Roche, OrbiMed, and McKinsey announced fifteen finalists of the SEED Competition at the SEED Finalist Coaching Day event in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park on March 2, 2010. The event was managed and presented by ChinaBio® Accelerator. The finalists will go on to compete for the grand prize of RMB 300,000 to be presented at the SEED Final Competition and Award Ceremony in Shanghai on April 23, 2010. Three finalists will also be selected to receive the SEED Winners Tour, sponsored by BioCentury, an all-expenses-paid trip to the U.S. to meet with investors and entrepreneurs.
The SEED Competition, one of the first life sciences business plan competitions in Greater China, was launched by the organizers, Roche, OrbiMed, and McKinsey, in November, 2009. SEED stands for “Scientists to Entrepreneurs, Education and Development.” The competition is designed to help entrepreneurs and academicians create companies in the life sciences and healthcare field, enhance the technology transfer and commercialization capabilities across the scientific community, and create a platform for commercialization of life sciences and healthcare innovations in China.
In addition to the potential to win cash prizes and awards, SEED participants gain significant exposure to potential investors and other stakeholders in the life sciences community. This experience has been expanded significantly with the addition of the BioCentury-sponsored SEED Winners Tour.
A total of 77 business plans were submitted from regions all over Greater China, covering a wide range of life sciences fields, including drug discovery, drug delivery, enabling tools, diagnostics, medical devices, etc. The fifteen finalists, representing this wide range of fields and geographies, were selected based on the quality of their business plans.
At the SEED Finalists Coaching Day event on March 2, representatives of the organizers and experts from such industry leaders as Morgan Stanley, Perkins Coie, and Charles River shared insights on the current Chinese healthcare industries, key success factors for life sciences start-ups, and personal experiences in life sciences entrepreneurship. The fifteen finalists then were individually announced and received awards that included a cash prize. The finalists also received one-on-one coaching from the organizers and industry experts on topics critical to life sciences start-ups, and enjoyed the unique opportunity to network with potential investors, industry stakeholders, and other competition participants.
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