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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 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.
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.
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.