CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sep. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Nucleate, the nonprofit organization led by academic trainees and dedicated to empowering future biotech leaders, announced its launch today.
The organization caters to exploding interest among graduate scientific trainees and business students in commercializing biotechnology, complementing traditional institutional ecosystems. Nucleate streamlines company formation so that founders can focus on translating cutting-edge science.
"The world is facing global-scale challenges in food, water, climate, and disease," said Reshma Shetty, founder of Ginkgo Bioworks and national advisor to Nucleate. "By making company creation easier and open to all, Nucleate is helping to expand the number of people able to tackle these problems head-on."
Nucleate is now accepting applications for its equity-free, six-month Activator program. Participants are connected with potential co-founders; trained through its structured and rigorous framework; then equipped with an unparalleled network, funded fellowships, legal support, and highly subsidized perks including reagents, lab automation, and cloud computing. The Activator program does not take any equity or other fees for participation. For detailed criteria, prospective applicants are encouraged to visit https://nucleate.xyz/.
Over the past three years, Nucleate has validated the Activator model in a pilot program at Harvard University and MIT. So far, the program has incubated 29 companies that have raised over $24 million in funding to develop new technologies including protein sequencing (Glyphic), drug discovery (Manifold Bio), RNA synthesis (EnPlusOne), and microbial fertilizer (Ivu Biologics). Building on its success, Nucleate has now evolved into a national organization with an inclusive model for educating biotech leaders.
"We created Nucleate because we noticed a missing layer in the biotech startup ecosystem," said Soufiane Aboulhouda, Nucleate founding President, Chairman of the Board, and PhD candidate at Harvard Medical School. "With solid proof of concept in Boston, we will now open access to company formation to a new generation of diverse, geographically dispersed, and visionary biotech founders."
Leadership
Led by over 190 trainees from top scientific and business programs and with participation from over 60 universities and institutes, the organization is launching in 10 regions across the United States (Baltimore, MD; Bay Area, CA; Boston, MA; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; New Haven, CT; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Research Triangle, NC; San Diego, CA).
"Translating a scientific discovery into a commercial product is a complex process. I've seen this from both sides, as a venture investor and a mentor to biotech entrepreneurs in the academic setting," said Peter Barrett, Partner at Atlas Venture and Senior Fellow at Harvard Business School. "Nucleate is designed and run by trainees, so it understands what founders need as they transition out of academia. I am proud to advise Nucleate as they launch nationwide to enable future biotech leaders."
Advisors
Peter Barrett, Ph.D. — Partner at Atlas Venture; Chairman of Synlogic and Obsidian Therapeutics; co-founder of Celera Genomics
Mira Chaurushiya, Ph.D. — Partner at 5AM Ventures
George Church, Ph.D. — Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School; co-founder of Editas Medicine
Bob Coughlin — Former President & CEO of Massachusetts Biotechnology Council
Angelika Fretzen, Ph.D., M.B.A. — COO & Technology Translation Director at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering
Tom Kalil — Chief Innovation Officer at Schmidt Futures; former Deputy Director for Policy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under President Obama
Peter Kolchinsky, Ph.D. — Managing Partner & co-founder of RA Capital Management
Tony Kulesa, Ph.D. — Partner & co-founder of Petri
Ellie McGuire — Partner & co-founder of Polaris Innovation Fund
Steve Quake, D.Phil. — Co-President of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub; Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University; co-founder of Fluidigm
Cami Samuels, M.B.A. — Partner at Venrock; former Managing Director at Versant Ventures
Reshma Shetty, Ph.D. — Co-founder of Ginkgo Bioworks
Pamela Silver, Ph.D. — Elliot T and Onie H Adams Professor of Biochemistry and Systems Biology at Harvard; co-founder of Kula Bio, 64-x, and iGEM
Gene Yeo, Ph.D., M.B.A. — Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of California San Diego; co-founder of Locanabio, Eclipse Bioinnovations, Enzerna, and Proteona; senior advisor to Accelerator Life Science Partners
Founding Executive Team
Soufiane Aboulhouda — Co-President & Chairman; PhD candidate at Harvard Medical School
Jenna Aronson — Co-President; PhD candidate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Zach Cogan — EVP, Partnerships; PhD student at University of California San Francisco
Oliver Dodd — EVP, Operations & Treasurer; PhD candidate at Harvard Medical School
Anjali Ramaswamy — EVP, Education; PhD candidate at Yale University
Michael Retchin — EVP, Strategy; PhD student at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Amanda Williams — EVP, Finance; JD candidate at Harvard Law School
Founding Board of Directors
Soufiane Aboulhouda — Co-President & Chairman; PhD candidate at Harvard Medical School
Oliver Dodd — EVP, Operations & Treasurer; PhD candidate at Harvard Medical School
Sofia Guerra, M.B.A. — Investor at Bessemer Venture Partners
Matt Lanchantin, M.B.A. — Secretary; Senior Manager, Corporate Strategy and Development at Valo
Marissa Pettit, M.B.A. — Vice Chair; Business Development Lead at Genentech
About Nucleate
Nucleate is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of biotech leaders. After validating its Activator pilot program in Boston, Nucleate has evolved into a national organization with chapters spanning 10 regions and participation from over 60 academic institutions. Nucleate identifies future biotech entrepreneurs and arms them with proven training, an exceptional network, legal counsel, subsidized perks, and funded fellowships, without the need to give up equity in their companies. Nucleate removes barriers and helps founders concentrate on building transformational technologies.
For more information, visit https://nucleate.xyz/.
Media Contact
Michael Retchin, Nucleate, +1 (646) 817-6968, [email protected]
SOURCE Nucleate
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