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A few European countries have successfully created life science startups, but the continent still lags behind the USA regarding the number of startup deals and total investments.
FREMONT, CA: The BII Foundation manages BII, an autonomous not-for-profit institute. This foundation owns a business branch that funds convertible loans, university grants, and the startup incubator. A three-year first operation under the NNF was created in 2018 with funding of around USD 60 million for the years 2021 to 2030. BII is now a standalone institute with support from the NNF, totalling an extra > USD 525 million.
The institute operates based on four central pillars. Due to the excellent support provided by the NNF, which also allowed BII to reach a critical mass of operations, it is possible to cover all four of these pillars. Scale is crucial for acquiring exceptional applications for programs, luring top-notch employees, and creating a wide-ranging network. This level of funding has also allowed BII to promote businesses in fields other than traditional therapeutics-focused biotech, such as healthtech and industrial biotech.
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Staff members with extensive knowledge of research, engineering, business growth, and investments supply the first pillar, knowledge. The BII staff actively seeks suitable instances through outreach to universities. They also use an internal software platform called EagleScout to look for examples in particular scientific fields and geographical regions. The BII staff regularly collaborates with participating companies to help them develop their business cases and teams. Although expensive, this intensive startup support is essential for the creation of early-stage companies.
The second pillar, network, links participants with a broad spectrum of seasoned financiers, researchers, medical professionals, governmental agencies, and business partners. Companies must have a clear plan for raising money, typically from venture capital funds, to move toward an exit in the long run via a trade sale or floatation on a public stock market, as well as specific objectives relating to their scientific programs, business model, and team development. This is required for a company to be included in BII's portfolio. Once businesses have been approved, BII helps them connect with various business partners such as legal, intellectual property, accountancy, and contact research groups who can offer either pro bono assistance or significant reductions in going prices.
The institute also supports connections with the European life science sector, offering thorough and current guidance on issues like scale-up, reimbursement models, regulatory affairs, clinical trial design, etc.
BII has developed a sizable investor network of European and US-based investors participating in virtual pitches to give feedback to our portfolio businesses. Over 100 company pitches have been supported by BII to over 30 different investors so far. This ongoing constructive criticism is crucial for a startup's growth toward seed or series A investment.
The infrastructure component of the BII's third pillar offers participants access to fully managed and equipped laboratories that can support standard molecular, cell biology, and chemical studies, including Biosafety Level-2 standards. More than 30 early-stage life science businesses are utilising this subsidised space but, over the next two years, intend to expand these facilities to house 65 to 70 startups. In addition, BII gives access to various specialised tools and extra lab spaces through partnerships with regional institutions and contract research firms.
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