Worcester Launches New Life Sciences Accelerator to Support Early-Stage Startups

“We always say in entrepreneurship there are kind of three key things that are essential for a company to be successful,” Weaver said. “It’s having the talent. It’s having the science. And then the third piece is the capital. With that third leg of the stool solved, really the opportunity is endless and it’s just so exciting.”

By-Hank Stolz

Photo-submitted

Worcester, MA- Zak Dutton, Executive Director of Auxilium, and Jon Weaver, President and CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives (MBI) talk about their new partnership. They have launched a joint life sciences accelerator cohort in Worcester. They made the point that Worcester is a nationally-ranked life sciences hub, independent of Boston and Cambridge, with significant talent and a growing startup cluster.

The partnership between MBI and Auxilium was designed to solve the critical need for early-stage capital and business mentorship, as Weaver said, “We always say in entrepreneurship, there’s kind of three key things that are essential for a company to be successful. It’s having the talent… It’s having the science… And then the third piece is the capital… With that third leg of the stool solved, really the opportunity is endless and it’s just so exciting.”

The conversation focused on the challenges early-stage companies face, particularly in securing capital and developing business acumen, and how the partnership with Auxilium’s accelerator—which includes a $250,000 investment—was designed to address these critical needs. The program will help with the challenge for scientist-entrepreneurs to translate their complex scientific knowledge into a compelling business narrative to attract investors and navigate the lengthy, expensive process of bringing a product to market.

The new joint accelerator program will focus on non-therapeutic life science companies (e.g., medical devices, digital health, service companies), an area identified as needing more support.

https://www.auxiliumworcester.com/auxilium-mbi-lifesciences-accelerator

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