AIC Entrepreneurship Series Kickoff Event< /p>
TECH STARTUPS FINANCING: THE UNICORN ERA
September 15 at Campus Biotech
9 Chemin des Mines
1202 Genè\;ve
As the kickoff to the American Internati onal Club (AIC) entrepreneurship series, the Wyss Center hosts this event with the AIC and Inartis Foundation at Campus Biotech in Geneva in the con text of MassChallenge Switzerland and Health Valley Map official launch.
Switzerland has a strong research base and a well-developed entrepre neurial ecosystem, especially in health and life sciences. Major pharmaceu tical companies, other science, technology and health related firms as wel l as universities and research centers are playing a key role in the growt h of this ecosystem. The Lac Lé\;man region has been particularly vi brant as evidenced by the success of many start-ups over the years, includ ing most recently, MindMaze SA, the first &ldquo\;unicorn&rdquo\; (private company valued at more than $1B).
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\;PROGRAM
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18:00 \; \; \; \; Registration &\ ; networking
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18:30 \; \; \; \; Welcome
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18:35 \; \; \; \; Health Valley Map official launch and outlook
- With various Health Valley partners such as HUG , Eli Lilly, Anecova, Incyte, etc.
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Moder ator:
- \; \; \; \; \; \;&nb sp\; \; \; Benoî\;t Dubuis, Executive Director of Campus Biot ech Geneva, Development Director of the Wyss Center and President of Inart is Foundation
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18:45 \; \; \; \;
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19:00 \; \; \; \;
The panel will discuss the growth of th e entrepreneurial ecosystem in Western Switzerland with a focus on the cha llenges and opportunities of starting, financing and growing innovative fi rms in Switzerland.
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Panelists:
- Dr. Tej Tadi, Founder and CEO of MindMaze SA
-Jean-Marc Leroux, Chief Innovation Officer, Covance Drug Development business of \;LabCorp\; General Manager CCLS Europe, Cov ance
- Jean-Pierre Rosat, Managing Partner, 4FO Ventures
- A lex Schmitz, Senior Investment Director, Endeavour Vision
- Ernest Loumaye, Co-Founder &\; Chief Executive Officer, ObsEva
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Moderator:
- \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; Karen Wilson, \;Founder GV Partners and AIC Executive Committee Member
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\;19:45 \; \; \; \; Start-up pitches
Short pitches from some impressiv e young start-ups from MassChallenge Switzerland, a four-month acceleratio n programme powered by Inartis and held at UniverCité\; (Lausanne), and from the Health Valley.
- \; \; \; \; \;&nb sp\; \; \; \; Pragma Therapeutics (MassChallenge)
-&nbs p\; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; Intento (MassC hallenge)
- \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; \; Versantis (MassChallenge)
- \; \; \; \;&nbs p\; \; \; \; \; Genkyotex
- \; \; \;&nb sp\; \; \; \; \; \; Addex Pharma
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20:00 Networking reception
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Speaker biographies
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Keynote:
&n bsp\;
Dr. Tej Tadi brings a knowledge of 10 years&rsquo\; experience at the intersection of technology and medicine where he has successfully translated cutting edge solutions to the clinic . He has a background in electronics engineering, virtual reality &\; c omputer graphics through his work at the Swiss Federal Institute of Techno logy (EPFL), Switzerland. During his PhD, he set up an immersive virtual r eality system in combination with state-of-the-art brain imaging technolog ies enabling trans-disciplinary work in cognitive psychology, neuroimaging , and virtual reality, and leading to visible scientific publications and awards (Pfizer Award for Neuroscience in 2009). \; He founded MindMaze in 2011 to develop novel applications in Neuro-Rehabilitation, Game Train ing &\; next generation Neural Interfaces. \; MindMaze has already commercialized medical grade hospital and home products based on its platf orm to accelerate recovery for a wide spectrum of neurological deficits.&n bsp\;MindMaze has also launched products for consumer gaming, including th e world&rsquo\;s first neurogoggles combining neural sensing with embedded motion capture cameras, to harness the power of players&rsquo\; minds to enhance gameplay experiences in both VR &\; AR. \; MindMaze will co ntinue to leverage its scientific breakthroughs and advanced HMI platform into a number of other disruptive product lines that can address critical challenges in large, growing industries such as Transportation, Media and Defense.
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Panel members:
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Jean-Marc Leroux is CINO for the Covance D rug Development business of LabCorp, and General Manager CCLS Europe. Thro ughout Jean-Marc&rsquo\;s 15 year career with Covance, he has been instrum ental in shaping our Central Laboratory strategy, and securing new talent and technology to deliver strategic advances in that business. \; He p rogressed through various leadership positions in Central Laboratories, in cluding Vice President of Global Laboratory Operations and Scientific/ Tec hnical Affairs, Vice President for all Central Laboratory Global Operation s (Laboratory, Sample Management/Lab Pre-analytical Services, Investigator Site Support, Logistics, and Kit Production), and most recently Vice Pres ident of Global Innovation &\; GM Europe for CLS. \; He has always been dedicated to identifying new technology and business innovations thro ughout his career at Covance, advocating for state of the art Laboratory a utomation, advances in informatics, and new services like biomarkers and p oint of care devices.
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With extensive experience in creating and developing high tech com panies, Dr. Rosat has co-founded eight start-ups, made three trade-sales t o public companies, and is well versed in fund-raising and setting-up new projects. He gained experienced with FDA and EMEA regulations while develo ping oncology drugs, and has combined this experience with engineering ven tures that focused on automated drug screening equipment, micro-machining technology, diagnostic or medtech. Jean-Pierre holds a PhD in immunology f rom the University of Lausanne, a master in Management of Technology from the EPFL and has worked as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical Schoo l.
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Alexander Schmitz i s a Senior Investment Director at Endeavour Vision, a Geneva-based venture firm investing in growth-stage medical device and digital health companie s in the US and Europe. \;Alex has two decades of business and strateg y experience in both medical device and \;high-technology companies. H is current \;portfolio \;companies include Gynesonics, a US-based company developing minimally invasive treatments for uterine fibroids, and EndoStim, a US-based company with a novel neuromodulation system to treat chronic reflux disease. From 2005 to 2014, Alex helped Biosensors \; International Group \;develop its interventional cardiology business, from less than $5 million in annual revenues to \;more than $300 milli on, most recently serving as vice president of business development. Prior \;to Biosensors, he worked at LogiSpring, the corporate venture fund of the TNT Post Group, and \;at MicroStrategy, a leading provider of b usiness intelligence software. Alex began his career as \;a consultant at McKinsey &\; Company, where, in addition to serving clients, he spe nt a year with \;the McKinsey Global Institute. He earned his MBA from INSEAD and a BSFS in economics, magna \;cum laude, from Georgetown Un iversity&rsquo\;s School of Foreign Service.
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Ernest Loumaye is Co-Founder &\; Chief Executive Officer
of ObsEva, bringing an extensive experience in pharma product development
and management of biopharmaceutical companies. After a brief academic car
eer at Louvain University Hospital, he joined Serono as Head of Clinical D
evelopment for Reproductive Health (Geneva and Boston). He contributed act
ively to the worldwide registration of three important biotechnology produ
cts. In 2003, Ernest Loumaye joined Ipsen in Paris as Vice President, Medi
cal Sciences. In 2006, Ernest Loumaye co-founded PregLem, a Swiss based sp
ecialty biopharmaceutical company. As CEO, he led the company up to the su
ccessful European registration of Esmya®\;, its lead product. The compa
ny was acquired by Gedeon Richter Plc. in 2010. \; In 2012, Ernest co-
founded ObsEva and since then is the CEO of ObsEva. \;Currently, he is
also Chairman of the Board of Directors of GenKyoTex. Ernest Loumaye was
a visiting Professor of Reproductive Endocrinology at Louvain University,
Brussels from 2002 to 2010, where he held a fulltime clinical and academic
position until 1991. He holds MD, Ph.D degrees and a specialization in Ob
stetrics and Gynaecology from Louvain University, Belgium. He was a resear
ch fellow at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
in the US and is the author of over 90 publications in peer-reviewed journ
als.
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Event Host and Spo nsor:
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Established by a generous donatio n from the Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist \;Hansjö\;rg Wyss, the Wyss Center presents a new model in translational neurotechnology research, offering competitively awarded support \;for projects that have the potential t o make substantial clinical impact. Through its resident experts, technolo gy platforms \;and \;funding the Wyss Center identifies and foster s creative new technology-linked solutions to treat nervous system disorde rs. The Center creates prototype devices suitable for humans, and then sup ports their development from preclinical to initial human clinical trials that will lead to commercialization to allow widespread benefit. The Cente r&rsquo\;s integrated approach provides access to the latest neuroscience and engineering facilities, as well as the clinical, regulatory and busine ss expertise required to guide high risk, high return projects on their jo urney from research to product.
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Event Partners:
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Campus Biotech
Campus Biotech is a n ew initiative that aims to drive forward the biotechnology sector in the L ake Geneva region, creating new opportunities for scientists and entrepren eurs. Campus Biotech was formed following the announcement by Merck Serono in 2012 that it would be closing its Geneva site. Formerly the global hea dquarters of Serono, the biotechnology company built over three generation s by the Bertarelli family, this site had been the hub for life sciences i n the region. Campus Biotech&rsquo\;s mission was to acquire the site from Merck Serono \;and to ensure that it could be utilised as a focal poi nt for scientists and entrepreneurs in the life sciences sector, rather th an be purchased for property development. \;http://www.campusbiotech.ch
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Inartis is a non-profit foundation a iming to promote Innovation in particular in the areas of Life Sciences an d technology by fostering the interaction between innovators, teaching and research centers as well and industry professionals. Inartis manages mult iple projects such as incubator Espace Creation in Sion, community lab and incubator Univercite in Renens/Lausanne, publishing activities Clefs-du-S avoir, as well as professional networks Inartis Network supported by the S wiss Confederation (RTN programmes by CTI), NR1, SwissHeritage and Republi c-of-Innovation. http://inartis.ch
Background information:
Mass Cha llenge Switzerland
MassChallenge is a startup-friendly ac celerator obsessed with helping entrepreneurs across all industries. MassC hallenge rewards the highest-impact startups through a competition to win a portion of several million dollars in equity-free cash awards. Through a global network of accelerators in Boston, London, Jerusalem, Lausanne and Mexico City and unrivaled access to corporate partners, MassChallenge can have a massive impact - driving growth and creating value the world over. Based on the same proven model as the MassChallenge Boston and MassChalle nge UK accelerator programmes, MassChallenge Switzerland launched in Febru ary 2016, creating an accelerator in Switzerland that is connected with ot her global hubs to expand the open innovation, collaboration and entrepren eurial ecosystem in Switzerland, as well as greatly enhance the MassChalle nge network in Europe.
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Heal th Valley
The \;Health Valley \;is a name given to the \;bio-medical \;research centres, \;industry, \;start-up companies \;and services (including the university hospitals of \;Lausanne&nbs p\;and \;Geneva) in the Lac L&ea cute\;man region. Health Valley in Western Switzerland has a higher employ ment \;level per capita in life sciences, biotechnology, medical \ ;technology, and medicine than the Boston area, which has earned \;wor ldwide respect as the North American center of \;excellence for medica l and pharmaceutical research.