Queen Mary BioEnterprises (QMB) Innovation Centre, London’s newest high- specification incubator facilities for start-up and early-stage life science businesses, is to host its Biotech Investor Forum on 5 October 2011. The event, one of London's largest investor forums, will bring together new start-up companies along with venture capitalists that invest in early-stage companies.
In association with One Nucleus, a membership organisation for international life science and healthcare companies, the Biotech Forum will focus on early-stage ventures and companies seeking seed-stage investment and series A financing.
Early stage investment – both strategic and financial – has always been seen as an exciting but risky alternative asset class; but in the context of today’s market turmoil its relative risk profile is altered. These businesses are poised to exploit their market opportunities as more established players divert resources to deal with the effects of the credit crunch.
Simone Reid, Business Development Director of QMB, commented: “We are planning to create a buzzing investor forum for London, where we can attract the great and the good of the bioscience VC community. Early stage investors and business angels from across Europe will examine over 15 investment pitches at QMB, from young technology businesses across the UK.
“There are so many investor forums popping up across the UK, so we want to focus this forum on polished pitches from interesting companies, combined with investors who actually are investing. The forum will comprise presentations and case studies followed by a lively debate over drinks in the evening. The message we want to get across is that opportunities open to early-stage investors, both for private investors and venture capitalists, are as good as ever.”
As well as company investment presentations, the forum will include a panel session on “thin markets” and the early-stage funding gap, and a Q&A session at the end of the day looking at the issues facing the later stage biotech companies, for example M&A and late stage financings.
The event is sponsored by global law firm Dorsey and Whitney LLP and Kilburn and Strode, intellectual property rights lawyers specialising in patents, trade marks and designs.
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