In this issue:
-
Event: Finding and working with angel funders in life sciences - BREX event - 5/4
-
Event: Cinco de Bio Roundtable: Inclusive Mentoring - 5/5
-
Event: Jobs galore can be found at Oregon Bio Virtual Career Fair: Sign up now to meet your match - 5/20
-
Survey: Take the 2021 Life Sciences Total Rewards Survey by 5/14
-
News: Elevate Capital announces financing from Bank of America
-
News: Portland Business Journal reports the area's Q1 venture capital capture hits its highest level in eight years (thanks in part to biotech)
-
Question: Did someone forward this to you? Sign up (hint: it's free!) to get weekly bio updates
ICYMI (news/updates we announced last week):
-
7 proof points for greater Portland's emerging bioscience sector: Watch the virtual industry tour of the recent Greater Portland Inc. event
-
Statement of Concern: Opposing violence and hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
-
'17 minutes of Science': #ORBioMember InVivo Biosystems breaks it down with myriad, viewable topics
-
Supply chain issues? BIO issues information and help for companies with Defense Act-related supply chain challenges
-
Industry talk: CB Richard Ellis names Portland in newly released 'Leading Life Science Clusters' U.S. report
-
For cost savings and resources - try Bio Business Solutions
|
|
Finding and working with angels and angels groups in life sciences
You might recognize Brex as being a great partner with our Bio Business Solutions program. Outside of our region, California and the Boston/NY corridor offer sector investing in medtech, diagnostics tools and instruments, and biotech. Other hubs of life science investing exist but are more localized in focus. How can you identify and access the right investors for your life science startup? How can you form an investment syndicate with the total cash needed to hit milestones and deliverables that will significantly increase your enterprise value for existing and follow on investors? How should you think about valuation and what should you expect by way of dilution?
Join Oregon Bio partner, Brex, for a content session about finding and working with angel funders and angel groups. Hear from Allan May, co-founder of Life Science Angels.
When: Tuesday, May 4; 11 a.m. PT
|
|
Join the Cinco de Bio Roundtable:
Inclusive Mentorship
Join the roundtable chat with Nitin Rai, Managing Director at Elevate Capital and moderator Brenna Rauw, Director at XXcelerate Fund, at the intersection of inclusion and mentorship. Capitalize on the conversation and guidance Nitin and Brenna provide to companies seeking funding, boards of directors, entrepreneurs, career changers, job seekers of all ages, and industry pros – both those who are seeking mentors as well as those who mentor, precept, train and inspire.
Participate: The roundtable will lead with a 40-minute conversation and Q&A. Breakout sessions will follow with a discussion guide to interact and exchange learnings. We’ll round out the event with open networking.
Challenge and engage: Before the event, we challenge YOU to reach out beyond your current network to engage in a DEI conversation. Post it to your social channel(s) and tag #inclusivementoring.
When: Wednesday, May 5; 4 - 6 p.m.
Where: Virtually, via Spatial Chat
Cost: $10/individuals with member companies; $25/non-members
|
|
Calling employers, job creators and job seekers!
Are you hiring? Do you have hiring plans for the near future? Reserve your booth at Oregon Bio's 2021 Spring Virtual Career Fair.
Leverage the joint marketing power of Oregon Bio and fellow life science companies to find qualified candidates for existing jobs. Activate using an industry-leading, smart technology platform to "meet," screen and interview potential employees. Oregon Bio's DEI committee is working on behalf of participants to get the word out to diverse candidate pools. Recruiters, and HR teams from companies and institutions can engage to:
- Build employer brand awareness and attract hard-to-reach talent
- Attract and convert more jobsite visitors and passive job seekers into applicants
- Engage and screen candidates more efficiently to reduce time and cost to hire
- Improve company loyalty, internal mobility, and employee
NOW: Employers, recruiters and HR teams need to sign up ASAP for a booth. The discounted, early-bird pricing ends Friday 4/30. Email julie@oregonbio.org to get started.
When: Thursday, May 20; 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: Virtually, via the crowd platform Brazen.
Booth registration: Email juilie@oregonbio.org to get started.
Cost: Standard Exhibitor Booths are $400 at early-bird rate; $600 after. Premier Exhibitor Booth Package is $700 at early-bird rate; $1,000 after.
|
|
Survey says: 2021 life sciences' total rewards questions examine compensation and benefits
For life sciences employers, a competitive total rewards package is critical for you to attract the industry’s top scientists, researchers, and technicians. Participate in this year’s Life Sciences Total Rewards Survey to gain insight on vital compensation, benefits, perks and retirement plan trends. Survey participation is open now through May 14!
Get the right data that fits your market, the life sciences industry, and company size with the 2021 Life Sciences Total Rewards Survey.
This easy to complete survey, created in coordination with our survey sponsors, will:
- Produce vital compensation data including base salary and cash incentives.
- Include benchmark data for privately-held and publicly-traded companies.
- Survey over 120+ jobs, including executive and broad-based positions.
- Report results by industry segment, stage of product development, and location.
- Include enhancements from last year’s survey such as additional jobs and job families, robust benefits, perks and retirement plan benchmarking.
-
Oregon Bio members participating receive benchmarking data at no charge.
|
|
News: Bank of America invests in Elevate Capital
Bank of America on Tuesday announced a significant investment in Elevate Capital, a Portland-based venture capital firm focused on investing in underrepresented founders, the latest ripple effect from the bank’s $1.25 billion, five-year commitment to racial equality.
|
|
|
|
Oregon Bio members lead Portland's Q1 venture capital haul as it hits highest level
(PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL - April 14, 2021 by Malia Spencer)
In the first quarter of 2021 venture investors pumped a whopping $398 million into companies in the Portland metro area,
|
|
according to the latest Venture Monitor report from the National Venture Capital Association and research firm PitchBook.
The amount was across 44 deals, and like the national trend, it was skewed to mostly late-stage deals.
In all, the top 10 deals for the quarter accounted for $338 million of the total invested in the quarter, which means that while the overall investment number is big, it was concentrated in a few deals.
However, at 44 deals in the metro area, the first-quarter deal activity is the highest in the last eight years, according to the report. The next highest was the third quarter of 2019.
Top deals in the quarter for the Portland metro include:
-
AbSci with two rounds totaling $295 million. #ORBioMember Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, which is developing therapies with fewer side effects to treat autoimmune diseases, with $51 million. Act-On Software, which makes marketing automation products, with $20 million. Conversa, which makes chat software for health care, with $20 million. This round started in 2018 but was finalized and closed earlier this year with the last $8 million.
Overall deal count and investment dollars were up in the first quarter in the Portland metro compared to the first quarter last year, which had $201 million invested across 33 deals, according to Venture Monitor. The first quarter of 2019 saw $109 million invested across 25 deals.
The first quarter of 2021 was the third time the amount invested in a quarter was over $300 million in the last eight years.
|
|
Did this get forwarded to you? Sign up now
Oregon Bio shares hot topics weekly on industry updates, upcoming events, announcements, funding news, educational opportunities and partner events. Be one of our 2,500+ contacts who get all things bio delivered right to their inboxes.
Got news to share? Email it to news@oregonbio.org. And, don't forget to follow us on
LinkedIn and Twitter!
|
|
ICYMI: 7 proof points for our emerging
bioscience sector
Get the expert take in 7 key areas:
- Talent
- Accessing capital
- Stability/quick growth
- Spirit of innovation
- Affordability
- Livability
- Culture
|
|
Statement of concern: Opposing violence and hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Oregon Bio stands with our Asian American members, friends, colleagues, instructors and trade partners in opposing the violence, racially-motivated attacks, discrimination and aggression directed at them. According to the National Asian Pacific American Caucus of State Legislators, nearly 3,800 anti-Asian incidents, mostly attacks against women and elderly, were reported in the U.S. last year. This cannot continue.
Oregon Bio also spoke candidly last summer about supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. We find ourselves again speaking out to call out targeted attacks against Asian Americans. We know that this form of racism/xenophobia and differences in race, cultures, ethnicities, can lead to health disparities, lowered access to health care and services, and socio-economic impacts.
We are fortunate we have active Asian American leaders and industry experts in our region’s bioscience industry, and in leadership at Oregon Bio. We look to them and to our collaborative partners to gain access to the Pacific Rim to strengthen trade opportunities and policy, to develop economic opportunities and business connections, and to support intellectual property and innovation. The Asia-Pacific region is vital to the United States culturally, academically and economically.
The fight to root out racism and racial injustice continues and each of us must be part of the solution. Please help us spread the word by sharing on your social channels, so ignorance dies by innovation and opportunity overides stagnancy. #stopaapihate #learnournames #lifescienceleadership
Sincerely,
Oregon Bio Board of Directors and staff
Oregon Bio Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
|
|
Model organisms, drug discovery, growing young scientists+
#ORBioMember InVivo Biosystems hosts regular live and recorded tutorials in its 17 Minutes of Science series. Recent topics include:
- A stepwise approach to model organisms and drug discovery
- Mixing science and storytelling to encourage young scientists
- Scientific development on demand
- Using C. elegans to model neurodegenerative diseases
- Supporting early scientific discovery
- Building ZIRC - creating a centralized resource center for zebrafish research
- The establishment and growth of zebrafish as a model system
- And many more!
|
|
Supply chain disruptions? Let us know
The White House COVID-19 Task Force's Supply Chain team wishes to understand downstream impacts of Defense Production Act (DPA) priority ratings on non-COVID biotechnology products as part of the effort to identify solutions. A large focus is on expanding supply, and they also are open to considering priority allocations for products that meet a great need and are facing imminent shortage issues.
In order to address these issues, the task force needs to understand what specific issues are occurring, in terms of specific supplies and time sequencing. A cross-governmental group, with the Office of HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) serving as Secretariat, is gathering and examining the issues experienced by industry and will explore solutions. To report on issues your company is experiencing, please email ASPR.DPA@hhs.gov and include the specific supplies/CMO issues, impacted products, and timelines for business impacts.
If your organization is experiencing issues accessing manufacturing components, ancillary materials and raw materials, as well as with securing time for manufacturing runs with CMOs, please email ASPR.DPA@hhs.gov and include the specific supply/CMO issues, impacted products and timelines for business impacts.
The COVID-19 Task Force Supply Chain Team is also interested in meeting with companies to discuss specific issues; contact information for the team is included below:
So that Oregon Bio has can help locally with our members' needs, please copy liisa@oregonbio.org in your response.
|
|
National commercial real estate powerhouse
CBRE recognizes Portland
|
|
Oregon Bio membership means more |
|
Through its partnership with BIO, Oregon Bio offers its members the opportunity to take advantage of the BIO Business Solutions® programs listed below. Click on the company name to learn more. There is no fee for Oregon Bio members to participate. Click on the image to access the program. |
|
Oregon Bioscience
2828 S. Corbett Ave. Suite 115
Portland, Oregon 97201
503-548-4432
|
|
|
Platinum Members
Diamond Members
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
