This year, the Babraham Biotechnology Investment Forum (BIF) held at the Babraham Research Campus is deemed a great success from attendee feedback. The annual event which brings together early-stage bioscience companies and potential investors has been organised by Babraham Bioscience Technologies on the Babraham Research Campus by since 2006. Twelve companies made presentations to over 40 angel, VC and corporate investors.
Companies were seeking funding between £150K and £3M to setup and grow their businesses. Companies presenting included an Oxford based nanoparticle company; a potential treatment for osteoarthritis; an Estonian cancer therapeutic organisation; providers of liver and stem cells for research; and the developers of a boot to support patients with diabetic foot ulcers. The event’s keynote speakers were the entrepreneur and author of a recent book on understanding investment in the biotechnology space, “Cracking the Code”, Jim Mellon, and Michael Gutch from the corporate investment group, Medimmune Ventures.
The event was run in collaboration with Cambridge Enterprise and One Nucleus, with support from Taylor Vinters.
Feedback received after the event has shown that nearly 95% of attendees who responded to a questionnaire followed up on discussions initiated at the forum. Attendees were enthusiastic about a good selection and diversity of companies and investors, and commented that it provided a great opportunity to network and 100% of respondents said that the event was good value for money.
This year a short video of the event was produced which can be found on the BabrahamUK You-Tube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BabrahamUK or through the website www.babraham.com
Derek Jones, Chief Executive of Babraham Bioscience Technologies, the organisation responsible for the management and development of the Babraham Research Campus, and event organisers, said, “We are delighted with the feedback we have received. The aim of the Biotechnology Investment Forum is to facilitate interactions between early-stage companies and those who wish to invest in them. We know that funding is a demanding activity and hope that our event provides mechanisms for parties to initiate and continue the investment dialog. It also provides an opportunity to introduce people to the Babraham Research Campus and encourage them to be part of our community”.
Plans for next year’s event in May 2014 are already in hand.
Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd.
Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd (BBT) is responsible for the commercial development of the Babraham Research Campus. The Babraham Research Campus is distinct in its co-location of bioscience companies with the Babraham Institute, a world-renowned research organisation. The Campus provides companies laboratory and office space together with access to outstanding scientific facilities in an ideal geographical location at the core of the Cambridge cluster.
www.babraham.com
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