San Antonio-based nonprofit BioMedSA announced this week the launch of its second annual BioFest Invest to provide investment opportunities for emerging companies.
Founded in 2005 by then-Mayor Henry Cisneros and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, BioMedSA's mission is to accelerate and support growth in the health care and bioscience sectors.
The nonprofit's president, Heather Hanson, said the time is more critical than ever to support these industries in light of of the Covid-19 pandemic. She added that the greater San Antonio area only continues to grow in terms of available talent, number of companies, and levels of innovation and research.
In fact, one in five workers in San Antonio work in health care and biosciences — or over 187,000 people, according to a 2019 economic impact study. The two industries in San Antonio contribute more than $42 billion to the local economy, and their impact continues to grow.
"BioFest Invest is a pillar in a multi-prong strategy to remove barriers to new investment capital sources and compete with national bioscience hubs," Hanson said.
BioFest Invest is intended to be a resource for healthcare and bioscience startups to collaborate, form new partnerships, network and support infrastructure. Last year, the first BioFest Invest was held virtually. It featured 12 presenting Texas companies and 20 investors from various parts of the country, and nearly 100 people attended. Overall, the event helped San Antonio-based bioscience startups receive more than $300,000 in new investment capital.
This year's event, held at the University of the Incarnate Word's Sky Room on March 30, will be all day. It features panel discussions, speakers and organizations that will offer support to bioscience entrepreneurs and several networking opportunities with investors.
This year, BioFest Invest will also help startups connect with local students for internships and employment opportunities. All startups invited will also participate in a new pitch competition, the winner of which will receive a $10,000 cash prize.
Mark Standeford, CEO of Renovo Concepts, a biotech company that develops clinical tools to aid recovery from brain, heart and spine injuries, said that last year's BioFest Invest event was a valuable tool for his company. "We were able to grow our network and closed with two new investors as a result of our participation in last year’s event," he said.
