Save the Date: Consumer Products Capital Forum on July 24, 2014Melville, NY – May 15, 2014 – The Long Island Capital Alliance (“LICA”), the leading non-profit capital formation and business development organization serving regional companies, today announced the successful completion of its Biotech Capital Forum held on Friday, May 9, 2014. Held in collaboration with North Shore-LIJ Health System’s Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the event provided an opportunity to bring together capital providers, entrepreneurs, industry executives and businesses seeking capital, as well as to hear a panel of industry experts discuss financing alternatives for biotechnology companies on Long Island which was moderated by LICA Board Member Michael A. Lane.
Seven local biotechnology companies presented their business plans to investors, including attendees from venture capital firms, investment banks, private equity firms, angel and other individual investors. Each of the companies LICA selected for presentation at the capital forum possesses unique technologies and catalysts for significant growth which are attractive to investors.
“The Long Island Capital Alliance’s second annual Biotech Capital Forum was a resounding success on multiple fronts, and we thank North Shore-LIJ Health System’s Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for their contributions,” said Neil Kaufman, Chairman of LICA. “Over 100 attendees joined us for the three hour event. 14 follow-up dialogues with potential investors have already been reported to us by five of the presenting companies, and we are confident that many more will follow. Another benefit of the capital forum is the opportunity for networking, which in this case resulted in one of the presenting companies considering engaging a highly experienced business leader in attendance at the event for its CEO position.”
“This was my first time at a LICA event. I found the presenting companies to be involved in breakthrough research, their presentations were engaging and the presenters well prepared. These companies are definitely worthy of funding. This is a real tribute to LICA,” said Doug Jamison, a panelist and Chief Executive Officer of biotech investment fund Harris & Harris Group.
“The quality of the presenting companies was excellent, as was the quality of the discussions after the event. It is clear that Long Island will continue to be a source of major innovation for a long time to come,” said James Ryan III, a panelist with seed investor and venture capital firm Scout Ventures.
“The presentation at LICA was a great experience and I enjoyed meeting with a number of like-minded entrepreneurs,” said Pavel Osten, who presented for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Certerra, Inc.
“As an early-stage company seeking to raise capital, CirrusHealth was pleased to be part of LICA's Capital Forum. The opportunity has led to a number of high-potential follow-up conversations and was an excellent networking opportunity,” commented Thomas Thornton, who presented for Feinstein Institute for Medical Research’s CirrusHealth.
“The LICA forum gave us a great opportunity to showcase our company and network with qualified investors. The forum provides start-up companies with an invaluable source of connections, promoting fruitful partnerships,” added Isabel Aznarez, Ph.D., who presented for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s ASOThera.
Biotech Capital Forum Presenting Companies
The following companies made presentations at the Long Island Capital Forum:
ASOThera: Developing new therapies for orphan diseases based on technology developed at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and already proven by Big Pharma.
Autoimmune Therapeutics, Inc.: Developing orally-available drug candidates to treat autoimmune disease, with initial focus on rheumatoid arthritis, based on proprietary small molecule scaffolds and pharmaceutical leads that inhibit macrophage migration inhibitory factor.
Certerra, Inc.: Contract research organization specializing in central nervous system with technology based on single neuron-level monitoring of mammalian brains.
CirrusHealth: Electronic discharge system to improve doctor patient communications.
DepYMed: Joint venture between CSHL and Ohr Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: OHRP) to develop a drug for obesity, diabetes and HER2 cancer based on trodusquemine and related analogs.
Envisagenics, Inc.: Big data software solution that significantly reduces uncertainty and time to market for drugs under development.
TheraSource, LLC: Developing protein/peptide-based drugs based on MFG-E8 for inflammatory diseases, including sepsis, hemorrhagic shock, ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury, stroke, acute radiation syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Biotech Capital Forum Panel of Industry Investors
The following investment professionals participated in the panel discussion at the Long Island Capital Forum:
Doug Jamison, Harris & Harris Group: Doug Jamison is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Harris & Harris Group (NASDAQ: TINY), a leading early stage biotech investment fund. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Ancora Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and a Board observer in ABS Materials, Inc., Mersana Therapeutics, Inc., Solazyme, Inc., Nextreme Thermal Solutions, Inc., and Metabolon, Inc.
James Ryan III, Scout Ventures: James Ryan is Controller at Scout Ventures, a technology seed and venture fund. In addition, he is the Founder and CEO of The IllumiFi Group, an ‘Outsourced CFO’ for entrepreneurial firms.
Joe Proto, Windham Venture Partners: Joe Proto is a founder and general partner of Windham Venture Partners, a leading life sciences technology venture capital firm. He also is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Transactis Inc., sits on the Board of Directors of BillMyParents, and is a limited partner and advisor in Metamorphic Ventures.
Steve Winick, Topspin Partners: Steve Winick is a principal of Topspin Partners, one of Long Island’s leading venture capital firms. He presently serves as a Director of Thermolift, Inc., Celmatix, Inc., Setpoint Medical, Inc., Mirimus, Inc., GenDX, Inc. and Certerra, Inc.
Next LICA Capital Forum
LICA is hosting aConsumer Products Capital Forum on Thursday, July 24, 2014 from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at 68 South Service Road, Melville, NY. The capital forum provides an opportunity to meet capital providers, entrepreneurs, industry executives and businesses seeking capital, as well as to hear a panel of industry experts discuss financing alternatives for consumer products companies.
For more information about the event, please contact LICA today or register online.
Originally published on licapital.org.