Session Abstract – PMWC 2018 Silicon Valley
The successful Company Competition Track has been accompanying the Annual Personalized Medicine World Conference since 2010 with the goal to assist developing and emerging startup companies in Diagnostics, Therapeutics, and Health Tech, to increase their visibility, provide them with a platform to present to a group of leading investors, as well as to potential clients and partners so they can succeed on their path forward.
Confirmed Selected Companies:
The successful Company Competition Track has been accompanying the Annual Personalized Medicine World Conference since 2010 with the goal to assist developing and emerging startup companies in Diagnostics, Therapeutics, and Health Tech, to increase their visibility, provide them with a platform to present to a group of leading investors, as well as to potential clients and partners so they can succeed on their path forward. Confirmed Selected Companies:
Session Chair Profile
M.S., M.B.A, EIR, NanoDimension
Biography
In her current EIR role, Pratima Rao focuses on identifying passionate entrepreneurs and disruptive technologies that bring together high tech and life sciences. Most recently, she was COO and Co-founder of Genia Technologies, a nanopore based DNA sequencing company. Roche, a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics, acquired Genia in June, 2014. Ms. Rao has over 25 years of operational experience in both semiconductor and life science companies, and has held various senior management positions at Maxim Integrated Products and Affymetrix. She is currently an Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) at the venture capital firm, NanoDimension, where she helps evaluate investment opportunities and identify new ventures. Previously, she was honored with the YWCA Silicon Valley Woman of the Year award and currently serves as a SPADA advisor at Stanford. Ms. Rao holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Stanford.
Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Managing Director, DigitalDx Ventures
Biography
Ted Driscoll is Managing Director at a new venture fund, DigitalDx Ventures, whose focus is on Diagnostics in a Big-Data and Personalized Medicine World. Previously he was a Partner at Decheng Capital, and a Partner at Claremont Creek Ventures leading Digital Healthcare. He led the first investment in Natera (IPOed 2015), AssureX (acquired by Myriad Genetics for $410M) and GeneWeave (acquired by Roche for $425M). Prior to entering venture capital, he was an early leader/founder of five startups. His first startup, International Imaging Systems, built the first Digital Subtractive Angiography machines. He then led the team at Identix that pioneered the first digital fingerprint recognition, now used in the iPhone. Identix IPOed in 1984. He then joined Diasonics where he led the team that created the world’s first MRI scanners. He was then named Division President of a spinoff from Diasonics named Focus Surgery that pioneered noninvasive HIFU ablation surgery. This company IPOed in 1992. His last startup was Be Here Technologies, a 360degree imaging company, which was purchased by and incorporated into Google Streetview.
Speaker Profile
MBA, Executive Director, Breakout Labs; Senior VP for Investments, Thiel Foundation
Biography
Lindy Fishburne is the Executive Director of Breakout Labs and serves as the Senior Vice President for Investments at the Thiel Foundation. She leads the organization ’s strategic development and program design. She joined the foundation in 2007 after a career in management consulting, advising Fortune 500 companies on profitable growth strategies. She also brings years of experience in non-profit development and feasibility planning. Lindy has a deep understanding of what it takes to make it through the early days in business, having managed two start-up companies through rapid growth and eventual sale. She hopes that Breakout Labs’ novel revolving fun d model will accelerate innovation and redefine how early stage start ups are funded.
Speaker Profile
Ph.D., MBA, Partner, Illumina Ventures
Biography
At Illumina Ventures, Alexis focuses on investing in early-stage genomics technology platforms and applications in life science tools, diagnostics, therapeutics, and digital health. Prior to Illumina Ventures, Alexis was a principal at WuXi Apptec Corporate Venture Fund and then WuXi Healthcare Ventures, a U.S.-China cross-border life science venture capital firm. Alexis was instrumental in investments in Twist Bioscience, 23andme, Juno Therapeutics, Syros Pharmaceuticals, Unity Biotechnology, Vivace Therapeutics, Medeor Therapeutics, Ideaya Therapeutics, and Lumo Bodytech. Before joining WuXi, Alexis was a venture investment consultant at ARCH Venture Partners, where she evaluated early-stage life science and physical science opportunities and was involved in the founding of Twist Bioscience and the investment in Nextcode Health. Earlier in her career, Alexis worked as a senior scientist at Merck in early drug discovery, at Roche in virology translational research and clinical trial development, and at Life Technologies in molecular diagnostics and next-generation sequencing.
Speaker Profile
Co-founder and Managing Partner, Deep Knowledge Ventures
Biography
Dmitry Kaminskiy is an innovative entrepreneur and investor who is active in the fields of BioTech, FinTech, BlockChain and Artificial Intelligence. He is a thought leader in the field of ultra-innovative technologies and a frequent speaker on the topic of AI and Longevity. During the last year he spoke at conferences organized in London by The Economist “Aging Societies and The Business of Longevity”, Financial Times “Smart Machines vs Smart People”, at the Future Finance Forum in Seoul “AI in Finance” and several others at the Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He strongly believes in the fact that humans should live longer healthier lives. His biggest interest is anti-aging and healthy longevity, which he has engaged in business, research, and public activities.
Speaker Profile
CEO, Genia
Biography
Stefan Roever has a broad entrepreneurial, software, and finance background. He is the CEO of Genia Technologies, a next generation DNA sequencing company based in San Jose, Santa Clara, CA. Genia was sold to Roche in June 2014. He is an active private equity investor. Previously, he was the Co-Founder and CEO of Brokat Technologies, an encryption banking software company. Brokat reached a several billion dollar market cap and went public in 1998 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on NASDAQ in 2000. Mr. Roever was honored with the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Germany. He is an active private equity investor and currently serves as Chairman of WRS Materials, a roll-up of wafer reclaim companies. Mr. Roever also is a two time award holder of Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. He earned degrees in both economics and law from the University of Tuebingen.
