Local biomedical entrepreneurs are about to receive a whole new platform to share their industry-changing ideas.
VelocityTX, in partnership with the Bexar County Economic and Community Development department, is hosting the city's first-ever BexarBio Pitch, a live pitch competition for biomedical startups.
In April, VelocityTX announced the four biomedical startups selected to compete for the $100,000 grand prize: Betty's Co., HERA Biotech, Neuro RehabVR and NeuraStasis.
Betty's Co. is a local startup that provides gynecology, mental health and wellness care to women in their teens and 20s through its custom digital platform and mobile clinic.
HERA, also based in San Antonio, is developing and commercializing the world's first non-surgical test for definitive diagnosis and staging of endometriosis — a disease that affects 10% of women and girls worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Neuro Rehab VR, located in Dallas, immerses patients in various therapeutic virtual real 3D exercises to stimulate their brains and help form new neural pathways to aid in recovery.
NeuraStasis, based in Houston, is a seed-stage medical device company developing BlueStem — a non-invasive neurostimulator to improve patient outcomes after an ischemic stroke.
The four finalists were narrowed down from a pool of 48 applicants. Applications were judged on certain criteria, including the companies' leadership ability, realistic and sustainable revenue models, and job creation potential.
Applicants were also required to have received less than $4.5 million from third-party investors and generate less than $2 million in annual revenue.
The San Antonio Business Journal spoke with Somer Baburek, president and CEO of HERA Biotech, about her startup being named a 2023 BexarBio pitch finalist.
"I was super excited," Baburek said. "I'm a UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) grad. This is a UT technology. We're working with UT Health Science Center here in San Antonio. So, this feels very much like a hometown win for us."
HERA's patented method, MetriDX, uses micro-fluidic analysis of endometrial cells obtained through a uterine brush biopsy to diagnose and stage endometriosis, a painful condition in which tissue similar to tissue inside the uterus grows outside the uterus.
Last year, HERA landed $1.9 million in seed funding from four different investment firms to help bring the diagnostic test to market.
Baburek said she uses her venture capital background to relate to the investor "as opposed to trying to making them understand the problem."
"I focus more on helping them understand the business opportunity," Baburek said.
The San Antonio Business Journal also reached out to Jennifer Newell, CEO and founder of Betty's Co., but had not received a response at press time.
The BexarBio Pitch event runs from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, May 1, at the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
David Fonseca, CEO of VelocityTX, said this year's BexarBio pitch event will be high energy, with "a great look and feel of innovation."
The BexarBio Pitch also features a diverse judges' panel: Adam Hamilton, president and CEO of Southwest Research Institute; Marty Landon, CEO of BioBridge Global; Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, president and CEO of greater:SATX; and Kris Kieswetter, senior director of research and technology at Acelity.
Each finalist will have five minutes to deliver their pitch in front of the judges and a live audience. The grand prize winner will receive $75,000 in funding, and the runner-up will receive $15,000. The second runner-up, selected by a live audience, will receive $10,000.
Fonseca said he ultimately hopes hosting BexarBio will draw other life sciences companies into San Antonio.
"Since the moment that Velocity was created, it has [had] a global DNA. We're not competing with Austin and Houston; We're competing with Singapore, Hong Kong and Madrid," Fonseca said. "That's the mindset that we have here. While I'm excited about the local companies, we also want this to become a magnet program, where we bring companies from all over the globe here."
"This program with Velocity focuses on an important part of our innovation ecosystem," said David Marquez, executive director of the Bexar County Economic and Community Development department. "It's the first year, there's a lot of interest, which I think bodes well for our objective to get our name out there as a community that has a strong, growing, and healthy bioscience technology sector. [It] helps us attract people with talent, high-growth companies, and helps us retain the talent that we have."
You can register for BexarBio Pitch here.
