Southeast XLerator Network I-RED Program
ATTENTION: University-based Faculty, Researchers, Clinician Faculty, and Students!
As part of the Southeast IDeA Regional Entrepreneurship Development (I-RED) Program funded by the National Institutes of Health, the XLerator Network has developed and launched a suite of experience-based entrepreneurship educational modules, products, and tools that will be available through the I-RED Commercialization Program. The aim of the I-RED Program is to build university-based biomedical researchers’ and students’ entrepreneurial skills needed to translate scientific discoveries and innovative technologies into commercial products and shorten the time it takes to get these technologies from bench to market.
As part of the program, the XLN team will work closely with selected innovators to help them acquire the fundamental business understanding and entrepreneurial skills needed to successfully commercialize their technologies by either creating scalable healthcare startups or licensing their innovations to existing businesses. “Scalable” means that founders are able to: 1) develop and launch commercially viable and competitively defensible technologies that solve real world problems, 2) attract funding as needed to bring their innovation to the market, 3) grow their employee/talent pool as required, and ultimately 4) attract, grow, and retain customers.
If you are interested in participating in the I-RED program, please express your interest by clicking the orange button below and filling out a short form.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Who Qualifies?
Faculty, academic investigators, clinicians (with university faculty appointments), and students — who: (1) are close to or ready to translate their human health related technologies into commercial products (e.g., medical devices, diagnostics, therapeutics, digital health, and tech-enabled healthcare services) or (2) are thinking about or have already created a company and are looking for commercialization, customer development, and fundraising support.
A sample list of program activities is listed below.
Questions? Please email us at [email protected]
Examples of Program Activities:
• Create a Business Model Canvas or a Lean Canvas and engage in customer discovery to validate your business model
• Create a customer discovery question set, a customer discovery target list, and a draft email introduction
• Complete 25 quality customer discovery interviews
• Attend a conference to engage in customer discovery
• Size the market
• Complete a competitor analysis and grid
• Complete a customer ROI analysis
• Define the unit economics related to your technology and associated revenue model (which includes pricing)
• Draft a 5-year pro-forma
• Complete an investor pitch deck
• Complete a competitor analysis
• Pitch at an external entrepreneurial “Pitch Competition”
• SBIR application submitted
• Define and validate your regulatory and/or reimbursement pathway
• Create a profile on GUST, create an investor tear sheet, create a one-pager that can be used for customer discovery