Start-up Festival 2024
The BIA are delighted to announce the return of the Start-up Festival in 2024, which will take place in person in May.
The event will bring together the best of rising talent in the sector for a day of informative sessions designed to build on your existing knowledge and allow you to learn from peers and established industry experts alike.
Attendees will be able to meet with both peers and potential advisors during the day.
Please note: The Start-up Festival is intended for the leadership of early-stage companies to learn from each other and from invited thought leaders in the sector. In order to ensure a critical mass of startup entrepreneurs, we are limiting numbers of service providers, beyond those sponsoring and supporting the event.
09:00 - 09:45 Networking and registration
09:45 - 10:00 BIA welcome
- Jane Wall, Managing Director, BIA
10:00 - 10:45 Panel 1: Partnering dos and don'ts
- Paul Ashley, Director, Data Science External Innovation, J&J Innovation
- Amir Hasan, Chief Operating Officer, Ultromics
- Jelle Penders, CEO, SPARTA Biodiscovery
- Hannah Sore, CEO, Co-Founder & Board of Directors, PharmEnable
- Marcus Vass, Partner, Osborne Clarke
10:45 - 11:15 Break
11:15 - 12:00 Masterclass 1: Location, Laboratories and Learnings - steps to setting up your lab
- Vipul Bhakta, Senior Manager, Facilities Operations, AviadoBio
- Mairi Dillon, Ecosystem Manager UK & Ireland, Kadans Science Partner
- Abigail Martin, Chief Executive, ImmuONE
- Chris Walters, Head of UK Life Sciences, JLL
12:00 - 12:45 Panel 2: Building skills within a lean team
- Kate Barclay, Skills Strategy Consultant, BIA
- Marc Daigneault, Venture Building Lead, Medicines Discovery Catapult
- Martin McGurk, Deputy Director, Business Growth, Innovate UK
- Ionna Mylonaki, Preclinical R&D lead, Sixfold Bioscience
12:45 - 13:45 Lunch
13:45 - 14:30 Masterclass 2: IP Strategy for Life Science start-ups to maximise investment and returns.
- Abi Heath, Associate, Kilburn & Strode
- Tom Leonard, Partner, Kilburn & Strode
14:30 - 16:30 Investment session: Start-up financing in 2024
- Loukik Arora, Principal Investment Associate, Cambridge Enterprise Ventures
- Danny Bosch, Angel Investor and Start-up Advisor
- Charlotte Davison, Investment Manager, British Patient Capital
- David Ford, Life Sciences Angel Investor, New Atlantis Ventures
- Oliver Hardick, Entrepreneur In Residence, M Ventures
- Anne Horgan, Partner, Cambridge Innovation Capital
- Matthew McCann, Investor Relationships Manager, CPI
- Elizabeth Klein, CEO and Founder, Calculus Capital
- Nelli Morgulchik, Investor, Hummingbird Ventures
- Jonathan Nash, Investment Principle, LifeArc
- Sunil Shah, CEO, o2h Ventures
- Emilie Syed, Investment Manager, Parkwalk Advisors
- Martin Turner, Associate Director, Policy, Public Affairs & Investor Relations, BIA
- Hugo Villanueva, Investor, Octopus Ventures
16:30 - 16:45 Keynote
- Bruce Lynn, CEO, Queen Square Analytics
16:45 - 17:00 Closing remarks
17:00 - 19:00 Networking and drinks reception
Glaziers Hall,
9 Montague Close,
Rotherhithe,
SE1 9DD
BIA members (emerging companies) : £10 + VAT
Non-members (emerging companies) : £20 + VAT
By registering for this event you accept our Terms & Conditions.
Please note: The Start-up Festival is intended for the leadership of early-stage companies to learn from each other and from invited thought leaders in the sector. In order to ensure a critical mass of startup entrepreneurs, we are limiting numbers of service providers, beyond those sponsoring and supporting the event.
In case of any issues registering for the event, please contact the BIA Events team.
Supporter opportunities for the event are available to view here.
If you are interested in supporting, please email Chloe: [email protected]
Director of Venture Development | Pioneer Group |
Formulation Scientist | BugBiome |
Researcher | Oxford University |
Founder | Daset Labs |
Business Development | NHSBT |
PhD Student | MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences |
CEO & Co-Founder | ESP Diagnostics Limited |
Chief Scientific Officer | Extracellular Ltd |
CSO & Co-founder | Mitra Bio |
CEO | Exciting Instruments |
Director of Research | Macular Society |
Business Manager | LifeArc |
COO | VasoDynamics Ltd |
Head of Health Technologies | Innovate UK (UKRI) |
Co-Founder and Director | Imphatec |
CEO | CEXAL ltd |
CMC Director | Phico Therapeutics Limited |
Director | Aceae Nutra Ltd |
Co-Founder | Innovatrix Capital Limited |
Chairman | VascVersa Ltd |
CSO | Exciting Instruments |
COO and Co-founder | Phaim Pharma Ltd |
CEO | Link Biologics Ltd |
Investor | EDR |
Entrepreneur in Residence | The Francis Crick Institute |
CEO | Oxford Medical Products |
Founder/CEO of Woost Ltd (Part of Imperial Incubator) | Imperial Incubator |
CEO and CSO | Pebble Biotechnology Laboratories |
MSc Clinical Drug Development | Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) |
COO | Forcefield Therapeutics |
COO | Expression Edits |
Co-Founder | NG Bio |
Field Application Scientist | Precision Nanosystems Inc. |
Research Associate | Imperial College London |
Associate Prof | University College London |
CEO | Keratify Ltd |
Founder | Trajecture Ltd |
CEO | ImmunoServ |
CEO | Newal R&D Ltd |
Founder and CEO | Creasallis |
Chief Strategy Officer | YON E Global |
Founder in residence | Deep Science Ventures |
CEO | Nucleome Therapeutics |
COO | University of Edinburgh |
Co-founder/CEO | Verinnogen |
Managing director | Kathisto Bio |
CEO | Cytecom |
Doctor | Raglan Holdings |
CEO | Mitra Bio |
Co-Founder | NG Bio |
Director | Consone AI |
Senior Director Open Innovation and Business Development and Licensing | Bayer AG |
VP Operations | MicrofluidX LTD |
CEO | Infinitopes Limited |
Associate Director, Programme Management | Complement Therapeutics Ltd |
Consultant Biochemist | TTP |
Associate Lecturer | University College London |
CEO & Co-Founder | VasoDynamics Ltd |
Research Scientist | Sixfold Bioscience Ltd |
CEO | Meticuly |
Co-Founder | Nanograb |
Senior Scientist | ImmunoServ |
CEO | Sania Rx Ltd |
Student, Startup founder | Imperial College London |
Senior Portfolio Manager | UKRI-BBSRC |
VP | Freeline Therapeutics Limited |
Head of Health | Innovate UK UKRI |
CIO | Enbiosis Biotechnology Limited |
Board Member | Novai Ltd |
Project Manager | Virtus Respiratory Research |
CEO | Human Centric Drug Discovery |
CEO | MarraBio |
Research Technician, Synthetic Biology | Prokarium Ltd |
CSO | Stratosvir Limited |
Founder and CEO | BRAINCURES |
SVP Growth | Relation Therapeutics |
CEO | The Vaccine Group |
Head of Operations | Aethon Therapeutics |
PhD Candidate | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |
Co-CEO | Inia Biosciences |
Project Manager Assistant | Forcefield Therapeutics |
Chief Executive Chairman | O2h Ventures Limited |
Managing Director | Kathisto Bio |
Founder & CEO | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |
Partnership Lead | Sixfold Bioscience Ltd |
CEO and Co-Founder | incubate.bio |
CEO & Founder | Self-employed |
Intern | Human Centric Drug Discovery |
Head of Strategy & Operations | GSK |
postdoc | Leeds University |
CFO | Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst |
Founder | 1888 Capital |
CEO | Five Alarm Bio |
CEO | Agility Life Sciences |
CEO, CSO | Vitarka Therapeutics |
Director | Paratopix Ltd. |
CEO | Semarion |
Founder & CEO | Lean Life Science |
Engineering Biology & Biotechnology policy officer | BEIS |
CEO | Ambrose Healthcare |
Lead Scientist | Human Centric Drug Discovery |
PhD Student | The Francis Crick Institute |
Business Development Director | Syngene International |
Advisor and Director | EpiCombi Therapeutics |
Suggested social media text for attendees:
I am looking forward to attending @BIA_UK #Startupfestival conference in 📍 London and learning from some of the experts in the start-up field !
I am excited to delve deep into the insightful topics on offer and to network with fellow peers.
Join me on 16 May for the Start-up festival #BiotechStartups! ⬇️
Suggested social media text for supporters/exhibitors:
We’re delighted to support @BIA_UK Start-up festival , taking place in 📍 London on 16 May 2024!
Join us to be part of discussions around topics that challenge start-ups, delivered by estbalished inudstry experts.
We can't wait to connect with other members of the UK start-up community to explore opportunities that will drive innovation and progress in this exciting industry.
See you there! ⬇️
Suggested social media text for speakers and pannelists:
I am pleased to announce that I will be speaking at @BioIndustry Association’s Start-up festival, taking place in 📍 London on 16 May 2024!
The event will bring together the best of rising talent in the sector for a day of informative sessions designed to build on your existing knowledge and allow you to learn from peers and established industry experts alike.
Join me and let's explore the tips and tricks for the start-up community! ⬇️