Pistoia Alliance Launches Startup Challenge

By Bio-IT World Staff

July 9, 2015 | The Pistoia Alliance has launched a business plan contest that will ask startup companies from around the world to develop new ideas to lower the barriers to innovation in life sciences R&D. The Pistoia Alliance President’s Startup Challenge 2015 invites small and medium enterprises to compete for cash prizes and expert mentorship from a senior industry figure drawn from the Pistoia Alliance membership.

Up to five finalists will be announced at the Pistoia Alliance US Conference in Philadelphia on October 13, 2015. These finalists will receive $5,000 prizes and three months of expert mentorship from a Pistoia Alliance member as they develop their business plans ahead of final judging. Up to two grand prize winners will then receive $15,000 cash prizes and an additional six months of membership.

The deadline for entry is September 13.

“Finding a sustainable path to innovation in life sciences R&D is a highly complex challenge,” said Michael Braxenthaler, president of the Pistoia Alliance, in a statement. “While the majority of established global life science companies are actively seeking out new ideas every day, startups and small companies are often able to discover and develop new innovations much more efficiently. Through the Startup Challenge we aim to highlight the best of these new companies and put them in front of our members, as well as supporting the companies themselves in the continued development of their ideas.”

Small businesses and their investors are a bellwether for the needs of industry, as their investment decisions are life-or-death for their companies and they must be sure that they are putting their efforts into the markets, products, and services which are most likely to make a decent return, the Pistoia Alliance believes. The contest is meant to give startups direct feedback and advice from major players in the sector that will help them to validate their plans. In turn, the Pistoia Alliance will be able to better align its projects with the innovative new technology of the future.

Richard Holland, Executive Director Operations at the Pistoia Alliance added: “If the startup community moves towards a particular innovation area en masse, then it is because that area has significant commercial potential, and commercial potential generally translates into a definite need or gap that the target market is struggling to address. Therefore the Pistoia Alliance should also be looking into what it can do to support those same areas of innovation with appropriate projects.”