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Over the last few years, many large funding agencies (including CIHR and NIH) have gone from asking applicants to include a section in their proposal about commercialization to now requesting that a full plan be provided. While writing a well-rounded commercialization plan may seem daunting on top of developing a sound research and technical plan, doing so actually helps you think more strategically about your project, your goals and the potential impact of your ideas. A solid commercialization plan will provide you with a clear roadmap for achieving results and will increase your chances of securing grants.

This introductory workshop will cover:

• Key commercialization concepts and considerations
• Key elements that will increase your chances at success and a list of essential resources
• Instruction on how to translate and communicate an offering to a non-academic party
• Concrete examples of how to craft effective messaging and incorporate compelling elements into a commercialization plan

Agenda:

Time: 9:00–10:30 a.m. (light breakfast will be provided)

• Intro: The NeuroSphere team will give a short presentation on the Ignite 4 competition
• Workshop: Laurent Balenci will give a presentation on how to write a commercialization grant and will lead group activities
• Wrap-up: Q&A and networking session

 (before October 24th at 4pm)

Guest speaker 

Laurent Balenci, NeuroSphere's Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Over the last 15 years, Laurent has held various executive roles in business development, management and operations in the biotechnology industry. He built his own consulting practice advising entrepreneurs, start-ups and mid-size companies in terms of business, product development, asset management and financing strategies. Laurent has been involved in multiple startup creations and has managed successfully over 35 different development programs ranging from ideation to late-phase clinical trials in both drug and medical device sectors. He helped raise $70 million in public and private transactional events for his clients. Laurent has run multiple due diligence assessments on diverse business opportunities for investor groups. He is also a regular commercialization grant reviewer and business mentor for many organizations. In 2019, Laurent received the DL. Patrick Commonwealth Innovation award for his mentoring contributions in the Boston biotech ecosystem. Laurent holds an executive MBA from the University of Washington and a PhD in Neurobiology from University of Grenoble-Alpes (France).