Pitching New Bioscience Company Concepts to Investors

June 8, 2017

West Haven, CT

Pitching to investors

The event provided ample time for founders to discuss their programs with investors.


On June 8, Yale and UConn founder teams “pitched” to venture capital investors who have interests in building novel companies with academic founders in the quest for next generation medicines. Founder teams are part of Program in Innovative Therapeutics for Connecticut’s Health (PITCH), a three year, $10 million grant from the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund to stimulate Connecticut’s economy based on biomedical discoveries initiated from Yale and UConn research. The Yale Center for Molecular Discovery accelerates the founder’s seminal idea by maturing projects in-house, at complementary UConn facilities, and through contract research organizations.  At the stage when the prototype for a new therapeutic is in hand, it’s ready to pitch.

Representing 17 investment firms located in the New York City to Boston corridor, 23 investors were looking for new ideas from the ten founder teams that align with their investment focus.  “PITCH de-risks novel concepts for new medicines that form the basis of high growth potential startup biotech companies,” states Janie Merkel, Ph.D., Director of the program. PITCH projects address a wide repertoire of unmet medical needs ranging from glioblastoma to fibrosis to antibiotics. The event was very well attended with presentations given to a standing room only audience. Investors expressed approval for the quality and novelty of projects as well as the high standard of the talks and the day’s format.  

In addition to the ten pitches, six early-stage PITCH projects, or “Sneak Peaks”, were included in the day’s agenda allowing investors to hear the full project portfolio.  An attendee commented that incorporating introductory programs in the schedule was a great way to stimulate future investment interest.  The group will convene again in nine months to learn more about these projects.

For more information, please see pitch.yale.edu. Next application deadline: July 15, 2017