Following a strategic restructuring, the building of a new leadership team and the addition of wet laboratory facilities over the past 18 months, the LifeX life sciences accelerator and capital growth company is now adding a pre-seed fund to invest in promising early-stage life science startups in the Pittsburgh region.
The LifeX management team is, from left, Jerry Vardzel (President and CEO), Max Fedor (Director) and Kim Magazine (Operational Excellence)
Portfolio companies at LifeX are surrounded by a suite of services and resources that they use to de-risk their technology and develop a go-to-market plan.
Its primary offerings include a 13-week Accelerator Program offered twice a year in the spring and fall for early-stage life science innovations whose founders are seeking to develop an initial minimum viable product together with a polished investor pitch.
To qualify, the innovation team must have a proof-of-concept idea for a drug, medical device, diagnostic or digital health solution. The team can be pre-incorporation or recently incorporated.
The marquee offering is a 6-month Commercialization Program. Startups receive up to 20 hours a month in hands-on consultation from a team of commercialization and domain experts with deep experience in areas such as regulatory affairs, marketing, business operations and more.
The LifeX portfolio consists of companies that have been developed based on technology from local universities and other sources and includes: Aruga Technologies, Consegna Pharma, Duo Oncology, LeanMed, Noctem, Synhale Therapeutics, and Workers First.
To round out its offerings, LifeX has also established an investment arm, LifeX Ventures, and is beginning to offer pre-seed funding for select startups.
“Our success is the success of our portfolio companies so we must be able to assist with providing capital,” said Jerry Vardzel, President and CEO of LifeX.
LifeX Ventures would like to expand its funding capability in the not-too-distant future. Vardzel said he and his team are exploring how to create a larger pool of capital, potentially with participation of both regional and outside Pittsburgh players, to help our life science startups accelerate on the path to market.
If you have a life sciences innovation and are interested in starting down the path to commercialization, you can contact LifeX Global here: https://lifexglobal.com/contact-us/ .