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Life Science Startups, Start Your Engines

By Vince Winkel, posted Nov 29, 2016
If you’re building a startup company in the life sciences field, you may want to mark your calendar.
 
North Carolina’s Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), the largest and longest-running network for entrepreneurs in the country, announced this week that company applications are being accepted for the 26th annual CED Life Science Conference.
 
The event is scheduled to be held Feb. 28-March 1 in Raleigh. The deadline to apply is Dec. 16.
 
Companies can fill out one application for two opportunities: to be exhibited in the innovation room for one-on-one networking and/or be featured via a live presentation on the main stage as a showcase or lightning round company. Either way it’s competitive as only 14 companies are chosen for live on-stage presentations.
 
The exposure for a startup can be extremely valuable.
 
“The CED and NC Biotech Center Life Sciences conference is the largest event of this kind in the South,” said Jim Roberts, founder of the Network for Entrepreneurs in Wilmington. “This great event gives North Carolina biotech and medical device companies exposure to over 100 national investors and 1,000 attendees. For a startup to be selected for stage presentation time is great outside validation to meet new investors and potential development partners. If Wilmington is going to claim a life sciences sector, our startups need to be bold enough and believe in themselves enough to apply.”
 
Wilmington-based companies are no strangers to the conference.
 
In 2015, three local startups made the cut and were invited to participate. They were Ocis Biotechnology, which is to commercialize therapeutic products made from marine chemical ingredients; GO2, a company that produces a device to improve users’ blood flow; and OrthoMend, the maker of biodegradable surgical “smart screws” and plates that the company says will dissolve naturally in the body.
 
Last March, life sciences startup Surgilum, an ophthalmic surgical device company, made it to the stage at the event. Company president Debbie Brown told the Business Journal after the conference that access to venture capital is a big draw to the gathering.
 
“We met several VCs who like to look early,” Brown said. “We don’t have need of quite yet, but we’re always interested in developing a network. Right now, our strategy going forward is we are very open to acquisition of our initial product to help fund a pipeline for future products. We have quite a few products in the works, and we’re looking for the right opportunities for strategic alliances with companies that can help us.”
 
The CED Life Science Conference is presented in partnership with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the North Carolina Biosciences Organization.
 
“Selected showcase, lightning round, and innovation room companies are provided an exclusive platform at the CED Life Science Conference to display their capabilities, report on progress, and highlight successes,” said Jay Bigelow, the CED’s director of entrepreneurship, in a news release. “The CED team helps these entrepreneurs make numerous, valuable connections with investors and partners leading up to the event and in person at the conference.
 
“We understand that entrepreneurs are often ‘heads down,’ focused on building their companies, but this type of opportunity for exposure is vital to company growth. Company participation in the CED Life Science Conference provides exceptional value for the amount of time and money spent,” Bigelow said.
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