In the first half of 2019, the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse has invested $155,000 in four startups — Health IT companies RIMSYS and Clinical Platform, therapeutic company CytoAgents and medical device company Neuro Kinetics.
PLSG has also assisted more than 30 companies so far this year, investing nearly 400 hours of time through its Executive-in-Residence program.
Work has been conducted in digital health and life sciences, covering topics such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, gamification, internet of medical things, robotics, wellness marketing and gene editing technology.
“Offering these informational resources to students, researchers & academics, entrepreneurs and investor communities is an essential part of what we do. These types of tools are especially important as companies plot their commercialization strategies and business models,” PLSG President and CEO James F. Jordan said in a statement.
When building effective sales teams was seen as an issue for several key portfolio companies, PLSG engaged a local Pittsburgh company, M. Masters Corp., and supported several startups to attend a 10-week course on sales leadership. Also, PLSG has worked with several local startups to utilize the HubSpot platform for customer acquisition, via its Health IT Pittsburgh initiative.
“The collaborative nature of our regional economic development organizations benefits entrepreneurs in profound ways. A prime example is earlier this month, a local angel investment group, BlueTree Allied Angels, invited an angel investor from California to Pittsburgh. And in collaboration with Innovation Works, six PLSG portfolio companies were asked to present,” Jordan said. “That type of integration and collaboration is what makes our region so special.”
