The application period for the 2025 BIO International Start-Up Stadium has now closed.
Thank you to everyone who submitted an application.
BIO will notify all applicants about the status of their submission in late March to early April 2025.
Start-Up Stadium is designed to provide start-up companies with the opportunity to engage key members of the investment community, venture philanthropy groups, strategic partners, and non-dilutive capital at the world’s largest biotechnology partnering event.
Need Advice on Your Pitch Deck?
Download our pitch presentation guide for additional insight and advice on building a stellar submission.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any cost to apply for Start-Up Stadium?
There is no cost to apply for Start-Up Stadium. Please note that applying for Start-Up Stadium does not guarantee participation in the event. BIO will notify all Start-Up Stadium submitters of the status of their application in late-March/early-April 2025.
What do prize winners receive?
- A complimentary one-year membership for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, including access to benefits from BIO Business Solutions®, the largest cost-savings purchasing program for the life sciences industry and discounted registration to other BIO events.
- One complimentary Premier Access registration (includes BIO Partnering™) for the 2026 BIO International Convention.
Who can I contact for more information?
Please email program@bio.org if you have any additional questions about applying for the 2025 BIO Start-Up Stadium.
During the 2024 BIO International Convention, 47 select finalists from 13 different countries each shared a quick pitch showcasing new technologies and therapeutic solutions to a panel of investor judges, followed by live feedback. Finalists were eligible for a highly discounted registration rate to attend the 2024 BIO International Convention.
Evaluation of the presentations from seed-stage company finalists (less than $1M raised) occurred separately from emerging company finalists (more than $1M but less than $10M raised to date), with a winner identified for each category.
Winners are listed after the finalists below.
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AcroCyte Therapeutics is a cell-based precision medicine company. Our current focus lies in utilizing our core technology R3CE—rapid, reproducible, rare cell expansion— to assist clinical treatment and scientific research.Session -
AgenT is a French life sciences company on a mission to defeat Alzheimer's by targeting the silent phase.Session -
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Aluda was founded to reexamine how fundamental cell processes are altered by disease, combining rational drug design with holistic objectives to make wider impact.Session -
We are addressing the need for tissue repair solutions, beginning with cornea.Session -
Black Canyon Bio (BCB) is developing novel products for treating cancer using our proprietary Specific Neo-Antigen Peptides (SNAPTM) Technology platform.Session
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We are pioneering a novel approach by integrating proprietary synthetic biology methods and de novo protein designs with the power of generative AI to automate the discovery process and develop patient-tailored immune-mediated therapies at scale for Chronic and Age-Related diseases.Session -
CELLeBRAIN is an R&D biotechnology company specializing in the development of gene and cell therapy for the treatment of solid cancers, with a particular focus on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).Session
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Cha Therapeutics seeks to realize the untapped potential of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).Session -
Coastar Therapeutics is a venture-backed biotech company based in San Diego, CA focused on next generation gene delivery technology.Session -
CytoArm focuses on untreatable diseases through a next generation T cell therapy, Armed-T cell.Session -
Endure Biotherapeutics (“Endure Bio”®) is developing engineered engraftable live biotherapeutics for metabolic diseases by genetically engineering human native bacteria to express therapeutic compounds.Session -
The mission of Everfront Biotech is to address unmet medical needs by developing orphan drugs to treat some of the world's deadliest diseases, including high-grade gliomas and pancreatic cancer.Session -
FELIQS is a clinical-ready stage company. The Company has a portfolio of two patent-protected drug product ophthalmology candidates.Session -
Fzata (fzata.com) has solved the oral biologics problem with the BIoPYM platform.Session -
GelSana's novel polymers improve healing in impaired wounds, particularly in chronic wounds with high inflammation.Session -
HBI is a private company focused on developing cutting-edge Microbiome-Based Therapeutics.Session -
ImmunoShield Therapeutics seeks to enable the high-throughput biomanufacturing of hydrogel-based regenerative medicine products and the application of allogeneic cell products in the absence of chronic systemic immunosuppression.Session
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Incircular's mission is to advance Biotech and Pharma applications by effective stabilization of proteins using INCYPRO, a cutting-edge chemical protein engineering technology.Session -
Isosterix is developing a differentiated small-molecule inhibitor of Kat6A, an epigenetic oncogene which is amplified and implicated in multiple tumor types, including breast cancer.Session -
Jaan biotherapeutics is a pre-investigational new drug application company developing treatments that target microRNAs to regenerate heart muscle withing the heart and treat heart disease, the largest cause of death of man.Session -
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KaloCyte is a pre-clinical biotech therapeutic startup company developing ErythroMer, a bioengineered artificial red blood cell (RBC) substitute that can be freeze-dried for long-term storage.Session -
Keliomics is an emerging biotechnology company whose breakthrough platform for organ-scale biology preserves the full composition, structure, and function of primary human tissues.Session -
Leverna Therapeutics is a Boston-based preclinical RNA therapeutics company developing a portfolio of CNS-focused antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) programs.Session -
Biotech company with the goal to solve the antimicrobial resistance pandemic for anyone, anything, anywhere.Session -
Longieva has been developing novel therapeutics for validated targets for CNS disorders with utility in neurodegeneration (such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) and addictive disorders.Session
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Mabswitch Inc, is a leading biotechnology firm specializing in the development of regulatable immunotherapies based on the groundbreaking invention of affinity switches for antibodies.Session -
Matrubials Inc. is developing milk-inspired therapeutics to address infectious diseases.Session -
Merlin has a pre-clinical mRNA-delivered immune activator with strong IP with in-vivo and human epi survival data in both pediatric ($100M PRV) and $2B adult markets.Session
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Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Derio (Bizkaia), Mikrobiomik is a bio-pharmaceutical company created to conduct research, develop and manufacture of medicines based on the human microbiome.Session -
Minutia is developing a regenerative medicine platform that improves safety and success outcomes of transplanted cells, our first therapy is a functional cure for Type 1 and Insulin Dependent Type 2 Diabetes with a simple outpatient procedure.Session -
NemaGen Discoveries is a New Jersey-based biotechnology company that is advancing therapies for patients suffering from allergic disorders and pulmonary fibrosis.Session -
Neuroene is developing mitochondrial-protective small molecules for epilepsy, Parkinson's and mitochondrial diseases.Session
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Neuronascent Inc. discovers and develops novel neuron regenerative therapies for neurodegenerative and rare pediatric neurological diseases.Session -
Oligomerix initiated 1st in human clinical trials in January, 2023 for its lead tau inhibitor of self-association which works at the beginning of the tau cascade to prevent tau aggregation.Session -
Oniria Therapeutics aims to revolutionize cancer treatment by bringing to market the first-in-class drug ONR-001, designed for solid and liquid aggressive tumors unresponsive to current treatments, paving the way for novel therapeutic combinations or standalone treatments.Session -
Orakl Oncology stands at the forefront of the techbio landscape, pioneering the use of patient tumor avatars to meticulously accelerate and de-risk drug development.Session -
Origami Therapeutics is developing curative therapies that target and degrade disease-related proteins.Session -
Orlia provides optimization tools to maximize yield and improve cell health and viability in bioreactors and fermenters.Session -
Papillon Therapeutics is a biotechnology company advancing genetic medicines for life threatening conditions with neurologic disease.Session -
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PHIOGEN is a spin-off from Baylor College of Medicine and was born out of innovation from the globally renowned team at TAILOR Labs, one of the US's only bacteriophage therapy centers, now being commercialized to combat the AMR infection crisis.Session -
SiNON has developed a patented tunable carbon nanoparticle that acts as a ‘Trojan horse' drug delivery platform that allows drugs to cross the blood brain barrier to treat many different neurological diseases.Session -
SLAM Bio is a preclinical stage biotech company developing a platform of antibodies and antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) against signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) protein family.Session
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Suntec has a proprietary MINC (Multi-target Immune-modulation Nanocomplex) technology platform to develop highly effective and safe immunotherapies.Session -
Synergy Therapeutics Inc. has discovered and developed a novel and disruptive way to potently upregulate p53, the "guardian of the genome", in both wildtype and mutant cancer cells.Session -
Tachmed develops revolutionary, proprietary technologies designed to detect chronic and infectious diseases.Session
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Trust Bio-sonics Inc. is a Taiwan based pharmaceutic company (Private) and a world leader in microsphere technologies for contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging and ultrasound-mediated drug delivery technologies.Session -
VoxCell is creating human-like vascularized tissue models as a screening platform in drug development; by combining Canada's first high-resolution 3D bioprinter, VoxCell's proprietary universal bioinks and VoxCell's vascularization software.Session -
Vyro is a worldwide pioneer in the development of therapies and drug-delivery viral vectors based on Zika.Session
Congratulations to our 2024 Seed-Stage and Emerging Winners
The Seed-Stage winner received:
- Fast-track admission in the Fall 2024 or Spring 2025 cohort of The Innovation Space’s Science Inc. virtual accelerator program and/or spotlight position in The Innovation Space’s monthly Spark Factory virtual event. Moreover, the company will also be considered for up to a $240k First Fund investment (residency in The Innovation Space required for First Fund investments).
The Seed-Stage winner and the Emerging Start-Up winner each received:
- A complimentary one-year membership for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, including access to benefits from BIO Business Solutions®, the largest cost-savings purchasing program for the life sciences industry.
- One complimentary registration including BIO Partnering™ access to attend the 2025 BIO International Convention, June 16-19, in Boston, Massachusetts.
BIO Thanks the Participating BIO 2024 Start-Up Stadium Judges:
- Ibraheem Alinur, Vice President, 2Flo Ventures
- Rebecca Allan, PhD, Senior Analyst, BoxOne Ventures
- Michael Alvarez, Advisor, SIC Venture Studio
- Souad Amiar, PhD, Scientific Consultant, Plexus Ventures
- Mara Aspinall, Partner, Illumina Ventures
- Emily Atkinson, PhD, Venture Analyst, IU Ventures
- Giulia Balconi, Life Sciences Venture Capital, Adjuvant Capital
- Max Baumann, Co-Founder & Execution Lead, Treehill Partners
- Patti DuBois, Assistant Executive Director, Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation (CEI)
- Onne Ganel, Principal, Corporate Development, OGAdvisors
- Gail Christine Gannon, CEO, Ensanté
- Deborah Hemingway, PhD, Managing Partner, Ecphora Capital
- Ted Jeong, D. Mgt., Founder and Managing Partner, Adelphi Ventures
- Jeremiah Kelly, Partner, Venable LLP
- David Kim, Partner & COO, Adelphi Ventures
- Amanda Christine Maldonado, PhD, Manager, Innovation Portfolio, Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
- Ari Marcellino, Program Manager, BioTools Innovator
- Stephanie Marrus, Managing Director of Entrepreneurship, Innovation Ventures, UCSF
- Vinit Nijhawan, Managing Director, MassVentures
- John Pennett, Investor, Mid Atlantic Bio Angels
- Jon Popke, PhD, Investor, Mid Atlantic Bio Angels
- William Provine, PhD, President & CEO, The Innovation Space
- Sonal Vinay Rangnekar, PhD, Entrepreneurial Fellow, Chicago Biomedical Consortium
- Alicia Russo, Partner, Venable LLP
- Sally Wang Liang, Venture Partner, Viva BioInnovator
- Samuel Wu, MD, PhD, Venture Partner, 7G BioVentures
- Jian Zhang, PhD, Partner, Bojian Capital
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