This past month, StemCultures received sponsorship from the NIH to attend the Redefining Early Stage Investment (RESI) Conference, presented by Life Science Nation. Along with many other STTR NIH-funded companies, StemCultures was invited to participate in a poster session, attend panels, and compete in the innovator’s pitch challenge. Business Manager, Krissy Roberts, attended the conference in Boston and met with investors and peers from around the country.
About the RESI Conference
The RESI Conference series connects start-ups, early-stage investors, and strategic partners. By helping start-ups find partners who fit their technological niche and stage of development, RESI helps maximize fundraising efforts. The conference is uniquely cross-domain, connecting 10 categories of global investors with companies across the drug, device, diagnostic, and digital health industries. Many companies in attendance seek grants, seed, and angel capital, while larger companies are able to look for series A and B funding as well as strategic partners for business opportunities. Nonetheless, RESI is a unique and powerful tool for connecting assets and advancing innovation across early-stage life science and healthcare.
Conference Events
The conference held a tight schedule, offering countless networking opportunities. Because of the variety of events occurring throughout the day, each company was able to find its own compelling way to connect with investors. We recommend other start-up companies take advantage of the opportunities RESI presents.
Poster Session
Each of the 52 companies selected to participate in the innovator’s pitch competition also had their company represented in the poster session. StemCultures was fortunate to be one of these companies. Further below are photos of the company’s completed pitch poster. All of the conference attendees were given “RESI Cash” to vote for the poster they felt was most compelling. Likewise, this year’s companies that received the greatest amount of “cash” were Gliachem, ABLE Labs, and Light Line Medical. Although not a winner, StemCultures’ controlled-release technology fit in well alongside these pioneering medical device and drug development companies.
Investor Panels
Additionally, alongside the poster session, the conference held several investor panels. The panel topics ranged from women’s health to leveraging NIH’s non-dilutive grant funding to AI in healthcare. All of the investor panels were headed by representatives of ventures who have firsthand experience dealing with these issues. Many spokespeople were innovators in finding solutions and setting the framework for new and emerging fields. The investor panels also provided a great opportunity for companies seeking funding to understand the markets with the greatest need. Because much of the support for the conference was headed by NIH Seed, it also gave companies a better understanding of government programs that can help them get off the ground, such as the STTR grant program. StemCultures is STTR funded and was able to utilize support from the Seed program to attend this event.
Pitch Challenge
Concurrently to the investor panels, the day consisted of 13 innovator’s pitch challenge sessions. The competition gave 52 start-up life science companies the opportunity to pitch their products to a panel of knowledgeable investors. StemCultures pitched in the life science tools section of the pitch competition alongside ABLE Labs, Ananda Devices Inc., and Thrive Bioscience. The session was critiqued by judges, Jack Resnick of NVIDIA VC Alliance, Peter Mintun of ARCH Venture Partners, Rosanna Zhang of Coho Deeptech, and Ronald Dorenbos of BioFrontline.
During the brief 4-minute presentation slot, StemCultures presented the current company’s progress along with the company’s plans for growth. Seeking strategic partnerships, StemCultures showed how their efforts would lead to drastic sales increases over the next two years. Generally, the judges and audience members asked questions about how the technology can be applied to other markets, the product’s differentiators, and what return we expect on investments. To see the full pitch presentation, click this link.
Conference Takeaways
Overall, the conference was a success. StemCultures was able to make meaningful connections with business development and marketing experts. StemCultures aims to continue to connect with investors, peers, and customers through other conference opportunities. From the success at previously attended conferences, such as ISSCR 2023 and RESI, StemCultures plans to continue making connections at the New York State Innovation Summit conference on October 16th & 17th. If you have any questions or are interested in working with StemCultures, please contact us via our website or email.
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Note: Opinions and accounts expressed herein are those of the author(s) or interviewee(s). They may not reflect those of StemCultures, its officers, or directors.