On December 7, 2018, BioInnovation Institute opened calls for the two programs Proof of Concept and Creation House. BII offers the programs to pharma, medtech and biotech projects that wish to commercialize their research and bring solutions and products into the market.

“Commercializing research is a very demanding process and for life science startups it takes years. Typically, it becomes easier for startups to attract funding when they are more mature, but we work with projects at various maturity. Also the very early ones”, says Hervør Lykke Olesen, scientific advisor at BII.

Proof of Concept program
Proof of Concept is one of the two programs that opened on December 7. It is eligible for projects that are about to establish their preliminary proof of concept and it comes with a grant of DKK 1M.

“In this program we accept very early projects and with the grant, they will continue to work at their current location”, says Hervør Lykke Olsen and adds that BII is looking for projects that have a clear commercial potential.

Proof of Concept is only eligible for projects in Denmark.
Deadline for applying: January 24, 2019.

Creation House program
Creation House is the incubation program for BII. It is eligible for Nordic startups that have a solid, initial business plan and a strong team with entrepreneurial skills to execute on it. BII offers a convertible loan of up to DKK 10 million per startup and labs and offices in Copenhagen.

“In Creation House, all teams relocate to Copenhagen to be part of the community here at BII where we share knowledge. We offer a collaborative environment full of entrepreneurial people in life science that help each other and work together which is crucial for startups to make it. Here we also have mentors, subject matter expert and a global outreach, says Hervør Lykke Olsen.

The goal for the 18 months at BII is to de-risk and develop the startups to attract substantial funding. That means that a strong team and a business plan must be in place when startups apply for the program. If not the Business Acceleration Academy is the first step.

“To have a solid initial business plan means that you have worked with all business aspects of your startup. You have a clear idea of e.g your IP strategy, your primary markets, your business model, your exit strategy and generally show commercial understanding of your project”, explains Hervør Lykke Olsen.

BII hopes to see startups from both medtech, biotech and pharma and not only from Denmark but from all of the Nordic countries.
Deadline for applying: February 14, 2019

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