New opportunity to bring your project closer to the American ecosystem
<p>Biocat, together with ACCIÓ, is organizing the second edition of the <strong>Virtual Disruptour </strong>program, an opportunity to establish connections with investors in Silicon Valley and, new this year, also with those in New York. The deadline for registration is September 22.</p>
The United States has a powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem, made up of investors, companies and academic stakeholders, pioneers in life sciences and healthcare. This is why Biocat, together with Acció, is organizing the Virtual Disruptour program again this year to put BioRegion companies or projects in contact with investors from the Silicon Valley ecosystem. New this year, the New York ecosystem is also participating. Therefore, on November 2, 3, 4, 9 and 10, five two-hour virtual sessions will be held to present and establish contact between the two groups.
During the virtual meetings, BioRegion companies and projects will have the opportunity to present their technology to prominent investors in the American ecosystem. In addition, this program represents a great opportunity to boost the internationalization of their project or company by connecting with disruptive ecosystems and to interact with already established companies with experience in this sector. Finally, attendees will be able to learn and ask questions about the trends that will define the sector's future and the main challenges to be faced going forward.
In the 2020 edition, 31 companies registered, of which only 10 were selected: Biel Glasses, Breaz, Cyberlung, Gate2Brain, IntegraTx, Lykera Biomed, Mediquo, Onalabs, Validated ID and Zymvol. Meritxell Teixidó, CEO of Gate2Brain, said that "the experience allowed us to get to know an ecosystem with great potential for future collaborations and investors". The entrepreneur does not rule out traveling to Silicon Valley to physically meet the investors they met during the program.
Francesc Mitjans, director of Health & Biomedicine at Leitat, confirmed that after participating in the program, they have established collaboration agreements with several companies in the United States and are in talks with potential investors. "Not only are we still in contact with investors, but also with leading companies in the oncology and fibrosis therapy sectors, as well as with data-mining companies," he explained.
As for investment funds, WaveEdge Capital, Band of Angels, Sway Ventures, Alta Life Sciences, New Market Venture Management and WV Ventures were also present. They all highlighted the quality of the projects and "the good science that was being produced in Catalonia".
Tips for a perfect e-pitch
Participating companies will have to present their project to American investors and therefore, the cultural context will have to be taken into account. According to Jordi Argente, entrepreneur, consultant and investor at New Market Venture Management LLC in Menlo Park (California) and Pablo Villoslada, serial entrepreneur and professor of Neurology at Stanford University, it is really important to focus the pitch on the type of audience and the cultural environment: "It's not the same doing a pitch in Barcelona, as doing it in Paris, London or the United States.”
In addition, for the two BioRegion professionals who live and work in the biotech and technology ecosystem of Silicon Valley, "brevity and clarity" are the two fundamental tools for making a good pitch. You can find this and other key tips to make sure everything goes smoothly in this post.
Registration open until September 22
The application process for the program ends this coming September 22, 2021. Please note that registration does not guarantee participation. The organizing team will process applicants' profiles and send an e-mail response to the 10 selected companies or projects.
Delve into the healthcare ecosystem of Silicon Valley and New York. Expand your project internationally! Register now!