Venture Leaders Medtech 2024: Captain's blog by Shelley Horn, Business Developer of MYNERVA

22.11.2024 10:00, Rita Longobardi

In early November, the Venture Leaders Medtech 2024 team set out for Boston with a focused mission: to connect with leading investors and experts in one of the world's top hubs for Medtech and Biotech. Today, we're pleased to welcome Shelley Horn, Team Captain of Venture Leaders Medtech 2024, as she shares her firsthand experiences and offers an insider's perspective on the eventful week-long roadshow.

The Venture Leaders Medtech program started a few weeks before the actual roadshow when we all met in Zurich for a full-day kick-off event. The investor and business development roadshow took place from November 3rd to 8th, 2024 in Boston.

Sunday, November 3rd
We arrived in Boston and met everyone at the Cambria Hotel Boston Somerville lounge bar. This allowed us to introduce ourselves to each other again including the Venture Leader 10 startups and representatives from Kellerhals Carrard, Health Innovation Hub Aargau, Canton of Zurich, and Innovaud.

Monday, November 4th
The first morning we were greeted with some overdue sunshine after arriving in Boston the night before mostly from Switzerland where the sun had been hiding. Our first day began with a delightful breakfast at the Cambrian Hotel, and meeting all the Medtech startup leaders. After a nice walk with the team through the delightful neighbourhood of Somerville, our first stop was Swissnex Boston, in Cambridge, where we were welcomed by the Swiss Consul in Boston, Benjamin Bollmann and the rest of the Swissnex team.

This first day was a flood of information, insights, and pitch practice. First, Talal Ali Ahmand, a dynamic entrepreneur and seasoned technology executive, led the first session with insights on how to finance our Medtech startups in the US. We explored the nuances of fundraising in Europe versus the USA and learned the art of conversing with American investors.



For lunch, we were entertained with a walking tour through Harvard Square to a local eatery. After a good meal and conversation, we returned for a session on pitching to VCs. Split into 3 small groups, we presented our companies and solutions to leaders of the Boston-based VCs of MassVentures, Evolution Global Growth Partners, and Johnson and Johnson Innovation. The feedback was invaluable and readily received to help us improve for the coming week.

The day concluded with a warm reception at the Swiss Consul’s Residence in Lexington where we mingled with investors, business leaders, leading experts, and fellow entrepreneurs.

Tuesday
On our second day in Cambridge and Boston, we were ready to continue our journey. Beginning the morning at Swissnex Boston, we learned from the MCRA team that joined us from Washington, D.C. Their knowledge and insights on US Reimbursement and Cybersecurity were unparalleled.

After a quick lunch, we shared Uber rides to Portal Instruments, where we had candid conversations with Patrick Anquetil, the CEO, and a tour of their facility. His experience and success with building a Medtech company in the US was truly inspiring. After the session, many of the team members took the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful weather by visiting the campus of MIT and the riverside looking out to Boston proper.
The evening afforded us another opportunity to bond and experience more of the community in Cambridge. We all enjoyed a nice dinner together at Ramsay’s Kitchen restaurant and then many of the participants ventured out into the neighbourhood to enjoy some live music.



Wednesday
The morning started with shared Uber rides to downtown Boston where we met with and pitched to the team at Arnold & Porter, a legal firm providing regulatory, litigation, and transactional capabilities for its clients. Upon arriving at their offices, we were overwhelmed by the incredible views of Boston and Cambridge that could be seen from the 53rd floor of their offices. The visit gave us another opportunity to practice pitching and hear about their offerings and insights.



The afternoon continued in Boston with lunch and pitching at RA Capital, a multi-stage investment group for healthcare and life science companies. Their questions and feedback on our pitch sessions were very targeted and helpful.
The day concluded back at Swissnex first with an IP Session with Lando & Anastasi and then the much-anticipated Pitch Fest in the evening. The feedback we had received over the past two days, helped us revamp our pitches before the event.



The ten Swiss startups showcased our companies via the incredible improvements we made in our pitches to an audience of approximately 75 local investment experts, academics, and others from the Swiss-US community. The winning pitch of the evening, showing tremendous growth over the week was Pablo Lara of OncoSwab, with Waldemar Hoffman of Apersys coming in a close second.

Many of the Venture Leaders and week participants celebrated the evening together with some live music and fun-filled karaoke.

                                       

Thursday
Once again enjoying the unseasonable weather and sunshine, we shared Ubers to meet at Helbling Technik offices in Cambridge. Helbling Technik is a company of the Helbling Group, a leader in technological innovation, engineering, and business. First, we were delighted to learn about the challenges and opportunities from one of their partners and their collaborative successes. We concluded our visit with some additional feedback on our pitches.

The afternoon took us back to Swissnex, for a pitch session with MedScience Ventures for additional pitch practice and great feedback. The day concluded with a wonderful team dinner at the neighbourhood restaurant Machu Picchu for some great Peruvian food and team conversation. The evening rounded out with some live music once again.
 
Friday
The last day came too quickly. We walked as a team through the nice local neighbourhood to Swissnex one last time. The morning was spent with a casual Q&A “Fireside chat” with George Arnold of Knightsbridge Advisers. Once again, offering useful insights into the world of venture capital fundraising and how we can best set ourselves apart from the rest.

And then one last team lunch in a nice local restaurant in Harvard Square soaking in the sun on the rooftop.
Our final pitch session was with Alex Brown of Knightsbridge Advisers. Not only did he provide great insights and feedback, but much seemed to come from personal experiences in almost each of our industries.

Our journey came to a close with a debriefing session with the great team at Venturelab and Swissnex Boston. This was only to be interrupted by the announcement that the Friday evening flight back to Switzerland was cancelled, and we all scurried to get alternative flights. Many of the team stayed to enjoy another day in the Boston area. A fine conclusion to a successful trip and event. A heartfelt thanks to the team at Venturelab and Swissnex Boston and New York, who organized this unforgettable experience, and to EPFL, ETH Zürich, Hansjörg Wyss, Health Innovation Hub Aargau, Kellerhals Carrard, Canton de Vaud, Canton Zurich, and Vischer, for supporting the program.