As many of you know, the word for this week is chaos. That said, as we leave September (L'shanah tovah to those celebrating this past weekend), I remain excited to see what October has in store - we have a full deck of events, including must attend ones from IndieBio, Princeton, and Alexandria / New York Academic Consortium.
As always, you can see all ventures here: AVX Feed
Conversation Statistics: We are up to 8445 total connections and conversations on the AVX network - 442 more over the last month (6% month over month growth!). We are currently tracking 20 potential match negotiations and another 110 with multi-month long discussions heading toward possible matches (and a handful of matches in stealth). We have now actively connected 475 different ventures (out of 1170+ examined) with 1112 different entrepreneurs and investors (out of a pool of 2700+)
Top October Digital Events
IndieBio Demo Day 2020 (Oct 27-28): IndieBio is proud to present its ‘pandemic class,’ founders who rose to the challenge of building paradigm-shifting companies during the largest infectious disease pandemic in a century. Each company was selected to be part of the elite IndieBio community because they were driven by a mission to improve human and planetary health. Please join the first-ever two-day Demo Day event, introducing San Francisco class 10 and New York class 1.
Princeton Innovation Engage 2020 (Nov 4-6): Engage 2020 brings together a roster of accomplished academics, inventors, and entrepreneurs from science, medicine, engineering, technology, social sciences and the arts, and external partners from government, businesses, finance, and organizations. Our integrative conference platform will offer many opportunities to interact with our speakers and other conference attendees.
NYC Life Science Innovation Showcase (Nov 17): Please join us as New York City’s most talented life science entrepreneurs showcase their work to investors and biopharma business executives. The day will include virtual networking, rapid-fire business pitches, and distinguished keynote panels.
DIGITAL EVENTS
NEMIC Digital Healthcare Design (Oct 5): Today, more than ever, digital healthcare technologies are at the forefront of innovation and use. Diagnostics, at-home monitoring devices, health monitoring apps and wearables, like the Apple Watch, are used millions of times daily. Join NEMIC and Ximedica for a guided and collaborative presentation and workshop around how to design in healthcare, focusing on digital and connected devices and cutting-edge technologies.
Advancing Microbiome Research to Clinical Practice (Oct 8): Research in the microbiome has accelerated opportunities for driving discoveries to patients. Fresh collaborations across industry and academic partners are enabling new approaches and new questions. Join us in this Roundtable format to share your work and hear updates from thought leaders who are making a difference
Drug Discovery in Neurodegenerative Disease (Oct 7): Our fall 2020 Quarterly Funding Opportunities Update webinar will discuss MassCEC’s Catalyst Program and AmplifyMass Program. MassCEC will be joined by the Catalyst program administrator - Priya Yadav, Vice President of Investments at MassVentures, to discuss the Catalyst Program. This webinar series highlights open solicitations for funding from MassCEC, covers the application process and timeline of each program, and discusses the programs’ goals and who should apply.
DoD SBIR/STTR Virtual Symposium (Oct 7): The DoD Small Business and Technology Partnerships (SBTP) will host its inaugural DoD SBIR/STTR Virtual Symposium on Wednesday, October 7, 2020. This event is designed to be a dynamic day enabling small businesses to learn more about the DoD SBIR/STTR programs and interact with program leadership. The collaborative day will include keynote speeches from government leaders, industry prospective stories, panel discussions, and a question and answer session.
BIO Investor Forum (Oct 13-15): This year’s event is an ideal platform for academic research centers and start-up companies to meet with potential industry collaborators, learn about the latest partnering models, and facilitate the transfer of your research into discoveries and therapeutic solutions.
BioscienceLA: Advancing Diversity & Equity (Oct 15): The third annual Bioscience Forum brings together thought leaders in the life sciences and healthcare industries to discuss steps to increase minority representation and reverse healthcare disparities. The goal is to seed the pipeline for more opportunities and leverage the diverse assets of the Greater LA region for sustained competitive advantage, economic growth, and meaningful impact.
Next-Gen Insect Control for Global Health (Oct 20): The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District recently voted to move forward with a collaborative project for the release of Oxitec’s mosquitoes that carry a gene that prevents female offspring from surviving to maturity. UK-based Oxitec has additional technologies in development for public health and agriculture sustainability. Join this talk to hear from Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen, who will discuss challenges and opportunities on this exciting frontier.
The NYSCF Conference (Oct 20-21): The NYSCF Conference is the leading scientific meeting on translational stem cell research. It annually convenes over 500 participants from academia, industry government, non-profits, and patient groups. This year’s keynote will be given by Carl H. June, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania. Additional speakers will include world-renowned, multi-disciplinary scientists, who will present their latest findings about the transformative impact of stem cell research on numerous diseases with a high unmet need.
22nd Annual SoCalBio Conference (Oct 21-23): The annual SoCalBio Investor & Partnering Conference has grown to become the region’s premier showcase for emerging life-science companies and digital health companies. This year, the SoCalBio Conference will feature: About 30 emerging, pre-screened and mentored bioscience companies, High-quality keynote presentations touching on market and technology trends, Plenary sessions, Ample opportunities for networking, and 1-on-1 meetings.
IndieBio Demo Day 2020 (Oct 27-28): IndieBio is proud to present its ‘pandemic class,’ founders who rose to the challenge of building paradigm-shifting companies during the largest infectious disease pandemic in a century. Each company was selected to be part of the elite IndieBio community because they were driven by a mission to improve human and planetary health. Please join the first-ever two-day Demo Day event, introducing San Francisco class 10 and New York class 1.
Princeton Innovation Engage 2020 (Nov 4-6): Engage 2020 brings together a roster of accomplished academics, inventors, and entrepreneurs from science, medicine, engineering, technology, social sciences and the arts, and external partners from government, businesses, finance, and organizations. Our integrative conference platform will offer many opportunities to interact with our speakers and other conference attendees.
STL Startup Week (Nov 9-13): STL Startup Week 2020 is going to be a week full of valuable events. There’s a great lineup that will connect you to resources, educate on trending topics, and build the core skills you need to launch and grow your business.
BlueTech Week (Nov 16-20): BlueTech Week is all about the companies and the people driving the sustainable Blue Economy. It's the annual event where hundreds of senior international participants gather in San Diego to highlight collaboration and innovation. The theme this year: AquaOptimism and Sustainable Development Goals.
NYC Life Science Innovation Showcase (Nov 17): Please join us as New York City’s most talented life science entrepreneurs showcase their work to investors and biopharma business executives. The day will include virtual networking, rapid-fire business pitches, and distinguished keynote panels.
Center for Biotechnology, Life Sciences Summit (Nov 17-18): The Life Sciences Summit is an early stage investor and business development conference that highlights innovation. The objective of the event is to connect emerging biotech companies and academic innovators with the capital and strategic partners they will need to move new discoveries through clinical development.
Network News Highlights
UCLA, aerospace accelerator Starburst win federal grant to launch innovation hub - With nearly $3 million in funding, partnership will help grow startups based on new technologies - congrats, UCLA!
A new claimant for "most powerful quantum computer" - The startup IonQ today announced what it's calling "the world's most powerful quantum computer." Exciting news from IonQ.
The Memos of Bessemer Venture Partners - "Like the knight’s sword, the firefighter’s hose, and the lumberjack’s ax, venture capitalists courageously wield the memo." From the firm that helped introduce the anti-portfolio into the VC lexicon, comes memos on some of their biggest deals.
Leadership Series: Orin Herskowitz - In this week’s episode of the Global Venturing Review Leadership Series, we talk to Orin Herskowitz about the upsides of Zoom meetings and why having a humanities degree is the perfect background for heading a tech transfer office.
SSTI analysis reveals SBIR “mills” take outsized portion of the program’s awards - a self-explanatory title, but take a look at the interactive data visualizations!
Boomerang CEOs: What Happens When the CEO Comes Back? - Many companies have turned to their former CEOs in times of need, but little was known until now about the implications of this practice.
Lighter Content
Oh, hello there, my diligent friend - thank you again for going this far in the newsletter! As a reward, I'd like to share a lighter item for your listening and viewing pleasure. :D
The Killer's Mr. Brightside is 17! - A fun fact is that Mr. Brightside shares a birthday with - well - me (a birthday I share with a number of other AVX members, too!). I'm happy to say that we have all aged rather well, though I'm not sure if any of us were the Song of the Decade in the UK. And today? Well, other than falling back in time to my teenage years with an FM radio and Discman when I first re-hear the song, Mr. Brightside now has 395 million streams of just the Official Music Video on YouTube. Certainly nothing to sneeze at - even if Gangnam Style has almost 10x more views in 70% of the time.
On the theme of music - have you had a chance to discover the Time Capsule feature on Spotify? Spotify released this on Sept 28 and if you are finding yourself wondering about a music nostalgia kick for yourself, do check it out!
So long for now! – Hamdi