Deadline: 1 April 2024
Apply for Founders Fellowship, a 12-month program that offers hands-on startup experience for life sciences entrepreneurs interested in transforming ideas into business reality.
The 2024-2025 cohort will put an emphasis on applicants with a research focus on fields relevant to aging and/or Alzheimer’s disease.
Benefits
- Science Center Founders Fellows will receive:
- $50K stipend for the 12-month program
- Six months of hands-on learning punctuated with an “elder solutions” capstone project
- Six months to focus on technology translation supported by medical faculty and aging-focused advisors.
- Access to facilities at CIC Labs + Innovation Campus in Philadelphia.
- The Fellowship will:
- Expose founders to the aging market for their solutions in a practical and material way
- Position founders for success in their commercialization efforts, resulting in more successful technology-based startups from NIH-funded and supported researchers
- Leverage government investment by increasing the likelihood of raising private capital
Program Structure
The Fellowship includes in-person lectures, online workshops, and facilitated meetings with startups that is delivered over 12 months in two phases: Immersive Learning and Active Building.
- Months 1 – 6 (Immersive Learning)
- Aging Focus
- They’ve created an aging and longevity curriculum that gives the entrepreneur fellows insight into issues that are of concern for the aging population.
- Dementia 1 & 2
- Regulatory/Policy/Workforce
- Social Determinant of Health
- End of Life/Ethics
- US Healthcare System
- Chronic Dz Management
- Functional Impairment
- AI/Digital
- Payment/Insurance
- They’ve created an aging and longevity curriculum that gives the entrepreneur fellows insight into issues that are of concern for the aging population.
- Entrepreneurial Focus
- Fellows are embedded with startups to learn from and provide direct support to the founders, in addition to serving as a Venture Associate for Capital initiatives.
- Technology and Market Assessment
- IP Protection and Management
- Raising Capital and Negotiation
- Valuations and Deal Screening
- Commercialization
- Marketing and Corporate Management
- Fellows are embedded with startups to learn from and provide direct support to the founders, in addition to serving as a Venture Associate for Capital initiatives.
- Aging Focus
- Months 7 – 12 (Active Building)
- Fellows apply lessons learned from the Immersive Learning phase to transform their business concepts into a business reality. Fellows explore capital and private investment and develop a path to market.
- Deliverables
- SBIR/STTR application
- Company legal structure definition
- IP option or license agreement execution
- Due diligence package development
- Customer discovery for prototype development
- Fundraising and partner development cultivation
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be considered, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- An entrepreneurial concept related to life sciences and healthcare with a focus on fields relevant to aging and/or Alzheimer’s disease
- Masters degree or higher in a STEM field
- Able to commit 20 hours per week to the Fellowship
- Be within a reasonably commutable distance to the Science Center
- Startup proposal demonstrating a clear market need including explanation on how the startup will be feasible, impactful, and scalable.
For more information, visit University City Science Center.
