Under the CMU Portugal Patient Innovation Accelerator, six teams that participated in the Patient Innovation (PI) Bootcamp traveled to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh from April 7th to 11th for a week-long residency program designed to prepare the participating teams to enter the U.S. market.
The teams were hosted by Project Olympus, a CMU Incubator Program that provides resources and mentorship to help members of the CMU community to turn cutting-edge research into startups; and AlphaLab Health, Pittsburgh’s leading life sciences accelerator, which has been supporting startups since 2008. The week featured expert-led workshops, tailored mentorship from Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs), and visits to key institutions such as Allegheny Health Network (AHN) and UPMC Enterprises.
The week was structured around morning sessions led by Project Olympus on various entrepreneurial topics. In the afternoons, the teams were given flex-time for one-on-one meetings with experts and Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIRs).
Here is a closer look at how the week went.
Day one began with a welcome message from Meredith Meyer Grelli, Director of Project Olympus, Melanie Simko, Program Manager at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, and Megan Berty, Associate Director of CMU Portugal at CMU. The morning continued with a presentation from guest speaker Jerome Granato, MD, experienced physician executive and healthcare consultant, on selling into the healthcare market.
Next was a panel on “What it Means to be an Entrepreneur”. Panel guests included: Teresa Whalen, CEO at CytoAgents, Steve Bollinger, CEO, Founder and President at Ovala, Inc., Sean McDonald, Founder, President & CEO Ocugenix, moderated by Meredith Meyer Grelli.
After the panel was a presentation by Mara McFadden, CEO of Endolumik, on Leadership: know yourself and your team.
Day two kicked off with a presentation on Creating Value and Reducing Investor Risk. The key points of the presentation were: defining inflection points, understanding risk and setting expectations. The speakers included: Matt Harbaugh, Venture Capitalist at Mountain State Capital, Nick Pachuda, Innovation Leader & Investor, Kevin Rocco, Founder at Biorez, and Noveate Capital Partners which consists of a team of MedTech, BioPharma and Venture Capital experts who identify, support, and accelerate tomorrow’s life science breakthroughs.
Next was a panel of three guest entrepreneurs in the fields of Software (Saisri Akondi, Biomedical Innovator), Medical Device (Craig Markovitz, Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University), & Therapeutic Medicine (Paulo Fontes, Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer, LyGenesis, Co-founder & Medical/Strategic Advisor, ICaPath). This panel focused on the Realities of Product Development and Validation and was moderated by Max Fedor, lead EIR and Director Portfolio Commercialization at LifeX.
Following the panel was a presentation by guest speaker Alethea Wieland Clinical Research Strategies on Validation and Regulatory Compliance. Day 2 concluded with a visit to the Suburban General Incubation Facility, a repurposed hospital facility.
Day three began with a workshop with Meredith Meyer Grelli on Developing a Pitch, followed by a panel, moderated by Meyer Grelli, on Communicating with Investors. Panel members included: Rezzan Kose– 412 Venture Fund, Sree Gadde – BlueTree Ventures, Gretchen Jezerc – Profit Mind, Jeanne Iasella – Alpha Lab Health.
The final session on day three was a presentation by speaker, Krista Bragg, CEO, KB Kinetics LLC, on Health Systems Perspectives.
Day four’s morning began with a session on Intellectual Property: Building offensive and defensive patents & protecting software by speakers Pierre Queiroz de Oliveira, IP Attorney at DLA Piper and Jake Greenberg, IP Attorney with CMU’s Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation.
Next was a session on Competitive Strategies in Healthcare Business by Alissa Meade, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at Glimmer Health.
Lunch on day four provided an exciting opportunity for the Patient Innovation Entrepreneurs to meet and network with the CMU Portugal Community at CMU during a Grad Student Appreciation Luncheon.
Attendees included Dual Degree and Affiliated Ph.D. students spanning many CMU departments including: Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Engineering & Public Policy, Human-Computer Interaction, and Language Technologies. The students also span many Portuguese Universities including: Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, NOVA School of Science and Technology, University of Aveiro, Instituto Superior Técnico, Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra, Faculty of Engineering – University of Porto, and University of Lisbon.
The day concluded with a Pitch Workshop in which the entrepreneurs presented a 15-minute pitch of their company or product. Afterwards was a short Q&A and constructive feedback from EIR’s, mentors, and others.
The final day provided an opportunity for the entrepreneurs to meet with Project Olympus and the CMU Portugal Program to discuss how the week went and provide feedback. The week was wrapped up with a Happy Hour at The Oaklander Hotel.
Though the week in Pittsburgh has concluded, the work is not over. The program will conclude with an in-person workshop in Portugal in June, where participants will showcase their progress and finalize their go-to-market strategies. By the end of the Patient Innovation Accelerator Program, teams are expected to have developed solid commercialization plans tailored to both US and EU markets.
For more information about the Accelerator Program, please click here.
