CONNECT Seeks Venture-Ready Life Sciences Companies; Call for Applications from Entrepreneurs to Present to Investors at Private
SAN DIEGO - CONNECT, one of the nation's most successful regional economic development programs for life science innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs, is accepting applications from companies to participate in its 2009 Life Sciences Venture Roundtable scheduled for March 10. The CONNECT Venture Roundtable strives to engage the venture community early in the technology business development process, through not only introducing potential investments, but also by assisting in building investment pipelines to today's upcoming technologies which stand poised to become tomorrow’s businesses.
The extended deadline is Feb. 12 for entrepreneurs in the instrumentation, diagnostics, bio-markers, microbiology, molecular biology, therapeutics, pharmaceuticals, and other life science specialties interested in obtaining venture or private equity funding to submit applications. Applicants must pass a rigorous screening process to be invited to present. Those who pass the initial screening, conducted by a committee of scientific experts, investors and other industry professionals, will be invited to give a dry-run presentation to our panel of judges that will make the final determination on which companies will present at the Roundtable event. In addition, expert coaching will be provided by the CONNECT Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) program – seasoned CEOs with years of experience and knowledge.
Participants will be selected to present to an exclusive audience of premier venture capital providers at the Life Sciences Venture Roundtable on March 10 at the offices of lead sponsor Morrison & Foerster. The Roundtable includes opportunities to network with investors, and is offered to capital providers and presenters at no cost.
"CONNECT’s Life Sciences Venture Roundtable provides and exclusive opportunity for promising companies to obtain attention from investors at a very early and impressionable stage," said Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT. “This process helps to accelerate local business innovation and continue to distinguish San Diego as one of the world’s leading life sciences hubs.”
CONNECT hosts four roundtables a year in life sciences, clean technology, high technology, and new in 2009: Software Analytics/Cyber & Unmanned Vehicles. This series is sponsored by Morrison Foerster, Ernst & Young and Tavistock Life Sciences. The Life Sciences Venture Roundtable will showcase promising early stage technologies being developed by local companies. Through the Venture Roundtable, the investment community will be able to keep abreast of San Diego’s latest and most promising life sciences innovations.
CONNECT is accepting applications to the Life Sciences Venture Roundtable through Feb. 12, 2009. To be eligible to present, applicants must be a non-publicly traded company, with a life sciences focus and have a technology or product with potential for commercialization. All applicants must be based in Southern California and interested in commercializing their technologies. For further information about the program and to submit an application please visit: http://www.connect.org/programs/venture-roundtable/apply/.
About Venture Roundtable:
The CONNECT Venture Roundtable was conceived to fill a void by connecting venture capitalists with all stages of technology in various ways; through participation in review committees and judging panels as well attendance at the roundtables, capital providers are introduced to companies within their area of focus in their early stages as well as the more advanced, venture-ready companies.
By engaging the venture community early in the technology business development process, CONNECT hopes to not only introduce potential investments, but to also assist in building investment pipelines to today's upcoming technologies which stand poised to become tomorrow’s businesses.
About CONNECT:
CONNECT is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and sustaining the growth of innovative technology and life science businesses in San Diego. Since 1985, CONNECT has assisted in the formation and development of over 1,200 companies and is widely regarded as the nation’s most successful regional program linking inventors and entrepreneurs with the resources they need for success. Its programs include: Springboard, Venture Roundtable, Frontiers in Science and Technology, FrameWorks, CEO Strategy Forum and Connect with CONNECT; affiliate programs with The Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology (CCAT), Tech Coast Angels (TCA), Wireless-Life Sciences Alliance (WLSA), and MIT Enterprise Forum (MITEF); and its awards and recognition programs, Hall of Fame, and The Most Innovative Products (MIP) Awards. For more information, please visit www.connect.org.