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The 5th annual Ag Innovation Showcase will take place September 9-11, 2013 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. The 3-day event will foster dialog and deal flow between Ag industry leaders, emerging innovators and investors to help move agriculture to the next level of productivity and sustainability. The event promises an abundance of networking time with the most influential players in Ag as well as a showcase of cutting-edge innovations addressing critical problems in agriculture. Find out more and join the mailing list.
2012 was an absolutely productive, rewarding and even thrilling year for Larta. Last year alone, we served 347 entrepreneurs with one-on-one mentorship, hosted 88 participants at 3 Commercialization Training Workshops in the U.S. and Kazakhstan, established 5 new global partnerships in Singapore, South Africa, Romania, Serbia, and Colombia, and saw our entrepreneurs raise over $79 million.
These are all only indicators of working for our mission of accelerating innovations to the market where they can improve the human condition. We are happy to share with you more about how we work with entrepreneurs, highlights from our programs and Larta’s future vision in our 2012 Annual Report.
As more and more influential industry players embrace open innovation, we are grateful to have the support of BASF to help us achieve our mission and facilitate awareness between promising innovators and larger industry players. The commitment from each of our sponsors is an important one, helping us accelerate the transition of innovations from the lab to the marketplace, where they can solve pressing issues and enhance economic opportunities.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla will speak at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Diaspora Forum in hopes of inspiring young immigrant innovators to engage across borders in order to generate social and economic impact. Shukla will join other first- and second-generation Americans to share their experience in knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and commercialization of high-impact innovations.
We’re excited to announce that The Ag Innovation Showcase hosted a panel to highlight novel Ag solutions and the role of investment in advancing the work of innovators, on May 2nd at the Global AgInvesting Conference in New York. Moderated by Larta CEO, Rohit Shukla, the panel brought together two of today’s brightest innovators, Kirk Haney, CEO of SG Biofuels and Steven Hartmeier, CEO of Vestaron Corporation, in conversation with a seasoned Ag financier Jim Budzynski, Venture Partner at Open Prairie Ventures.
Over the last decade, Larta has worked hands on with over 1500 SBIR grantees and developed and managed Commercialization Programs for National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Army's TATRC, and National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST). Larta will join DOE SBIR Program Manager, Chris O'Gwin and other commercialization practitioners to examine what it takes to develop strong commercialization plans and what that means to tech-based economic development at the National SBIR Conference in May.
Driven by the desire of industry executives to seek solutions from outside innovators, Larta continues to organize and host Industry Partnering Salons where key players across technology sectors present their company's technology sourcing needs and specific partnering opportunities. The next Salon will focus on materials, IT and cleantech technology sectors and will feature two industry speakers from Fortune 1000 companies in conversation with the emerging innovators in attendance.
Larta kicked off its 2013 Industry Feedback Sessions for Life Science Entrepreneurs mid-April in Los Angeles with over 50 mentors attending from organizations such as Bayer, City of Hope, Allergan, and Cedar-Sinai Medical Center. These Larta-organized private meetings allow NIH and TATRC funded entrepreneurs to receive feedback from licensing & partnering executives, investors, experienced entrepreneurs and other experts on their market entry strategy.
As part of the year round community fostered by both Larta and the Ag Innovation Showcase, the Agri-Tech Industry Partnering Salon is an exclusive, invite-only opportunity to meet and learn from key Ag industry players that are also members of Larta’s Industry Advisory Board and the Ag Innovation Showcase Advisory Committee.Executives from ADM and Cargill will each present their technology sourcing needs, qualities of their ideal partner, and unique partnering opportunities on April 11th.
Early April marked the Larta-organized Commercialization Training Workshop in Bogotá, for Colombian entrepreneurs participating in a commercialization assistance program delivered in partnership with Connect Bogotá Región. The 2-day seminar, led by Larta experts & local advisors, educated entrepreneurs on common issues facing early stage innovators across the globe.
We are excited to announce the launch of our updated online portal. Over the past 6 months, we have made a significant investment in enhancing the features and functionality of the Larta Portal to better manage innovation and serve entrepreneurs, industry, investors and clients. This improved IT infrastructure is crucial for the effective management of the stakeholders invested in Larta’s network-centric model for assistance as well as the delivery of carefully designed tools to entrepreneurs. New features include improvements to our commercialization assessment tools and the user interface as well as an advanced innovation database search tool which facilitates easy access to our pipeline of 300+ innovations per year.
The third webinar of the 2013 Larta Webinar Series, "Realizing Value Through Patents", will be held on March 26th. Larta’s speaker, Lars Genieser, registered patent attorney at Venable LLP, will discuss how under the America Invents Act, patenting strategies can be integrated with business goals to maximize value for innovators. Participants will leave with a further understanding of the America Invents Act and how filing for patents can influence funding and partnerships.
Pack up your laptop, grab your data and head to the Larta office in Los Angeles on Wednesday April 10th from 5 pm to 9 pm for the second annual "lightning mapping of user generated information" event. Dubbed "Iron Sheep", the event seeks to mimic the format of the “Iron Chef” television series. This workshop challenges participants to produce meaningful analysis and fun, evocative map mash-ups from the same sets of user-generated, geo-coded data within a four hour time frame. For more information please contact Matthew Zook or check www.floatingsheep.org.
We are happy to welcome back ten down-selected companies from the first stage of the TATRC SBIR Phase II CAP for the second stage of the program - the Advanced Commercialization Track . The companies invited to participate in this stage will receive hands-on commercialization help via one-on-one mentoring, the development of market-oriented tools and the opportunity to attend live Feedback Sessions, where they will present their business and technology to a group of industry, investment and IP experts to receive market-based critique on their commercialization plans.
We are happy to welcome the newest group of 87 NSF grantees to Larta’s Commercialization Assistance Program and global network. This diverse set of grantees will work one-on-one with a Larta Advisor over the next 6-12 months to develop a clear, actionable commercialization plan.
Larta is excited to start working with the Serbian Innovation Fund and with Serbian entrepreneurs who have received funding under its Mini and Matching grants program. The program will offer support to Serbian high-tech startups through live and virtual mentoring sessions with Larta Advisors to uncover and address each company’s unique challenges and opportunities while develop a comprehensive commercialization strategy. Qualified participants may also be accepted into the U.S. “Soft Landing” Visit component of the program in which they will visit the U.S to further their business development activities through site visits and meetings with potential industry partners and investors.
The second webinar of the 2013 Larta Webinar Series for emerging entrepreneurs was a session held Feb. 20th on “Social Media for Startups - How to Determine If & When to Use Social Media.” Larta’s speaker, Ginger Zumaeta, co- founder of Beehive Group, a boutique marketing agency where she heads strategy & digital media for clients like Sony, Verizon and ESPN among others, provided background on the uses of social media and social networking specifically as it applies to early stage companies. Participants left with a more complete understanding of how to evaluate if social media is an effective tool for their efforts as well as some practical tips and tactics.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla will speak at the Business Innovation Summit in Toronto, Canada. The Summit will examine how to re-think, re-new and transform firm-level innovation, with Shukla participating in a plenary session focused on lessons from corporate leaders regarding global excellence in innovation and commercialization. Shukla will share best practices derived from nearly 20 years at Larta devoted to envisioning and creating innovation policy and initiatives.
Springing from one of our newest global partnerships, with Osiba Research in South Africa, Larta will soon head to South Africa to participate in a technology transfer and commercialization colloquium hosted by The Innovation Hub. Larta will share best practices with South African policymakers and practitioners on how to best design and implement programs & policy to support a developing national innovation agenda in an effort to combat a growing income disparity.
At the 15th annual Corporate Venturing Innovation Partnering Conference in February, Larta CEO Rohit Shukla will draw upon Larta's vast experience in partnering with corporate industry players to examine how such relations can mutually benefit large corporations and small businesses while advancing the state of innovation and economic development. Larta maintains an active Industry Advisory Board of 60+ senior executives and technology scouts for Fortune 1000 companies who provide market-based feedback and access to Larta program participants.
Use code CVLARTA for $200 off the the general registration fee of $1,595.Click here to register.
As the first major physical event of 2013, Larta hosted 89 life-science entrepreneurs and small business executives representing 65 companies based around the United States for a Commercialization Training Workshop in Los Angeles, CA. Participants spent the 2-day workshop, exploring issues from branding, marketing and product design to IP protection partnerships and the regulatory process with a team of seasoned Larta Advisors from across the country.
January marked the start of the 2013 Larta Webinar Series for emerging entrepreneurs with an interactive session on "How to Create a Financial Forecast for Your Business." Long-term Larta Advisor Eli Eisenberg, CEO of Straight Line Management, shared a fine-tuned recipe for developing a credible financial forecast and participants left with a flexible financial modeling template to adapt to their own technology-based business.
The 2013 Larta Webinar Series will consist of regularly scheduled webinars aimed at educating entrepreneurs on common issues facing small tech-based startups including Market Research, Strategic Partnerships, Social Media Marketing, Financials, Licensing and other IP concerns such as Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights.
Larta is excited to begin working in partnership with Connect Bogotá Región, to identify, create and accelerate high-impact tech-based entrepreneurship in Bogotá, Colombia. This initiative is funded by iNNpulsa Colombia, the National Government's unit created to boost the engine of innovation. The goal is to build capacity for corporate and university partners, as well as Bogotá entrepreneurs, with respect to technology transfer and commercialization to increase the country’s competitiveness.
Sharing our commitment to stimulate the impact of innovations in the marketplace, Bayer HealthCare has partnered with Larta to further erode barriers and open communication between budding innovators and large industry players. The commitment from each of our sponsors is an important one in achieving our mission to vastly improve the transition of scientific and technological breakthroughs from the lab to the marketplace, where they can solve pressing issues, enhance economic opportunities and better people's lives.
Under a recent grant awarded to Larta by the USDA, Larta has begun working directly with 56 USDA SBIR-Phase I awardees to provide each with customized commercialization support. Under this program, Larta will provide the awardees support in writing a competitive and market-relevant commercialization plan that not only supports a Phase II application, but is also crucial to guide company leaders on their path to commercialization. Larta also continues to manage an SBIR-Phase II Commercialization Assistance Program for USDA.
In fostering a global innovation ecosystem and encouraging open innovation, Larta maintains a diverse Industry Advisory Board (IAB), of senior executives and technology scouts from some of the most influential and innovative industry players in the world. We are proud to announce that 12 companies represented on our IAB were recognized by Thomson Reuters among the top 100 most innovative companies in the world : 3M, Boeing, Dow Chemical Company, GE, Honda, Monsanto, Motorola, P&G, Qualcomm, Roche, Samsung and Siemens - 12 companies which represent 5 different countries.
Larta Institute has been invited to the annual Digital Family Reunion - an annual Southern Califonia gathering to celebrate the connectedness of our vibrant digital media industry in the region. Whether you were there at the beginning, lived through the dot-com era, emerged after the crash or started your career in digital yesterday, you are a part of the Digital Family.
The event will be held at Wokano Restaurant in Santa Monica, CA from 6-11pm. As a host, we'd like to invite you to attend the gathering with a special discount. You can learn more and register here with code DFR12 for a $20 discount.
In our effort to help entrepreneurs bring their innovations to market, Larta is actively developing and perpetuating close relationships with some of the most influential players in technology and innovation. Larta is pleased to welcome Samsung Electronics to our Industry Advisory Board, a group of senior executives and technology scouts from Fortune 1000 companies who can provide market-based feedback and opportunities to promising small businesses across technology sectors.
Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is a movement led by the Kauffman Foundation to educate, connect and inspire entrepreneurs and key stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. For the second year, Larta hosted an official GEW virtual event; this year, on how and why innovators must embrace a non-linear and network-focused approach to connect to today’s globally distributed markets, resources and opportunities. Three high-growth entrepreneurs, across technology sectors, shared both their current business value and a first-hand account of their entrepreneurial journey in this increasingly complex global marketplace. We invite you to view the recording here.
In early November, Larta hosted a specialized Commercialization Training Workshop, or CTW, in Washington D.C. for a cohort of 29 USDA-funded entrepreneurs. The CTW is an in-depth 2-day seminar led by Larta advisors and experts from the legal, investment and industry communities. Entrepreneurs in attendance learned about getting investor ready, intellectual property fundamentals, early stage marketing and branding, and the basics of strategic partnerships. The event is one aspect of Larta's USDA Commercialization Assistance Training Program for Phase II SBIR grantees.
Larta’s Rohit Shukla will soon head to Kuala Lumpur for the World Innovation Forum. Shukla will moderate 2 panels of experts from France, U.S., Germany, Malaysia, Bahrain & Japan in conversations around the management of innovation systems at the Kuala Lumpur Innovation Forum. The first session will explore how to connect the world through innovation, and the second panel will focus on new innovation opportunities, particularly those created by technology and market trends, customer perspectives and research and science based innovations. Shukla will also lead a discussion on commercialization at the BioMalaysia Conference.
As a mission-based non-profit organization, Larta Institute is proud to have the support of our community in sharing a vision of helping entrepreneurs make a meaningful impact through innovation. We are happy to announce two new collaborators for 2012-2013: Schlumberger, the leading oilfield services provider, and BrightOutcome, a Larta alumnus working in collaborative symptom management. We’d like to thank all of Larta's Sponsors for their generous support.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla now serves as a member of the Bio-International Advisory Panel (Bio-IAP) for Malaysia. The hand-picked group advises the Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Mohd Najib, on policy and strategy to advance the biotech sector in Malaysia.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla will discuss the forces reshaping our economy and a global “network-centric” approach to economic development during the opening plenary session of SSTI's 16th Annual Conference. As the event seeks to make sense of disruptive trends impacting economic development, the session will specifically examine how to operate in a global environment and the impact new developments are having and will have on the U.S. economy – rethinking economic development policies within this context.
Larta Institute, Los Angeles, and Social Innovation Park, Singapore chose The Global Social Innovators Forum to mark the first step in the presentation of a Memorandum of Understanding between the organizations. The parties have come together to collaboratively embrace and foster technology commercialization and social entrepreneurship as being drivers of a better society and a better world. This MOU is intended to lead to a formal partnership with concrete programs and initiatives. Read more.
After 8 consecutive years of developing and managing the NIH Commercialization Assistance Program, Larta has helped almost 700 SBIR Phase II grantees advance life science technologies from the lab to the marketplace where they can make an impact on well-being and quality of life. We have helped these companies develop the strategic relationships necessary to bring their company to the next level. Larta NIH-CAP participants have held more than 5,000 meetings with investors and partners and 194 alumni have raised over $495 million. We are very excited to partner with Humanitas, Inc., which brings years of management and technology consulting experience and analytical skills, to further improve the program for the benefit of life-science entrepreneurs.
Carlos Gutierrez, Larta Chief Strategy Officer, will be travelling to Korea in early October to deliver the second half of the Technology Commercialization Training Program for the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT). The visit will facilitate feedback on case studies participants worked on while visiting Los Angeles and familiarizing themselves with technology transfer processes and the commercialization of innovation. This will conclude the four-week professional development program designed to provide in-depth exposure to, and practical experience with, the technology commercialization process in California, U.S. to participants, who included staff from the Korean Technology Licensing Organization (TLO) and Regional Technology Trade Centers (RTTC), among others.
Larta’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) welcomes its newest members from GE Global Research and Chrysalix; Larta’s IAB includes over 60 senior executives and technology scouts from Fortune 1000 companies across technology sectors including agriculture, chemicals, materials, cleantech, electronics, software and life sciences. The IAB provides market based feedback to Larta program participants while receiving advanced access to Larta’s pipeline of 300+ innovations per year.
The Korean Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), in collaboration with Larta Institute, has developed a comprehensive Study Visit Program for a high-level delegation of Korean representatives. The 4-day program features discussions between participants and investors, industry representatives and service providers, as well as site visits to Los Angeles area institutions championing technology transfer and the commercialization of innovation. Participants learn learn first-hand about the challenges and opportunities in creating and nurturing an ecosystem to support the transfer of technology from research institutions.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla's paper "How to Support Entreneurship in Developing Countries Using a Network Centric Approach" was selected for inclusion at the 10th International Triple Helix Conference in August. The paper suggests that assistance to entrepreneurs building enterprises in developing regions must be dictated by just-in-time access to information, markets and expertise.
Larta’s Rohit Shukla recently moderated a panel on “Accelerating Ideas to Markets” at the Global Innovation Summit, an event drawing government, investors, entrepreneurs, academia and industry players looking to elevate the innovation ecosystem. The panel discussed the process of tech transfer across regions, particularly emerging economies that can benefit from technology developed elsewhere, modifying it for local use. Read more here.
As part of Larta's Partnering Salon (LPS) series, the Agri-tech Industry Salon is an invite-only opportunity to virtually meet and learn from members of Larta’s Industry Advisory Board and the Ag Innovation Showcase Advisory Committee. Executives from BASF, Bayer CropScience, and the Monsanto Company will present their company’s technology sourcing needs and partnering opportunities on July 12th. Request your invitation to the webinar here. Space is very limited.
Larta’s 2011-2012 program year of Commercialization Assistance Programs developed and managed for both the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center enter their final phase with “close-out” webinars.
49 participating life-science companies are presenting their takeaways, lessons learned and 18-month commercialization action plans via these webinars with Larta staff, NIH/TATRC personnel and mentors from organizations such as Allergan and American Laser Healthcare.
Match Discovery has 45 combined years of development and partnering experience in small and large pharmaceutical companies. They now make themselves available to advise Larta-mentored pharmaceutical companies on preclinical, clinical, and regulatory requirements; business development activity and in-licensing due diligence.
Larta’s Rohit Shukla joined Malaysian officials at BIO on June 19 to examine Malaysia’s growing biotech industry as well as the policy and implementation mechanisms contrived to support continued growth and strengthening of the value chain. From 2009-2011, Larta developed and managed a Commercialization Assistance Program for Biotech Corp, the agency charged with developing a prospering biotech ecosystem in Malaysia, and worked closely with Malaysian biotech entrepreneurs.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla headed to Kentucky to join both the 14th Annual NIH SBIR/STTR Conference and the Kentucky Innovation & Entrepreneurship Conference (KIEC). He discussed Larta’s nonlinear, network centric approach to entrepreneur support, to audiences of tech-based economic development practitioners, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs. This approach, employed in Larta's Commercialization Assistance Programs, enables today’s S&T entrepreneur to innovate fast, know what works and doesn’t in the shortest period, obtain live feedback from customers and expand their promise beyond the narrow confines of their intended marketplace.
The Ag Innovation Showcase is accepting applications through June 29th to present your Ag-focused business or research to an audience of investors, corporate strategics and potential partners at the premier Ag event where VC's and Strategics connect, Sept. 10-12, 2012 in St. Louis, MO. Cutting edge start-ups and university researchers preparing to spin-out their research-based enterprise in the following, or related, areas are invited to apply: Ag-bio, animal health, biofuels, clean-tech, farming technology, food and nutrition, information technology, and Sustainable materials. Learn more here.
On the sidelines of the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles, Larta Institute welcomed Ms. Penny Low, Member of Parliament (Singapore) and Founder/CEO of Social Innovation Park (SIP) for a briefing on partnerships between the two organizations. Also attending was Ms. Yu Huan Lim from SIP, the discussion touched on participation in the next Social Innovator's Forum and joint programs related to innovation strategy, including building network-centric linkages to support Singapore's entrepreneurs. SIP's projects are tailored to achieve their mission, to Educate, Empower, and Enhance Innovation.
The meeting was led by Larta CEO, Mr. Rohit Shukla, COO Ms. Constanza Pachon, CSO Mr. Carlos Gutierrez and Larta Board Member Mr. Shezad Rokerya.
Ms. Low stated "Larta & SIP have similar objectives and as such, much synergy can be generated from innovative collaboration to further our cause. Hence going forward, we should take serious steps to find ways to empower each other". Ms. Low has also invited Larta to send a delegation to visit Singapore later this year to join in the Social Innovators Forum.
Rohit Shukla, Larta CEO, recently delivered a keynote speech about Larta’s experiences working in a network-centric world and the opportunities, challenges and adventures 18 years of leading a network centric organization have afforded him, at The Monte Jade Science & Technology Association Annual Conference in Santa Clara. The event focused on “unlocking the potential of an interlocked world.”
Save 40% when registering for the 2012 Ag Innovation Showcase, Sept. 10-12 in St. Louis, MO with discount code "40AG12" by May 21st. This year's agenda will open with a networking reception at the Missouri Botanical Garden, a world renowned center for botanical research, and feature 3 panels to drive dialogue on the most pressing issues in Ag today – Discovering Tomorrow’s Ag Technologies: Industry Needs and Markets, Crossing Boarders: Advancing Ag in Emerging Economies, and Funding & Financing: The Landscape of Ag Investment. Learn more at www.Agshowcase.com
The Tibbetts Awards, given by the U.S. Small Business Administration, honor outstanding small businesses who participate in the SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. This year, 8 of 18 Awardees were Larta alumni. We congratulate the following companies on receiving an award that recognizes their diverse technological innovations, the positive economic impact they generate and their successful commercialization of federal research:
- Advanced Circulatory Systems, Inc.(NIH - CAP, 2007-08)
- Biostrategies Inc. (USDA - CATP, 2012)
- Bridger Photonics, Inc. (NSF- CAP, 2010)
- CHI Systems, Inc (NIH - CAP, 2009-10)
- FHC, Inc (NIH - CAP, 2010-11)
- Sensor Electronic Technology, Inc. (NSF - CAP, 2009)
- Stottler Henke Associates (NIH - CAP, 2010-11)
- Vida Health Communications (NIH - CAP, 2009-10, 2010-11)
Click here for a list of all awardees.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla traveled to Kazakhstan to deliver a seminar on networking and partnerships to an audience of policy makers, budding practitioners and entrepreneurs, as part of an effort between the World Bank and the Government of Kazakhstan to promote a modern innovation system. The seminar was designed to be an interactive examination of the landscape of partnering in today’s environment and to enable participants to craft partnering strategies specific to entrepreneurs’ stage of development and enterprise.
Larta's 2011 Annual Report summarizes the projects and impact we had in 2011 and signals where we see ourselves moving forward. View the report here.
Our tag-line is "Connecting People to Drive Innovation"; and connect we did! We worked one-on-one with 600+ entrepreneurs from 7 different countries across all technology areas, supported innovations creating economic and social impact, and trotted the globe sharing our views on innovation management. On any account, 2011 was a very fulfilling year for us.
Organizations pen MOU to connect companies to market opportunities and help facilitate cross-border deal flow to stimulate new business and investment partnerships
TORONTO and LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2012 – OCE’s Centre for Commercialization of Research (CCR) and the Larta Institute have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to advance cross-border commercialization partnerships between their respective portfolios of innovative companies to further accelerate their growth.
The announcement was made by Dr. Mario Thomas, Managing Director, CCR at the second annual International Commercialization Forum (ICF), a two-day forum designed to help establish a global brain trust on the commercialization of publicly funded research, held March 20 and 21 in Toronto. The event, hosted by the Centre for Commercialization of Research (CCR) in partnership with the International Commercialization Alliance (ICA), brought together leaders from industry, academia, government and innovation agencies to discuss innovative commercialization models, exemplary practices, and evidence-based methods of impact measurement. Read more.
CEO Rohit Shukla recently presented on the need for a policy shift toward “network-centric” entrepreneurial assistance, as opposed to regional innovation clusters, at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Liverpool. His comments were well received and incited discursive conversation around the topic. The Kauffman Foundation will soon be publishing Shukla’s related paper as well as their own white paper detailing the findings of the Congress.
CEO Rohit Shukla delivered a speech on a network-focused approach to accelerating innovation at EDA's Regional Training Conference servicing Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and the Pacific Rim. The 3 day conference, April 3-5, gathered public, private and nonprofit sector leaders to explore and discuss cutting edge solutions to economic development.
Throughout March, Larta held industry feedback sessions in LA, D.C. and Boston, bringing in over 160 mentors from companies such as J&J, Allergan, Bayer, Philips and Qualcomm to provide Larta entrepreneurs with market-based critique on their commercialization plans. View the video highlights here.
30 Agricultural innovators/entrepreneurs recently joined Larta in Maryland, for a workshop as part of the Larta USDA Commercialization Assistance Training Program. The Workshop lays a solid foundation for the entrepreneurs' work with Larta on developing a commercialization action plan for their USDA-funded technologies. The Workshop featured content on corporate and strategic partnering, early stage marketing and getting investor ready with speakers from USDA, Monsanto, BASF, Dow AgroSciences & Prolog Ventures, amongst others.
The International Commercialization Alliance began in 2011 with 47 world-class thought leaders from academia, government and industry from 18 nations, with a common goal of better capitalizing on the commercialization potential of publicly funded research. Larta CEO Rohit Shukla has since joined the formal group and will keynote at the 2012 International Commercialization Forum in Canada. Shukla is also championing the Alliance's Global Marketplace 6x6 Pilot to connect emerging companies to market opportunities around the world and facilitate cross-border deal flow.
Throughout March, Larta held industry feedback sessions in LA, D.C. and Boston, bringing in over 160 mentors from companies such as J&J, Allergan, Bayer, Philips and Qualcomm to provide Larta entrepreneurs with market-based critique on their commercialization plans.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla joined 11 other experts on high-growth entrepreneurship policy at the International Research and Policy Roundtable as part of the Kauffman Foundation’s Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Liverpool, UK. Shukla debuted and presented his paper A New Training Paradigm for Entrepreneurs: the "Network-Centric" Approach and contributed to the development of global policy roadmap for advancing entrepreneurship.
The 4th annual Ag Innovation Showcase has been confirmed for September 10-12, 2012 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. The 3-day event will foster dialog and deal flow that can help move agriculture to the next level of productivity and sustainability and will feature an abundance of networking time, including an opening reception at the world-class Missouri Botanical Garden. Find out more and join the mailing list at www.AgShowcase.com.
In late January, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry held a symposium entitled "New Development of Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, where Larta CEO Rohit Shukla keynoted to an audience of U.S. and Japanese government officials. Shukla shared his perspective on policies and practices to promote new business and job creation through innovation.
In addition, Shukla participated in a bilateral Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council established by the U.S. Department of State and the Japan’s METI , comprised of government and private sector leaders. The Council assembled in Tokyo as to discuss best practices, policy, and how the United States and Japan may cooperate to facilitate the commercialization of new technology through entrepreneurial ventures. Read more...
HEC-TV covers the 2011 Ag Innovation Showcase at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, MO – the premier event where VCs and Strategics meet and discover the most promising new agritech. Keep your eye out for the 2012 Ag Innovation Showcase “Save the Date” announcement. Watch the video.
Larta’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) welcomes its newest members from Qualcomm Wireless Health, NRG Energy and O-Innovation, LLC. Larta’s IAB includes over 60 senior executives and technology scouts from Fortune 1000 companies who provide market based feedback to Larta program participants while receiving advanced access to Larta’s pipeline of 300+ innovations per year.
Larta has has recently been awarded the contract to continue assisting USDA-funded entrepreneurs with their commercialization goals for another 3 years.
Since 2008, Larta's USDA-Commercialization Assistance Training Program (USDA-CATP) has assisted 115 agritech entrepreneurs strengthen their business plans, partnership activities, company infrastructure, investor readiness and IP portfolios. 18 of those companies reported back to Larta on raising over $8 million in the 9 months following the development of a Commercialization Strategy Report as part of the program.
Larta is proud to have hosted an official event of Global Entrepreneurship Week 2011: "The Globally Networked Approach to Commercializing Tech-Based Innovation". The webinar, targeted at entrepreneur support organizations, brought key players from the innovation ecosystem to discuss a new approach to building and cultivating networks for the benefit of entrepreneurs. Watch the recording here.
Larta CEO, Rohit Shukla, led a discussion on mentoring, networking and support of entrepreneurs as a means of impacting the commercialization of their R&D. He joined other "managers of innovation" at the Global CONNECT Summit in December to share best practices and knowledge on strengthening US and international economies through the support of high-growth entrepreneurial enterprises.
Larta Institute’s life-sciences network consists of over 700 early stage companies, growing at 125+ companies a year, and it actively shares funding opportunities with its members. We have established a close working relationship with The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) and we’d like to highlight a new funding opportunity of theirs.
This past month, MJFF announced the launch of its Repositioning Drugs for PD 2012 program. The program follows a successful 2011 during which the Foundation funded nine awards totaling $3.4 million repositioning existing drugs that could benefit Parkinson’s disease patients.
The program seeks projects that will test drugs that are either already FDA-approved or that have been proven safe in a clinical trial for a certain indication, to determine whether the drug might be efficacious in the treatment of PD. By identifying therapies that are already clinically available, MJFF hopes to reduce the time and cost it takes to bring potential drugs to market. The studies can be pre-clinical or clinical in nature.
Find out more about the 2012 RFA, and upcoming dates, here.
Pfizer Animal Health, a business unit of Pfizer dedicated to transforming the care of animals, including livestock, for a healthier world, has recently joined Larta's Agritech Advisory Board. Larta's Industry Advisory Boards consist of over fifty Fortune 1000 companies, leveraged to benefit participants of Larta's Commercialization Assistance & Global Bridge Programs.
In a time of economic crisis, understanding opportunities for economic growth has become a paramount concern of policymakers, industry leaders and citizens at large. On October 21st, Larta and OECD convened high-level personnel from the State Department, multilateral organizations, foreign governments and economic development organizations to have a discussion on fostering high-growth technology entrepreneurship. Giuseppe Gramigna, the U.S. Delegate to the OECD WPSME and Chief Economist at the SBA, moderated an interactive discussion on regional and national approaches, concepts and assumptions for developing globally competitive companies and economies.
Based on 13 years of providing commercialization services to US and foreign government agencies, Larta provided insight on the policies and mechanisms necessary to enhance the global competitiveness of technology-based innovations and entrepreneurs. Larta also introduced the soon-to-be-released OECD report “SME Innovation and Intellectual Assets Management”, on which Larta CEO Rohit Shukla was the lead consultant.
View the highlights here. Or for the full recording, visit http://larta.org/media/enginesofhope.aspx.
Larta joined the World Bank at a seminar on October 20th where they launched a World Bank report evaluating top networked organizations around the world. Larta was one of three organizations invited to discuss their networked approach to accelerating innovation. The objective of the seminar was to raise awareness for the role of supporting innovation through networked-based approaches, including mentoring networks, advisory networks and broker networks.
The Larta developed and managed 2011-2012 NIH Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP) kicked off on November 1-2 with a Commercialization Training Workshop (CTW). Open to NIH-CAP enrolled SBIR Phase II companies, the CTW featured interactive sessions led by Larta advisors and experts from the legal, investment and industry communities. Over 800 entrepreneurs have attended 16 Larta organized CTWs since 2004.
On November 10-11, Larta took the opportunity to attend one of its partner's local events, the Opportunity Green Business Conference at Los Angeles Center Studios. While there, Larta had the opportunity to network with the companies and visionaries on the cutting edge of sustainable business.
OG '11 exposed participants to an interdisciplinary cross-section of ideas at the forefront of sustainable business practices, design and tech, through a variety of formats, including creative panels and experiential workshops. From Fortune 500 powerhouses to inventive startups, Opportunity Green attracted over 850 industry professionals and executive decision-makers from around the globe.
After a successful pilot program in 2010-2011, Larta is pleased to announce the launch of the 2011-2012 Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center Commercialization Assistance Program (TATRC-CAP) for the U.S. Army. Larta’s two-phase program is designed to assess and assist TATRC-funded technologies transition into the commercial marketplace.
Larta joined a cohort of Brazilian agriculture and development officials at the International Agriculture Innovation Seminar, October 3-4 in Brazil. Larta CEO Rohit Shukla presented the US perspective on the management of publicly funded agricultural research and innovation.
Larta’s Executive Management and other NSF-Commercialization Assistance Program (NSF-CAP1) team members traveled to Washington, D.C. September 28-29 to participate in the NSF Phase I SBIR Grantees Workshop and meet with NSF SBIR Program Management. Larta held meetings with each NSF SBIR funded company eligible for Larta’s NSF-CAP1 to discover how each could best leverage Larta’s vast network of subject matter experts, seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and industry players in their transition to the market.
The Kuala Lumpur International Venture Capital Symposium, October 9-12, brought together leading figures in global innovation to discuss the importance of the venture capital industry, creating a culture of risk taking, and openness to new ideas in building sustainable innovation-led economic growth.
Larta CEO Rohit Shukla embraced the insights gained through Larta's 18 years of work with emerging high-tech startups to lead a discussion as part of the Symposium’s “Commercialisation & Early Stage” Track.
Roche, a major player in healthcare innovation, constantly looks for emerging technologies advancing the industry and is sure to be a valuable asset to Larta life science companies. As the newest member of Larta's Industry Advisory Board (IAB), Roche joins a group of over fifty Fortune 1000 companies leveraged to benefit participants of Larta's Commercialization Assistance & Global Bridge Programs.
We are pleased announce that long-time Larta supporter Buchalter Nemer hosted a Larta NIH-CAP Feedback Session at their Los Angeles office in February 2012. Twenty life science companies attended to refine their investor or industry partner presentation materials.
Larta is pleased to announce that we will continue to manage the National Institutes of Health Commercialization Assistance Program (NIH-CAP) for the 8th consecutive year. Since 2004, Larta has assisted over 700 life science companies transition their products/services into the marketplace while helping 151 of those companies collectively raise $425 million.
Larta is excited to have FreeMind Group join Larta’s select group of diverse sponsors, bringing added value to Larta Commercialization Assistance Programs (CAP). FreeMind Group offers consulting services to help life science companies secure non-dilutive R&D funding. Over the last 10+ years, FreeMind has developed a tried and true method of strategically analyzing a client’s technology, identifying the most relevant funding opportunities, and presenting the science for the best possible chance of success in being funded.
FreeMind will be participating in Larta’s NIH-CAP Commercialization Training Workshop in Los Angeles this November and will be presenting specialized webinars to Larta CAP participants and alumni. We are pleased that this new partnership will provide an additional valuable resource for our early-stage life science companies.
Larta would like to welcome 54 newly funded NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I companies who have the opportunity to participate in Larta’s NSF-CAP1! Eligible companies can begin the enrollment process by registering here.
This new group of NSF funded companies will comprise Larta’s 5th iteration of the program. NSF continues to fund a broad range of technologies represented in the new group of companies including cleantech, energy, electronics, materials, software, and life sciences, and others.
As NSF-CAP1 participating companies make their way along the path to commercialization, each will receive one-on-one personalized mentoring services with a dedicated Larta industry consultant and commercialization expert. Additional resources, made possible by Larta’s extensive network, are also made available, including Larta’s Industry Advisory Board, comprised of key industry members from fortune 1000 companies, as well as webinars delivered by experts on topics directly relevant to Phase I companies developing their business and commercialization plan
Judy Hsieh and Rebecca Lauber recently attended this year’s BIO Convention in Washington, D.C. The event brought more than 20,000 attendees from the biotechnology industry, from startups to large industry players representing more than 40 countries.
Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s keynote sessions offered in-depth analyses of issues challenging and evolving the industry. Tuesday’s session featured former Prime Minister Tony Blair and Wednesday’s featured a discussion on the Affordable Care Act with Senator John Barrasso, former Senator Tom Daschle, Governor Howard Dean and political strategist Karl Rove. A global session to note was moderated by Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek International editor, CNN host and author. The panel focused on the BRICs’ (Brazil, Russia, India and China) emergence as dynamic industry players, and the prospective impact of these developments on the U.S.
Judy and Rebecca also spent time at the conference meeting with Larta’s global and industry partners. Allergan, Bayer, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer were among the partners that Larta connected with at the conference. Judy and Rebecca also hosted an executive from Sekisui Integrated Research Inc. visiting from Japan who is also a member of Larta’s Life Sciences and Chemical/Materials Advisory Boards and a continuing supporter of Larta.
Larta’s CEO, Rohit Shukla, will speak at the Economic Development through Science and Technology Conference in Rabat, Morocco, June 16-17, 2011. The Conference is the third and concluding event in a series organized under the U.S. Administration’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) initiative, which aims to advance innovation and technical collaboration between the US, Middle East, North Africa and Muslim Asia. GIST states its mission is “to build and to sustain science and technology (S&T) excellence in the region through locally-established programs that leverage the discoveries of the global scientific community toward innovative ways to improve quality of life and economic prosperity.” This final conference is intended to establish the initiative as a sustainable program that will involve exchanges between entrepreneurs, support organizations, consulting resources and funding opportunities across all participating countries.
Shukla will lead a panel on “Fostering Innovation and Entrepreneurship” on June 16 and then also will co-facilitate the concluding track on : “Building Partnerships for Innovation: Forming Strategic GIST Alliances” which will kick-off the initiative’s implementation agenda.
Larta is proud to announce that Jameson & Company, CPAs will be joining our select group of distinguished sponsors in support of two of Larta’s National Institutes of Health and Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center Commercialization Assistance Programs (NIH-CAP & TATRC-CAP).
The 3rd Annual Ag Innovation Showcase at the Danforth Plant Sciences Center in St. Louis wasn’t just the third, it was the best ever. Framed by the Ag Economic Forum on the first day and the closing lunch and awards ceremony on the second day, the Showcase drew an engaged group of innovators, company executives, economists, analysts, investors and enthusiasts, and kept them involved over 2 days through a series of high-level keynotes, insightful panel discussions and engaging presentations by emerging and established entrepreneurs alike. The networking receptions enabled attendees from around the world to socialize and go about the serious business of discovery and deal-making (this year, the Showcase featured companies from Australia, the Netherlands and Malaysia, in addition to a crop of U.S. and Canadian companies). Notable speakers included Paolo Rabello de Castro, President of SR Rating in Brazil, Greg Lucier, CEO of Life Technologies, and Jason Pyle, CEO of Sapphire Energy. The Best of Show award went to Alison Sunstrum of GrowSafe Systems, the last company to present at the Showcase. On to 2012!!
CEO Rohit Shukla will participate in the Startup America: Reducing Barriers Roundtable on Thursday, May 12 at Stanford University. Mr. Shukla will join Administration officials and local high-growth entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley to discuss the regulatory reforms, reductions and improvements that could be enacted to help high-growth entrepreneurs grow in the U.S. Administration members to attend are Peggy Hamburg (U.S. FDA), Teresa Rea (Patent and Trademark Office), Ginger Lew (White House National Economic Council), and Ronnie Chatterji (White House Council of Economic Advisors). For more information, please visit: http://www.sba.gov/content/startup-america-reducing-barriers-roundtables.
Mr. Shukla will deliver a keynote speech highlighting the challenges of technology commercialization in the healthcare and defense industries at mtechx, the Midwest Technology Exchange. The event will take place May 8-10, 2011 at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Mtechx is a collaborative conference focusing on the development and commercialization of Midwestern technologies which have been developed in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC) and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC). For more information on the event, please go to: http://www.mtechx.org/index.html.
Dovetailing with the Latin America - World Economic Forum held in Rio de Janeiro last week, Larta Institute executives Constanza Pachon and Carlos Gutierrez were active in the region holding discussions with key government and state agency and S&T leaders regarding innovation policy support, commercialization initiatives, and building globally competitive tech-based enterprises.
Earlier this year CSO Carlos Gutierrez visited Croatia with the World Bank’s Technical Assistance Mission to observe and review a crucial component of the country’s innovation policy – The Science and Technology Project. The project supports the creation of technology transfer offices in key public research organizations and universities. It also subsidizes research and development (R&D) by small and medium sized enterprises to improve the commercialization efforts of public research and private sector innovation. Overall, the mission was impressed with the breadth of the government’s efforts to promote R&D as a basis for private sector investment and economic growth.
After a rigorous selection process and out of many promising candidates, 16 companies have been chosen to present at the 2011 Ag Innovation Showcase in St. Louis, MO at the end of the month. The selected presenters are among the top up-and-coming entrepreneurial companies with solutions to the most pressing challenges facing agriculture. These companies develop technologies to overcome issues in energy, food production, nutrition, and resource management. In addition to company presentations, five exciting panels will explore today’s most pertinent Ag-related topics. These panels will engage attendees in well-rounded, extensive discussions with key players within the industry. For more details about the presenting companies, panels, speakers and more, visit our website, www.agshowcase.com.
Last week in Alexandria, VA, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Grants and Acquisition Policy and Accountability (OGAPA) recognized the National Institutes of Health’s Commercialization Assistance Program (and its Niche Assessment Program) for a special “team” recognition award for superior efforts to assist over 600 companies in bringing their applications to market and “contributing to public health”. The award was made at the 2011 Acquisition, Grants, and Small Business Symposium. CEO Rohit Shukla was present and recognized as part of the team. The two-day symposium also highlighted various aspects of the acquisition, grants, and small business planning process to enrich stakeholder and customer knowledge...
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The Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Larta Institute for the second year in a row to provide commercial market viability reviews for Commercialization Plans submitted by DOE SBIR grantees as part of their SBIR Phase II application. Larta’s commercial reviews will complement the technical reviews carried out by DOE. This program tasks Larta with a very fast turnaround, with Larta amassing a network of expert business reviewers from various sectors in the energy efficiency/energy production sectors, including: utility and distributed generation, advanced gas turbines and materials for nuclear and high temperature applications, smart grid, sensors, controls, wireless networks, commercial and industrial/manufacturing energy efficiency, etc. Larta looks forward to providing DOE with high-quality commercial reviews to enhance their Phase II SBIR application process.
Earlier this month, Larta CSO Carlos Gutierrez moderated the panel “Commercialization: The Long and Winding Road” at the 2011 National SBIR Conference in Madison, WI. The panel addressed the issues surrounding the commercialization of innovation. The panel engaged in interactive discussions with the audience on the various aspects of commercialization, including technology licensing, finding partners for development, distribution, marketing, pitching to investors, and dressing up for acquisition. Federal agencies like NIH were given the opportunity to share their perspectives on their grantees’ success, and a former SBIR grantee shared his personal success story in developing a relationship that led to acquisition. The event attracted over 50 attendees, who were all inspired by the success stories.
The Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation, BiotechCorp, in collaboration with Larta Institute, has developed a comprehensive Study Visit Program for a high-level delegation of Malaysian policymakers. The delegates, headed by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), visited Los Angeles from April 4 through April 13. Participants learned first-hand about the technology transfer processes and practices in California's universities and research institutions and heard about the challenges and opportunities in creating and nurturing an ecosystem to support the transfer of technology from research institutions. The program featured discussions between participants and investors, figures from industry and service providers, as well as site visits to Los Angeles area institutions championing technology transfer and the commercialization of innovation.