SEED Competition launched in China

Roche, OrbiMed, and McKinsey officially launched the SEED Competition at the Beijing International Healthcare Industry Forum today. This is one of the first life sciences business plan competitions in Greater China.

SEED stands for “Scientists to Entrepreneurs, Education and Development.” The competition has been designed to help entrepreneurs startup companies in the life sciences and healthcare field, enhance the technology transfer and commercialization capabilities across the scientific community, and create a platform for commercialization of life sciences and healthcare innovations in China.

China’s innovation capabilities have grown considerably in recent years. However, there are significant gaps in transforming these scientific activities into successful commercial enterprises and products, especially in the healthcare and life science field. To address these gaps, the organizers have designed the SEED Competition to help entrepreneurs build companies. Any team with active academic affiliation in the Greater China, innovative ideas and operations based in Greater China, are qualified to participate. SEED participants will gain free training and education from the industry experts and senior executives.

Besides the Beijing launch, there will be two other similar kickoff meetings: one in Shanghai on December 11, 2009, and the other in Guangzhou on January 6, 2010. All seed events are presented by ChinaBio® LLC, a conference and consulting firm based in Shanghai.

SEED participants will have until February 14, 2010 to submit a presentation and an executive summary that describe their businesses. A panel of judges composed of industry experts, experienced investors and successful entrepreneurs will review the submission and select 10-15 finalists in March 2010. A special training day will then be held to provide additional coaching and training to the selected finalists. Afterwards, the finalists will submit a full business plan, and have the opportunity to present to the judges in the SEED Final Awards event in April 2010.

SEED gives participants a unique opportunity to receive coaching and training from industry experts, and the opportunity to win a cash prize of more than RMB 300,000. In addition, they will also gain significant exposure to potential investors and other stakeholders in the life sciences community.

During the Beijing SEED Competition launch event, executives from Roche, OrbiMed, McKinsey, and other invited experts and investors discussed the key success factors for start ups in the healthcare and life science field in China. Real life stories from both Western successful companies, such as Genentech, as well as domestic companies, such as Crown Biosciences from Beijing, were shared with the audience to illustrate the global and local industry best practices. Important issues in establishing a company, such as IP and financing, were discussed with industry experts and executives.

www.seedcompetition.com