On Wednesday, Aug. 16, global innovators will convene in St. Louis for the seventh annual GlobalSTL Health Innovation Summit. This is a signature event for GlobalSTL, an initiative of BioSTL (a health care and ag-food innovation nonprofit), which has positioned itself as a trusted partner for 22 Midwest and national-scale health care organizations and policy leaders. These forward-thinking entities – which include payers, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and employers – collectively represent an astounding $1 trillion in revenues.* They rely on GlobalSTL’s expertise in sourcing and curating top-tier innovators capable of addressing their most critical pain points.
With its highly successful two-sided marketplace, GlobalSTL bridges the gap between innovation buyers and global innovators, fostering collaborations that will shape the future of health care. During the upcoming summit, GlobalSTL’s 22 partners will hear from 20 visiting companies. Each of the 20 has been chosen from a pool of more than 1,500 candidates from around the world, making the summit an exclusive and intimate gathering for forging valuable relationships. Only startups that garner strong interest from multiple GlobalSTL partner organizations receive an invitation to participate, ensuring an environment of strategic business opportunities.
Over the past six years, the GlobalSTL Health Innovation Summit has proven to be a launchpad for success, showcasing 75 global innovators, 41% of whom have secured lucrative contracts. These transformative companies have collectively raised $4 billion in capital, with $3 billion secured after their participation in the summit.* Notably, five of these innovators have achieved the coveted unicorn status (the term applied to a privately held startup company with a value of more than $1 billion).
Donn Rubin, president and CEO of BioSTL, emphasized the impact of global innovation on St. Louis, stating, "Global innovation can be a difference maker in St. Louis' competitive standing. Through this summit, our region is being deliberate and proactive in attracting global innovation to propel our businesses and solve our challenges."
The ongoing success of the summit underscores GlobalSTL's three-fold goal: (1) to provide St. Louis companies access to state-of-the-art technology, (2) to secure U.S. customers and strategic partners for international companies, and (3) to foster the establishment of high-growth international companies in St. Louis, enriching the local ecosystem with new jobs, talent, innovation and economic activity.
"In just seven years, the GlobalSTL Health Innovation Summit has become one of the premier health care innovation business development events in the Midwest," said Vijay Chauhan, GlobalSTL lead. "GlobalSTL continues to serve as an impressive value acceleration platform for top health care innovators while attracting global innovation and investment to St. Louis. In 2023, our success with international companies caught the attention of top U.S. health care innovators, and we are now attracting the best of both worlds – American and international companies – to the summit."
Digital health technologies showcased at the GlobalSTL Health Innovation Summit encompass a diverse range of solutions, including restoring financial viability of health care delivery systems, addressing the problem of food insecurity and its effect on chronic disease, enabling aging at home and transforming caregiving, stitching together fragmented care ecosystems, creating patient-centered care journeys that decrease care gaps, and facilitating the transition from fee-for-service to value-based care.
The selected innovators will meet with high-level representatives from the following companies and health care systems: CVS Health, Walmart Health, Ascension and Ascension Ventures, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, BJC HealthCare, Centene Corp., Mercy, Evernorth, St. Luke’s Hospital, OSF HealthCare, MU Health Care, VA Health System, NorthShore University Health System, Southern Illinois Healthcare, MO Health Net, SSM Health, Wellabe, Business Health Coalition, Home State Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The GlobalSTL Health Innovation Summit kicks off with an innovators’ reception at The BioSTL Building on Tuesday, Aug. 15, followed by the all-day summit Aug. 16, at Washington University in St. Louis. For more information about the GlobalSTL Health Innovation Summit, please visit biostl.org/innovationsummit.
Since 2001, St. Louis nonprofit BioSTL has laid the foundation for the region’s innovation economy with a comprehensive set of transformational programs that advance St. Louis’ leadership in solving important world challenges in agriculture, medicine, health care and other technology areas. Find us online at biostl.org and follow us on Twitter @BioSTL.
*According to BioSTL
