Fort Collins-based Innosphere Ventures has $2 million to spend on helping life science companies grow and scale.
The tech and science accelerator received a grant last week from the U.S. Economic Development Administration under Build to Scale, a federal program that seeks to bolster industries that create high-skill, high-wage jobs.
Innosphere Ventures plans to use the money to launch a three-year intensive life sciences incubator program that will accept applications as early as this December.
The program will cover the unique challenges related to starting a life sciences company, such as intellectual property needs, understanding the medical reimbursement system, and working with the Food and Drug Administration, said Mike Freeman, CEO of Innosphere.
The year-long training will also cover technical product development, raising capital, and talent recruitment and retention, among other topics.
Freeman said the organization hopes to have a total of 100 companies participate over the three-year life of the program, which will run a training once per year.
The grant is intended to cover the program as a regional effort that includes companies and universities in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nebraska, North Texas and South Carolina. Universities from each of those areas have already been collaborating with Innosphere, but this program will be a more formal partnership, Freeman said.
"Each of the partners that are collaborating with us on this project, are absolutely trying to build up their local ecosystem around life sciences," he said.
The university partners will provide faculty expertise and encourage spinoff companies to participate in the program.
Participating universities are:
- Colorado State University through CSU STRATA,
- Medical University of South Carolina through the Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization,
- Texas Tech University through its Office of Research and Innovation,
- University of Colorado Anschutz,
- University of Colorado,
- University of Nebraska Lincoln through NUtech Ventures,
- University of Nebraska Medical Center,
- University of New Mexico through UNM Rainforest Innovations,
- and University of Utah’s Vice President for Research.
Innosphere is also offering the training in partnership with the Colorado Bioscience Association and its counterparts in participating states.
After about four months of training, Freeman said life sciences industry experts will work one-on-one with companies on their specific pain points.
"They'll get hands-on support for multiple challenges over the course of a year," he said.
Innosphere has already offered a similar program for companies that work in clean technology and partnered with Colorado universities on 5G technology.
The organization has also long recognized the economic advantage of the life sciences industry in the area, Freeman said.
"Right now, we're supporting about 10 companies per year in life sciences," he said. "So tripling that, I mean, that's hugely important."
