Need some help with your bioscience business venture? The Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program might be your answer.
The Flinn Foundation is pleased to introduce a pilot initiative – The Flinn Foundation Bioscience Entrepreneurship Program. This program is designed to foster entrepreneurship through partnerships with nonprofit, public university, community college, and governmental organizations and is focused on helping early-stage bioscience firms develop into thriving businesses.
Through a competitive process, two early-stage firms will be selected to participate in this multi-faceted, year-long program, consisting of a set of services and $25,000 in funding support. A brochure describing the program, the eligibility criteria, the selection process, funding disbursement, and other information can be found at www.flinn.org/2013entrepreneur.
The two firms accepted into the program will have the option of receiving a host of services, including access to mentors, AZ Core Labs at a preferred rate, and a revolving loan fund if the firm meets the eligibility criteria to participate in the fund. One of the principals of each of the firms also will have the opportunity to participate for a year in meetings of Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap Steering Committee, the leadership group responsible for guiding the implementation of Arizona’s Bioscience Roadmap, the long-term strategy to advance Arizona’s bioscience sector. The Steering Committee is comprised of 100 statewide leaders from the public and private sectors in science, healthcare, business, academia, and policy. Go to www.flinn.org/2013entrepreneur to find out more about the program benefits.
AZBio will be working collaboratively with the Flinn Foundation to identify early-stage firms that might benefit from the program.
Perhaps your firm may be one of those firms, and we would encourage you to submit an application.
The application period will open on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. However, before starting to complete the application, we would strongly encourage you to participate in an information session to be conducted on Wednesday, May 29, 2013, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. via teleconference. To participate in the information session, please click here to register and obtain call-in information.
The deadline for applications is Thursday, July 11, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. Interviews will be conducted on Wednesday, September 11, and Thursday, September 12. Firms applying should save those dates now on the calendar in the event they are selected for an interview. The Foundation expects to announce the firms selected for the program no later than September 30, 2013.
If you have any questions about the application or the program, please contact Juliet Gomez, Flinn Foundation Program Manager: jgomez@flinn.org or 602-744-6839. All questions, except those of a routine nature, must be received at least 7 days prior to the deadline for applications and, as appropriate, answers will be added to the FAQ section at www.flinn.org/2013entrepreneur.