Who said startup accelerators and boot camps were just for software companies?
The Colorado BioScience Association will host a two-day “BioBoot Camp” in Denver on April 18 and 19. The event is intended to help scientists and entrepreneurs who are doing promising research understand how to commercialize their discoveries and build companies.
The program is more a crash course than an accelerator program, but it covers a lot of ground, with a special emphasis on what researchers need to know to thrive in the business world as well as the lab, Colorado BioScience Association president and CEO April Giles said.
“Our annual BioBoot Camp program is an intensive two-day program designed specifically for entrepreneurs who want to start a bioscience company. The program covers all the major business components including management, legal, financing, and regulatory issues with top local and national experts,” she said.
Inventors, university post-docs, graduate students, and leaders of early-stage bioscience companies also are invited. The event is free, but space is restricted, so people who want to attend must complete a short application outlining their business plan that is due Friday.
Edgeport Surgical CEO Jonathan Thorne is scheduled to begin the event by giving an overview of what questions entrepreneurs must ask before taking on the challenge of launching a life sciences company. Prior to Edgeport, Thorne founded and led Silverglide Surgical Technologies, a medical device company that was sold to medical equipment giant Stryker Corp. in 2007.
Other topics include company formation, protecting IP, and finding and working with investors. The second day will be dedicated to issues affecting drug and device development.
The event is hosted at the downtown Denver offices of Dorsey & Whitney LLP at 1400 Wewatta Street #400.
