Our Phase 2a clinical trial (our drug being multi-modality, likely to succeed) runs from 2025.09 to 2026.08. We generate royalty revenue from Classys (a $3B market cap laser medical device company) through exclusive LO in cosmeceutical products. We are currently raising Series B-3 of $6M, of which $ 3 M has been secured. With $25.7 million pre-money valuation, an ROI of >10 times is achievable within three years through IPO/M&A. We can flip to a US company with vetted Series C investments from US/Foreign VCs.
Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO, Life Science Nation | Myung L. Kim, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bilix | Claire Jeong, CCO, VP of Investor Research, Asia BD, Life Science Nation
M6P Therapeutics focuses on lysosomes (the natural recycling center for cells) and has the only technology that can deliver any protein to lysosomes – a feat deemed impossible for over 50 years. The company has a deep pipeline, 6 rare pediatric drug designations, and an IP portfolio comprised of 9 patent families, 8 issued patents, and 20 in progress. Our Gaucher Disease ERT is ready for the clinic and our Pompe Disease ERT – which can restore and normalize muscle function – will be ready in 18 months. We also created a platform that can take any antigen-antibody complex to the lysosomes of any cell in the body (instead of relying on Fc clearance by select immune cells) for degradation. Our “chimeric” anti-PD-L1 antibody removes virtually all PD-L1 from the surface of tumor cells while our chimeric version of Keytruda is twice as potent.
Cole Van Vuren, Business Development Manager, Life Science Nation
The participating companies were grouped into 14 sector-focused sessions, with four companies per session. Each session was evaluated by a panel of judges, and the top-scoring companies were recognized for their strong pitches, ability to answer questions effectively, and clear communication of their value propositions.
By Claire Jeong, Chief Conference Officer, Vice President of Investor Research, Asia BD, LSN
LSN is excited to announce Genaxis, a leading South Korea based accelerator and early-stage fund dedicated to deeptech and biotech innovation, as a Silver Sponsor of RESI Boston.
Genaxis is bringing five of Korea’s most innovative biotech and medtech startups to the global stage. These companies will be pitching at RESI Boston on September 17, 2025, where they will showcase breakthrough solutions spanning therapeutics, medical devices, digital health, and enabling technologies.
To provide an additional opportunity for investor engagement, Genaxis will also host an exclusive pre-RESI pitch session the day before the conference. The event will take place on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, 9:00 – 11:00am EST, at CIC Boston (50 Milk St, Boston, MA 02109).
At this session, 5 startups will each deliver a 6-minute pitch followed by a 7-minute Q&A, and active investors and strategic partners are invited to join. Please RSVP below if you are interested in meeting Genaxis and the pitching companies. Brief descriptions are provided below:
Bilix, Inc. is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing innovative therapies for intractable diseases in inflammation and cancer, with the mission to improve human health one patient at a time for better and longer lives. Driven by courage and determination, Bilix takes on the challenge of finding cures for conditions long considered incurable. Our goal is to expedite drug development and provide therapeutic answers for patients in urgent need, while upholding a commitment to fairness and accessibility. By delivering cost-effective, equitable treatment solutions, Bilix strives to transform the lives of patients worldwide and bring hope where few options exist.
DeepsonBio is a company specialized in ultrasound devices for treating dementia. By utilizing a non-invasive method, we offer a safe and highly effective treatment for patients with Alzheimer’s dementia and normal pressure hydrocephalus dementia.
Our therapeutic ultrasound device is designed to improve cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, utilizing Multiple Low Intensity Pliant Ultrasound (M-LIPUS) for cerebrofluid stimulation.
Main Business Area:
Neurology
Neurodegenerative disease
Alzheimer’s disease
Normal pressure hydrocephalus
EXOSYSTEMS Inc. is a South Korea–based digital health company pioneering AI-driven neuromuscular biomarkers to transform how motor function is assessed, diagnosed, and monitored. Founded in 2017 as a spin-out from ETRI, EXOSYSTEMS develops integrated solutions that combine clinical-grade EMG/IMU sensors with advanced AI analytics to deliver objective, quantitative insights into muscle and motor performance.
Its flagship technologies include the Muscle Function Index (MFI), a digital biomarker platform designed to replace fragmented and subjective in-person motor assessments with standardized, high-resolution measures. These solutions serve both pharmaceutical companies, by providing validated digital endpoints for clinical trials, and hospitals and clinics, by enabling efficient point-of-care diagnostics and patient monitoring.
With $4M secured in VC funding, over $10M in national R&D grants, regulatory recognition from the Korean FDA, and validation studies with Roche Korea, EXOSYSTEMS is positioned to set a new global standard for neuromuscular digital health.
Laon Medi is a digital health company transforming orthodontics with software-driven workflows. Our flagship platform, Laon Ortho, solves the inefficiencies of clear aligner treatment planning, a process that traditionally requires hours of manual work and outsourced lab services. By automating case setup and integrating multimodal data such as CBCT and intraoral scans, Laon Ortho reduces planning time to minutes while allowing clinics to manage cases in-house. This shift improves margins, lowers patient costs, and accelerates adoption of clear aligner therapy. Laon Ortho is commercially deployed in dozens of clinics and labs across Korea, generating post-pilot revenues and validating scalability. The company is now expanding globally with a model that serves clinics, labs, and DSOs, positioning itself as a scalable digital dentistry platform with clear cost advantages and growing international demand.
RadaHaim, founded in 2022, is a biotechnology company pioneering standardized, scalable organoid platforms for drug discovery and toxicology testing. We have developed patient-derived and iPSC-derived liver organoids with consistent size and morphology, enabling reliable disease modeling and drug-induced liver injury (DILI) assays. Our preclinical service platform operates under GLP-inspired workflows, including batch-level QC, reference compound benchmarking, and high-content imaging analytics. By bridging the translational gap between animal studies and clinical outcomes, RadaHaim provides pharmaceutical and biotech partners with more predictive data to accelerate drug development and reduce failures in clinical trials. In addition to CRO services, our long-term goal is to commercialize assay kits that integrate standardized organoids with ready-to-use protocols. Based in Korea and now expanding into the U.S., RadaHaim aims to become a global leader in organoid-based NAMs (New Approach Methodologies) aligned with regulatory acceptance and the future of animal-free testing.
About Genaxis:
Genaxis is a leading accelerator dedicated to supporting deep-tech and biotech startups. We deliver customized acceleration programs, strategic mentoring, and global investor access to help companies grow beyond their local markets. With expertise in investment readiness, cross-border collaboration, and global market entry, Genaxis equips entrepreneurs with the tools and networks they need for sustainable growth. As a Silver Sponsor of RESI Boston 2025, we are committed to connecting innovative startups with global life science investors, fostering collaboration between Korea and the world. Our mission is to empower founders to achieve impactful innovation, create long-term value, and strengthen the global startup ecosystem.
This week I interviewed Colin Widen, the CEO of Boston Innovation Capital (BIC), Life Science Nation’s (LSN) wholly-owned broker-dealer arm, to learn where investors are allocating funds, and the current focus on healthcare advancement within the digital health space.
BIC works alongside LSN and our network of investors to support early-stage companies in forging connections with investors, major pharma firms, and other strategic players in the life science world. By managing clients’ fundraising campaigns and connecting them to investors who are a good fit, BIC is able to address its, and LSN’s, mission of advancing new and innovative technologies to the clinic.
Interview with Colin Widen moderated by Ashley Durrer
AD: With billions of dollars being poured into digital health, why the sudden increase?
CW: “Healthcare needs to find a way to pay for digital health now that value-based care and hospital incentives are aligned to support lower costs in healthcare with improved patient care. There are new potentials for change within the telemedicine space in light of ongoing healthcare reforms and debate.”
AD: How will that turn out for those seeking funding?
CW: “Digital health initiatives will be the least impacted by changes to the American healthcare system, making them prime opportunities for investment this year.
“There is a much lower cost to creating software, virtual platforms, compliance tools, etc. than creating advances in biologics, drugs, and other life science advancements, making digital health an increasingly popular space for investors. Successfully investing in therapeutics or medical devices requires a great deal of expertise, not to mention the increased risk due to the potential failure in clinical trials. On the other hand, software is a recognizable, lower cost, and scalable business model that is often also easily adaptable when regulations change.”
AD: Where does BIC fit into global funding from client perspectives?
CW: “BIC is working tirelessly to support digital health technologies that will have a real impact on the healthcare system for our doctors, nurses, and hospitals. This year BIC is focused on digital health technologies, assets, and virtual tools, which can support doctors’, hospitals’, and nurses’ efforts with patients. However, this currently excludes consumer-based products and electronic medical record (EMR) initiatives.”
AD: What are some examples of potential best-fit clients?
CW: “Some examples recognized in the market are pill dispensers and medicinal tracking for patient compliance, health portals for patients and doctors, mental health apps, medication tracking, patient monitoring and more.”
AD: What kind of client are you seeking now? Can you share a potential client profile?
CW: “Within our LSN network of investors, feedback clearly shows there is an increasing appetite to invest in niche digital health opportunities.
“Investors are seeking companies within the top-tier of their specialization, and a proven business model within the market. Often these investors want to see that the product, software, tool, etc. are viable, which means it’s already being used within the market e.g. hospitals. This also includes an accompanying value proposition for payors and the company is receiving ongoing revenue for that service.”
BIC Global Network of Digital Health Investors are focused on:
Funding of $10M-50M
Min $3mm+ ARR
Niche companies within the top-tier of their specialization
Currently avoiding pure EMR focused and consumer-based products
The Future of Digital Health
There are innovations happening every day to help improve access to healthcare. 2018 has already seen an increase in the debate over healthcare reform, rising insurance costs, and uncertainty of coverage for millions of Americans. Advancements in technologies and virtual tools for doctors and hospitals could really help to streamline processes and reduce overall costs for themselves as well as the patients they serve.
We can’t wait to hear what new innovations are entering the digital health space.
About Colin Widen, CEO
Colin Widen, registered representative, is a seasoned executive with 25 years of sales, trading and portfolio management experience in major investment banks. Colin joined Deutsche Bank where he led a team providing consulting services about alternative asset allocation strategies to family offices and smaller endowments and foundations. In creating BIC, Colin has combined investment skills with the robust investor network of LSN to offer a unique platform. Colin is a registered representative and holds Series 7, 24, 63 and 82 registrations. His specialties include reconstructing hedge fund portfolios. analyzing private equity holdings and helping with strategy and execution of capital raise initiatives across the spectrum of today’s life science assets.
About Boston Innovation Capital
Boston Innovation Capital (BIC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Life Science Nation Holdings, became a FINRA-registered broker-dealer in 2016. BIC works alongside LSN’s other two divisions (LSN’s Investor Platform and Company Platform, and the RESI Conference Group) to support early-stage companies in forging connections with investors, major pharma firms and other strategic players in the life science world.
The first half of 2018 has brought to the surface many debated topics not only for the United States but also the world—universal healthcare, innovation, and leadership. This year, headlines continue to arise almost daily detailing reforms to the healthcare system, while other countries continue to make advances in their universal healthcare programs. One of the biggest corporations in the world, Amazon, is accelerating their involvement in the healthcare industry with big-name partnerships, leadership appointments, and strategic acquisitions. They’ve also recently purchased office space in Boston, MA, one of the biggest life science hubs in the world—where Life Science Nation (LSN) began its focus on helping early-stage life science companies seeking capital.
The urgency in healthcare.
Life Science Nation was founded with the intention to move life science innovation forward for a real impact on the global development of healthcare, which has only become more urgent. Throughout LSN’s experience supporting life science companies, lack of access to capital is holding back the advancement of many life science companies. LSN dedicates itself to helping early-stage companies navigate the funding ‘Valley of Death’, which is why LSN created a new three-day event called RESI Healthtech Week. Today, LSN will discuss the benefit of attending Day 1, the First Coast Innovator’s Gathering, for tech hubs across the northeast with technologies or companies looking to change the future of healthcare.
What is the First Coast?
The First Coast, as LSN has deemed it, is the location identified as the premier hub for life science innovation, similar to how Silicon Valley is viewed as the premier (and original) tech hub. Over the years the First, Second, and Third Coast have been identified as hubs across the country made up of different states including Houston and New York City. All have been vying to be central locations for massive innovation in the life sciences. However, Life Science Nation takes the First Coast to include the entire northeast corridor, from DC to MA, including all the premier universities and research institutions in the region.
RESI Healthtech Week’s new First Coast Innovator’s Gathering is focused on expanding the traditional Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) Conference to include more nascent technologies and companies in the life science space. By bringing together innovators from the entire northeast corridor with global investors and strategic partners, LSN promotes a one-of-a-kind opportunity for the advancement of healthcare innovation.
Who are the best-fit attendees?
Day 1 will feature the next generation of healthcare innovation and their earliest stage companies from the northeast region: DC, MD, PA, NJ, NY, RI, CT, and MA—now known as First Coast, who are invited to participate in a day of partnering and networking.
Qualifying First Coast Day 1 registrants are the northeast corridor incubators, accelerators, tech transfer offices, university translation initiatives, hospitals, research labs and their constituents as well as the investors and partners that seek them.
Ideal candidates include those seeing funding anywhere from $15k to $2M from grants, seed, and angel funding.
Affordability
LSN created an affordable registration price that will facilitate more startups attending the three-day event. Tickets start at only $500 for tech hubs (includes two tickets) and $300 for each additional constituent member. The pricing structure and benefits are presented in the chart below.
Showcase Your Technologies.
The conference will include ample opportunities for you to represent and showcase your technologies to global investors and strategic partners. This includes exhibiting, online features and placements, as well as a competition for a spot to pitch investors during the First Coast Innovation Challenge.
The exhibit hall has limited space for one exhibit table per tech hub (as space allows). Each organization can have up to 5 poster boards for their table to showcase their tech hub members and constituents.
In addition, all tech hubs will be featured in the RESI Healthtech Week Program Guide. Their technologies represented by their constituents and tech hub members will be featured on the newsletter and website with a datasheet.
All qualifying First Coast registrants are eligible to apply for the First Coast Innovation Challenge where the top 5 finalists will give 10-minute pitches to an elite panel of investor judges from 3:00-5:00 during the First Coast Innovator’s Gathering. This will be a rewarding opportunity to pitch your technologies and receive valuable feedback.
Access to global investors.
LSN’s network of early-stage global investors will be able to see all the key players in one place and learn about the innovative technologies coming out of the First Coast.
A day of partnering and networking.
Day 1 of the RESI Healthtech Week will feature the First Coast Innovator’s Gathering; partnering and networking opportunities, just like it’s traditional RESI.
The RESI Partnering Platform helps you find nontraditional partners from the newest sources of capital, including family offices, foundations, academic institutions, and philanthropic organizations that will be a fit for your technology and stage of development. Attendees can schedule up to 16 meetings using the Partnering Platform. It will open one month before the conference, so companies, global investors, and strategic partners can request and book meetings in advance. Some key highlights of the Partnering Platform include:
Review profiles of other RESI Conference participants.
Schedule one-on-one and/or group meetings.
Build your customized RESI Conference schedule, from panels to presentations to partnering meetings.
The system will be available one month before and one month after the conference for ease of use.
Launches August 6th for RESI Healthtech Week (September 5-6th) partnering.
In addition to the Partnering Platform, attendees can also participate in ad hoc meetings at exhibit tables and poster boards throughout the day.
Venue Information
The First Coast Innovator’s Gathering will take place at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, 110 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02116, on September 5th, 2018 followed by the traditional Redefining Early Stage Investments Conference on September 6th, and the Entrepreneur’s Academy Workshop Series on September 7th.
Registration starts at 7 AM. Exhibit halls and meetings are available from 8 AM to 5 PM.
In conclusion…
Life Science Nation will continue to connect early-stage companies with global investors and strategic partners through RESI Conferences and first-in-class data platforms, in the hope that downstream we can help bring treatments to the patients that need them. As the landscape for healthcare and healthcare policy changes, so too will LSN in order to meet the needs of the early-stage players.
Life Science Nation knows summertime can be a lull for fundraising, with many investors out of the office. This can make it more challenging and extend a fundraising campaign. LSN spoke with one of the investors attending and speaking at the RESI Healthtech Week this fall, asking him to share his insights into an often-overlooked resource in the fundraising process—foundations as investors.
Jim Golubieski, President of New Jersey Health Foundation and its affiliate, Foundation Venture Capital Group, LLC, will be speaking on the “Foundations” panel, sharing his insights and experience. It will discuss non-profit organizations that provide support and funding to early-stage startups.
Below are the answers to two questions asked by Life Science Nation.
What will RESI attendees learn from you?
Jim: “The most important takeaway from my session would be for attendees to know that many foundations and other not-for-profit organizations are no longer simply fundraising organizations but can also be great sources of capital funding that might be overlooked. It is also important to explore all avenues when seeking funding – attendees should research individual foundations to see what types of organizations and projects they fund, to explore if their missions and goals are compatible with their own.”
What makes you excited to attend RESI?
Jim: “From a strategic perspective, attending RESI means that all the components needed for early-stage investment opportunities are under one roof, in one place at one time, to meet with and explore the entire funding cycle. The opportunity to talk with our colleagues—investors, CEOs, scientists, entrepreneurs and potential partners— is an exciting concept.”
The Foundations Panel will be held on Day 1 – First Coast Innovator’s Gathering
Wednesday, September 5th, 2018 at 2:00 PM – 2:50 PM
Panel topics to be discussed may include:
What is the foundation’s preferred stage of development when supporting companies?
How to approach foundations for fundraising.
What criteria do non-profits use to evaluate opportunities?
What are the differences between support from non-profit investors compared to for-profit investors?
When foundations support startups, it is with an eye to their mission as opposed to profit. These missions can range from regional development to advancement of a cure or treatments for a particular disease. Foundations play an important role in the fundraising landscape, often assisting companies to grow to the level required by more traditional investors. Panelists will discuss their approach to supporting early-stage companies and how these companies can benefit from a partnership with a foundation.
James M. Golubieski is President of New Jersey Health Foundation and its affiliate, Foundation Venture Capital Group, LLC, a company that provides pre-seed funding to new health-related startup companies founded by New Jersey researchers to help them advance toward commercialization.
Mr. Golubieski works closely with the companies in which Foundation Venture has invested, sits on their Boards and provides guidance in helping them to develop their business models.
Previously he had been CFO of Array Medical, Inc., a medical device start-up company established in 1995 that developed a groundbreaking blood test to test platelet function. The company was sold in 1999. Mr. Golubieski was also the chief operating officer and senior executive vice president of Glendale National Bank and a member of its board of directors, president of Glendale Investment Corp. and Glendale Mortgage Services, Inc. and chief financial officer of Glendale Bancorp, which was acquired by Mellon Financial. For 10 years prior he had been with KPMG.
It can be challenging to perfect your fundraising strategy in order to accelerate your work. As a past marketing and business development focused entrepreneur I’ve been exposed to the fundraising environment outside of the life science and healthcare industry. It may be counter-intuitive, but fundraising processes (as well as constructing partnerships) are similar across different industries except for their smaller nuances. Scientist-entrepreneurs and fundraising CEOs need to know that a clear value proposition made up of your tagline, executive summary and more will be the differentiating factor in progressing your discussions with investors past the initial conversation. The ones who can share their value proposition with the most clarity, are the ones investors will move forward with for fundraising opportunities. Here are some fundamentals everyone needs to know.
Entrepreneurs know it takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and funds to make a company successful. If you’re new to the fundraising sphere within the life science and healthcare industry, you may be unsure what to prioritize and where to start. Life Science Nation (LSN) is a company focused on providing resources and conferences focused on initiating new opportunities for strategic partnerships and fundraising activities. LSN makes it as straightforward and simple as possible so you can maximize your success. That means having a solid understanding of the fundraising process and knowing what steps to take in order to execute a deal or partnership.
Define Your Value Proposition
At the foundation, it’s imperative to understand your own branding and communicate it clearly to your constituents. If you don’t understand your product, services, and goals, they won’t either. This includes clearly defining your addressable market and growth potential to global investors and strategic partners. Otherwise, it will be an upward battle to convince them to support you as a partner or financially. If you then consider that it takes 6-18 months to fundraise (always longer than hoped or expected), clarity for your mission becomes crucial to speeding up the fundraising or partnership process.
LSN wants companies to be ready for the initial conversations so they can get to the next phase sooner. The next conversations are where you work through the deals and partnerships, and not stumbling over the value proposition for too long. Know your product set, it’s development stage, and how it fits into investors mandates and requirements. Make sure you have these to share verbally as well as through marketing materials: an executive summary, pitch deck, etc.
Create and Curate an Investor Database
Now that you’ve defined your company, goals, and growth potential, it’s time to create a target list of investors or strategic partners. This can be a daunting task and normally starts by networking with current, established relationships. This is a great starting point to expand your network, and will usually provide hot leads for best matches. LSN expands upon this by opening up companies and investors to their network of constituents. It is a real advantage, where other industries have to rely solely on their personal connections.
Match Your Company Product Set with Investor Mandates
If you can match you and your company with the right fit people for you, then it’s a lot easier to start having those initial conversations that lead up to deals and strategic partnerships. Since this is a challenge, LSN chose to specialize and develop its company to connect products, services, and capital to support individual efforts to target an investor audience and network with potential matches.
LSN created a two-sided platform: ‘For Company’ side and a ‘For Investors’ side. It’s intuitive search functions make it easy to use for sourcing information for deals and partnerships. At its core, it saves potential strategic partners, investors, and fundraising CEOs time on research, so they can instead focus on the important tasks of engaging in conversations that match their interests–filling the pipeline for new opportunities which in turn accelerate businesses, technology, and deals.
The LSN Company Platform (for investors and strategic partners) is the premier life science company database, covering over 50,000 companies from around the world, with a particular focus on the earliest stage companies who have been missed by traditional data providers.
The LSN Investor Platform (for companies) includes present and future-looking investor data collected and curated by LSN’s Investor Research team through ongoing dialogue with LSN’s 5,000 life science investors from around the world. The team updates the database to only include active investors who are currently allocating funds to projects and companies that fit their mandate requirements.
The Investor Platform:
Includes investors from 10 categories: Angels, Corporate Venture Capital, Endowments/Foundations, Family Offices, Government Organizations, Hedge Funds, Institutional Alternative Investor, Large Pharma/Biotech, PE, and Venture Captial.
Track goals and requirements over the next year for investors
Facilitates targeted deal flow so investors are a fit for you
The LSN Platforms include:
Portal with filters to identify potential leads for you: location, investor types, product sets, investment interest section, phases, etc.
LSN’s Investor Platform includes mandates, differentiating them from other databases
By mentioning your connection to LSN, it facilitates your connections and provides credibility
After completing your target list, you’ll realize warm introductions mean a lot in propelling the conversations forward, past the initial talks. That’s why Life Science Nation created the Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) conference. LSN knew entrepreneurs and fundraising CEO’s needed a central location with access to potential global investors and strategic partners. With limited time and much to do as a startup, they need tools and resources to work efficiently. While networking is crucial to any company’s success in sourcing new opportunities, RESI is the best within the life science industry in providing such a venue.
The Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) Conference is an ongoing conference series that provides an international venue for early-stage life science companies to connect with global investors and strategic partners for new opportunities, all in one place. This includes interests across Biotech, Medtech, Diagnostics and Digital Health in order to create new relationships in these areas as well as the potential to secure funding. RESI is unique and the leading conference in partnerships due to its global network presence, unmatched by other conferences in the healthcare industry. It provides constituents with the best venue for partnering and networking.
The RESI Conference:
Occurs 5x per year
Includes ad hoc meeting opportunities
Partnering Forum for up to 16 scheduled meetings
Panels by investors, sponsors, partners discussing all things healthcare and fundraising
LSN 5,000 Investor network is always invited to attend
Now that you’ve learned the fundamentals for your fundraising strategies and partnership opportunities, you can start defining your value proposition, creating a target audience, and network with the right people.
Life Science Nation Connects Products, Services, and Capital
Our corporate structure is made up of a few different business models with the same mission to accelerate therapeutics, biotech, medtech, diagnostics, and digital health within the healthcare industry. LSN started out developing a database of investors because the company felt there was not enough accessibility for investors to discover scientists-entrepreneurs and fundraising CEOs within the life sciences. Further down the line, LSN created a conference series to further accelerate and support initial conversations between these groups so progress could be made in leaps and bounds. As we continue to develop in our current political environment, it has become more important than ever to continue supporting and facilitating advances in healthcare.
The firm is focused on therapeutics companies and does not invest in medical devices, diagnostics, or digital health. The firm is open to considering assets of very early stages, even those as early as lead optimization phase. The firm considers various modalities, including antibodies, small molecules, and cell therapy. Currently, the firm is not interested in gene therapy. Indication-wise, the firm is most interested in oncology and autoimmune diseases but has recently looked at fibrotic diseases and certain rare diseases as well.
The firm is opportunistic across all subsectors of healthcare. Within MedTech, the firm is most interested in medical devices, artificial intelligence, robotics, and mobile health. The firm is seeking post-prototype innovations that are FDA cleared or are close to receiving clearance. Within therapeutics, the firm is interested in therapeutics for large disease markets such as oncology, neurology, and metabolic diseases. The firm is open to all modalities with a special interest in immunotherapy and cell therapy.
A strategic investment firm of a large global pharmaceutical makes investments ranging from $5 million to $30 million, acting either as a sole investor or within a syndicate. The firm is open to considering therapeutic opportunities globally, but only if the company is pursuing a market opportunity in the USA and is in dialogue with the US FDA.
The firm is currently looking for new investment opportunities in enterprise software, medical devices, and the healthcare IT space. The firm will invest in 510k devices and healthcare IT companies, and it is very opportunistic in terms of indications. In the past, the firm was active in medical device companies developing dental devices, endovascular innovation devices, and women’s health devices.
A venture capital firm founded in 2005 has multiple offices throughout Asia, New York, and San Diego. The firm has closed its fifth fund in 2017 and is currently raising a sixth fund, which the firm is targeting to be the largest fund to date. The firm continues to actively seek investment opportunities across a […]
Dr Lochlainn Connolly, Founder – EVP Medical Affairs, Isotech | Dr Neil Fawkes, Founder / EVP R&D, Isotech | Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO, Life Science Nation | Iggy McGowan, Founder / CEO, Isotech
Dennis Ford, Founder and CEO, Life Science Nation | Myung L. Kim, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bilix | Claire Jeong, CCO, VP of Investor Research, Asia BD, Life Science Nation
Cole Van Vuren, Business Development Manager, Life Science Nation
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