Startups invited onto life sciences fast-track programme
The second edition of a fast track acceleration programme for life science start-up projects has been launched by ZCube, the research venture of pharmaceutical group Zambon.
ZCube has launched Open Accelerator, a 12-steps programme which provides training to selected international researchers, scientists and entrepreneurs. Those selected are in with the chance of receiving €100,000 per project.
A maximum of 30 projects will be selected to take part in the programme. Those accepted will receive training and mentoring by specialised advisors from a range of disciplinary areas.
The accelerator is open to researchers and scientists who are ambitious in conducting translational science. The progamme will be based on the established methodology of the Business Model Canvas that has been adopted by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the United States.
The project is accepting ideas until 16 July from across four areas:
- Drug delivery systems
- Open source prototyping: medical devices, biomarkers, diagnostics
- Wearables and digital health
- Big data
Elena Zambon, president of Zambon Spa said: “For many years ZCube has been committed to developing partnerships in the field of scientific research through an open approach which aims at establishing relationships with international researchers, centres of excellence and universities around the world. Open Accelerator is an evolution of ZCube created to sustain scientific and digital innovation, the latter being a great agent of change of our times especially in the healthcare sector ”
Zambon continued: “Open Accelerator is an arena in which researchers and entrepreneurs are helped to build the foundation of their startups and to prepare for the challenge of reaching out to venture capital that will finance the next stages of their projects. Our accelerator program will become the heart of Open Zone, the scientific campus located near Milan where science oxygenates business. Open Zone is a community of 600 people where new projects, talent and proven expertise come together to help affirm Italy’s role as an ideal country for business innovation. ”