venture leaders Life Science 2017: Walk the investors’ talk

Monday: Rolling the pitch
PAREXEL, 7:30AM. A short night after landing at Logan airport, the participants went to PAREXEL in a school bus. The day started with a presentation by CEO Josef H. von Rickenbach. PAREXEL actually started as a startup: 34 years later, they have become one of the main players in the complex biopharmaceutical and medical device development journey. On June 20, just a few days after the end of the trip, PAREXEL announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Pamplona Capital Management, in a transaction valued at approximately USD5.0 billion.

After PAREXEL, the ten life science entrepreneurs were taken to Babson College, which focuses on entrepreneurship education, for a workshop on business models. It was the first time that they pitched their life-saving technology that week, too, and they received valuable feedback to roll it through the week – and beyond!

In the evening, the venture leaders Life Science pitched to distinguished Swiss and American guests at the Innovation reception at the exclusive Swiss residence of Dr Felix Moesner, Swiss Consul and CEO of swissnex Boston, who co-organizes venture leaders Life Science. Among the hosts were the State Secretary for Education, Research and Education (SERI) Mauro Dell’ Ambrogio and Ambassador Mauro Moruzzi. 

Tuesday: Drawing business development roadmaps
Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC), 8AM. On Tuesday morning, the team commuted to CIC for a feedback meeting with medtech and biotech industry experts, all of them seasoned CEOs and VPs. The session was followed by execution workshops and face-to-face business development sessions where each of the participants could draw up an individual and actionable roadmap.

The second half of the day took the group to lunch and a unique legal session with Ernst & Young (EY), a longtime sponsor of the venture leaders program. Led by Heinrich Christen, Partner in charge of EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year Switzerland (venture leaders alumni such as InSphero or MindMaze have actually won this outstanding recognition), the participants received exclusive insights into establishing a business in the US and understanding the tax practices in place. Third Rock Ventures helped them understand the US Venture capitalist world. The afternoon ended with Swiss entrepreneur and Pixability CTO Andreas Göldi, who shared his long entrepreneurial experience. Göldi co-founded several successful startups in interactive marketing services, social media analytics, cross-media advertising and online content (e.g. blogwerk).

Wednesday: Pitching to big VCs
swissnex Boston, 8:45AM. Karim Maizar, Partner at Kellerhals Carrard, a Swiss law firm with strong expertise in startups and a co-sponsor of venture leaders Life Science this year, presented his activities to the group. Karim was with us during the entire week in Boston and shared his thoughts on the trip soon after: “Accompanying the top 10 life science startups from Switzerland and witnessing their exposure to top notch VCs, key opinion leaders from their industries, leading industry lawyers and various other institutions and advisors from the thriving Massachusetts startup ecosystem has been a rewarding thing to do. Switzerland can be proud of such great entrepreneurial founders who invest so much in advancing innovation!” Read Karim’s full Linkedin post here.



The group then headed to Gurnet Point Capital, a Boston-based investment fund of US$ 2 billion capital allocation associated with the Bertarelli family, where the entrepreneurs all pitched their life-saving technologies. Managing partner Chris Viehbacher and his team asked many questions, and gave amazing feedback, priceless leads and contacts to the young entrepreneurs. The feedback allowed them to sharpen their presentation (and slides!) for the upcoming events, such as the Thursday Global Pitch Fest.

The group then headed to Biogen, and the Wyss and Koch Institutes, where each person could pitch their startup again, and exchange with scientists, professors and experts in the biotech field.  

Thursday: Rocking the Majesty boat
Continuum, 8AM. Before the big (and sold out) Global Pitch Fest which hosted 300+ people on the Majesty boat on Thursday evening, the participants took part in a workshop on design thinking at Continuum. It was a great way to refresh their minds before their breathless, one minute pitch against US startups. 

In the afternoon, Third Rock Ventures welcomed the re-energized entrepreneurs, who received direct and priceless feedback on what (and how) to pitch to investors. For example, to strike the balance between overselling or underselling one’s product; be clear on what problems are solved, and what the product is; show commitment and a strong team, and never underestimate the amount of money which is needed. Third Rock Ventures said they were “impressed” by the quality of the cases as well as the team, which concluded a very positive and motivating feedback session.



Around 5:30PM, the Majesty boat at 1 Long Wharf waited for the venture leaders Life Science. After a one-minute sharp pitch battle against American startups, the Global Pitch Fest was won by Georges Muller of Dispencell (EPFL). The innovative pipetting system allows biotech companies to qualify single cell lines three times faster and ten times more cheaply than existing solutions, and is a door-opener for future personalized medicine. 



Friday: Exclusive legal session at Foley & Lardner
111 Huntigton Avenue (Prudential Center), 25th floor. After a visit of LabCentral, one the biggest legal firms in the US, Foley & Lardner, opened its doors to the venture leaders Life Science for the last day of the program. Todd Boudreau, Chair of the Private Funds and Buyout group, welcomed the participants, who pitched in front of the investors and VCs invited to the unique event. The intros, presentations and discussions were followed by an exclusive networking cocktail. The afternoon at Foley & Lardner was a perfect way to end the venture leaders Life Science 2017 program and week, and we are very grateful for the time, energy and openness we received during our stay.




We would like to once again thank our sponsors digitalswitzerland, Kellerhals Carrard, EY and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year program, Hansjörg Wyss and the Wyss Charitable Endowment, Canton de Vaud, EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich, PSI and swissnex Boston, as well as all the people who opened their door to the venture leaders Life Science 2017. We look forward to next year.