Positron Ventures’ Post

Ready to turn your scientific research into real-world impact? Join our free, online Ideation Program offered by UtrechtInc, the startup incubator of Utrecht's leading knowledge institutes. Find out what it takes to launch a science-based startup in just four weeks. 🔬 This is your chance to make a significant impact with your research! In this program, we'll explore key questions like: - What defines a startup? - How can a startup incubator assist me? - Is entrepreneurship the right path for me? - Can entrepreneurship coexist with an academic career? 📅 You'll engage in expert sessions every Monday and optional progress sessions every Wednesday, both from 20.00-21.00 hours. Who's eligible? If you're from Utrecht's renowned knowledge institutes, among others Utrecht University, UMC Utrecht, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (WKZ), Prinses Máxima Centrum voor kinderoncologie, Hubrecht Institute, Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research, or HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Hogeschool Utrecht), you're welcome to join! 🌟💡 Don't miss out – our free program runs approximately four times a year. The next opportunity starts soon, and the deadline for applications is January 17, 2024. Secure your spot now: https://lnkd.in/eHjW6jeR #Entrepreneurship #ScienceStartup #ReadyToStart #FromResearchToImpact #Founders #Startups #Innovation

✔ Week 4 of the Runway Programming completed! It was another great week at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech. As part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program, I interviewed healthcare system stakeholders to learn about breast imaging challenges. I appreciate the different perspectives and insights shared. The cohort also learned about startup financing and funding… and how to do the math (correctly) and explored some tools for startups, including: ➤ ThinkUp, whose mission is to transform innovative ideas into validated, market-ready ventures that meet and exceed global investor standards: https://thinkup.global/ ➤ MathWorks, whose Accelerator Program helps startups advance their development: https://lnkd.in/eg7dbtc5 With fellow cohort members, I also attended: ➤A VentureCrush event at Lowenstein Sandler LLP, which brought together tech founders, senior executives, VC, growth equity, PE, and angel investors. https://lnkd.in/eGhJEkdc ➤A Weill Cornell Medicine event, where I learned more about SBIR/STTR non-dilutive funding and was able to meet with a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Program Director & Team Leader https://lnkd.in/eP8sMFjM I recommend looking into the tools and attending future VentureCrush events and Weill Cornell Medicine BioVenture eLab events. I’m looking forward to more networking, learning, and all the other great things week 5 will bring. 💫 #entrepreneurship #startup

Doing a PhD is hard, but finding what you want to do after a PhD is even harder, at least for me. I always thought becoming a professor was the ultimate goal of doing research. However, now that I have the privilege to fund and support deep-tech startups, I've realized there are so many more options beyond academia, where you can still learn a lot and create something that benefits society. I actually started to realize this when I joined Activate Bio during my postdoc, which later became Nucleate, the non-profit student-run organization that helps scientists start companies. (Highly recommended for all biotech students!) Being exposed to venture capital at Nucleate sparked my interest, and after doing a fellowship with FoundersX Ventures and meeting our amazing team, I never looked back. To all those navigating their post-PhD journey, don't constrain yourself. Remember that your path is not limited to academia—there are countless opportunities to make a significant impact. Try out different options before making a decision. Harvard University Harvard Business School Massachusetts Institute of Technology #PhDJourney #CareerTransition #BeyondAcademia #DeepTech #VentureCapital #StartupLife #Innovation #ImpactfulCareers #LifeAfterPhD #ScienceToBusiness #Entrepreneurship #Nucleate #FoundersX #STEMCareers #research

We recently had a fantastic meeting with another innovative startup, Upside Down Labs, led by an inspiring team of young entrepreneurs Deepak Khatri, Dikshant Dahiya, Bhawna Sehgal, Shivam Khatri, and Ritu Dhillon. Upside Down Labs is doing incredible work in the field of neuroscience kits, and our conversation was nothing short of exhilarating. During our brainstorming session, we discussed potential collaborations and new ideas that could revolutionize the way we approach #STEMeducation and #neuroscience. The synergy between our teams was palpable, and we are optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead. Stay tuned as we explore these exciting opportunities and work together to bring groundbreaking educational tools to life. Here's to innovation, collaboration, and a bright future ahead! 🌟 #NirmanLabs #UpsideDownLabs #Innovation #Collaboration #STEMEducation #Neuroscience #FutureReady #Startups #YoungEntrepreneurs

Are you a bored investor looking for innovative startups with a wow-factor where you can exit within 5 years? 🥱💰 After watching many longevity biotech startup pitches, I can see that investors are still waiting for something special and chasing quick money rather than progress. ❗️First of all, dear investors, all of the startups in longevity biotech are already doing miraculous things. It might not be clear from their super-scientific presentations (let me know, and I’ll help you translate and interpret), but how is cancer depletion within a day not a miracle?!🤯 How is fully clearing cholesterol plaque and making cardiovascular diseases obsolete not a miracle!?🤯 How is the rejuvenation of the immune system with bone marrow stem cells and, as a result, the extension of healthspan by 20% not a miracle!?🤯 All seem pretty miraculous to me! And there are many more. ‼️Second, if we continue chasing quick cash on an individual level, we’re spreading ourselves too thin across too many things and merely hoping for the best. But if we make a collective effort towards a few miraculous things, we’ll have breakthroughs that will show that what biotech is working on is pivotal for humanity. Hence, we’ll have more funding from those who didn’t believe at first and easier pathways for everyone else working in the field.🧬🎉 We can make more money when we have progress, but we can’t make progress without investment.🤔 *meme credit Longevity Biotech Fellowship & Vitalism

🌟 Why Scientists in Academia Need to Think Like Entrepreneurs? 🌟 As a post doctoral scientist at The Babraham Institute and an alumnus of the University of Cambridge, I found myself in the right place to witness how entrepreneurship thrives in Cambridge in recent years. In parallel to this, there has been a culture shift towards entrepreneurship in academia, providing many opportunities for entrepreneurial scientists from Cambridge Gravity, Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre, Babraham Research Campus, Founders at the University of Cambridge and many more. I also share some insights from my experience at Newton Venture Program at London Business School, exploring diversity in venture capital, science commercialisation and ecosystem development, and the role of behavioural economics in startups success. This post isn't only a recount of what I have lived through from Egypt to Cambridge, but also an open invitation to my fellow scientists and academics to look beyond the labs and consider the broader impact our research could have. And there are many avenues of entrepreneurial opportunities out there waiting for us to seize them. 📚 You can read the full blog here: [https://lnkd.in/gJwvcd_K] A special thanks to Honor Pollard for encouraging me to write and helping to edit this blog piece. It was a great opportunity to reflect and share my thoughts. Kathryn Chapman, Jason Mellad, Emily Boyce, Maha A., Dr Rebecca Myers, Dr Ghina M. Halabi, Alexandra Huener, Luther Phillips, Jack Davies Michael Grange FCMI, Thea Goodluck, Eleanor Kaye #Cambridge #AcademicEntrepreneurship #ScienceCommercialisation #Research #LifeSciences #Biotech #Entrepreneurship #Innovation

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 D𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦! We are happy to highlight the contributions of four of our students— Miguel Puga Sánchez, Jorge Cervera Pérez-Hervada, Aaron Nerella, and Cheng Wang— who are dedicating part of their extracurricular time to boosting the Danish biotechnological entrepreneurial landscape with their business insights and participating in the Nucleate Denmark program. Nucleate is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering the next generation of biotech leaders. They identify promising future bio-entrepreneurs engaged in impactful research and facilitate the establishment of new life science companies, offering an equity-free, cost-free, hands-on entrepreneurial experience. Our students are actively involved in the program as business advisors. They have been matched with specific new biotechnological startups and are now working closely with them to guide them on their entrepreneurial journey. The program's curriculum includes interdisciplinary team-building activities, and bi-weekly workshops conducted over a span of five months, and culminates in a final pitch presentation of the startup. 🌟 Miguel Puga Sánchez has played a key role in the establishment of Nucleate in Denmark, taking on the role of Communications Lead. Some of his many responsibilities are representing Nucleate at industry events, advocating for its mission, and promoting the activator's unique value proposition, which has greatly helped to kick off the program. 🌟 When asked about this experience, Aaron Nerella emphasized Nucleate’s appeal for its structured approach to learning about disruptive innovations in Denmark's startup scene, which he could put to the test by helping the new startup BioHalo develop a bio-alternative to PFAS. 🌟 Cheng Wang joined Nucleate to gain exposure to Danish pharma and venture capital, focusing on applying his business background to support Idun Biologics' commercialization efforts. 🌟Jorge Cervera Pérez-Hervada shared with us that his interest in early-stage startup development led him to Nucleate, where he found the program's comprehensive coverage and involvement with KPL, a venture producing enzymes for proteomics studies, particularly enriching. We are sure that our student’s contribution to Nucleate’s program will have a lasting impact! #CBSBIO #Nucleate #ExtracurricularActivities #DanishBioHub #YoungProfessionals #StudentSocieties #Startups

FAST AI Movies - the name says it all. ⏩ 🎞 With its AI-based software as a service solution, the start-up generates interactive e-learning videos from texts. These make process communication in companies 68% more efficient. Florian Scherl and Philipp Gabriel were supported by the innovation ecosystem in Munich right from the start. 📝 Foundation and realisation: TUM Gründungsberatung 👥 Identifying the target group: XPLORE 🏢 Rent an office: TUM Incubator 🚀 Validate business model: TUM Venture Labs Your highlights at the TUM Venture Labs: ⭐ Mentoring from Antoine Leboyer ⭐ Access to pitch events and major conferences such as DLD Conference ⭐ Access to the VC network and contacts to potential investors Florian and Philipp explain what they have achieved so far in the video. ➡ Are you a team or entrepreneur in deep tech or life sciences who wants access to the strong innovation network of TUM Venture Labs? Then find out more here: https://lnkd.in/echMgbDc #startup I #gründung I #founder I #munich Technische Universität München

Sharing some exciting news - I'm joining Antler’s UK residency! With founders from clinical medicine to machine learning and product design, diverse perspectives are set to shape the future. Take a look at upcoming founders in comment 👇. #startup #entrepreneurship #changetheworld

Research Institution Proof of Concept, Startup Accelerator, and Venture Fund Gap Fund and Accelerator Programs (GAP for short) #innovation #university #research #gapfunding #proofofconcept #startup #accelerator #venture #commercialization