Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announces Mission BioCapital as newest sponsor for initiative to support female entrepreneurs
Mission BioCapital to support female entrepreneurs with a $100K Mission BioCapital Award in the 2022 MassNextGen program round
March 28, 2022— Today, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) announced Mission BioCapital as the newest sponsor for the MLSC’s Massachusetts Next Generation Initiative (MassNextGen), a competitive program for women-led life sciences companies. Mission BioCapital is sponsoring the fifth year of the program with a $100,000 award. Mission BioCapital will select one or more awardees to be provided the Mission BioCapital Award from this year’s cohort of entrepreneurs.
“In order for Massachusetts to retain its global leadership in the life sciences, our ecosystem must continue to empower women entrepreneurs to continue driving innovation and early-stage growth,” said MLSC President and CEO Kenn Turner. “Our Commonwealth continues to be emboldened by collaborative enterprises, such as Mission BioCapital, who understand the power of partnership and how essential it is to support our diverse leaders in industry.”
“MassNextGen was designed as an ecosystem-wide effort to support women entrepreneurs in the life sciences. It gives me great joy to continue to expand that ecosystem with Mission BioCapital, an early-stage venture capital fund. We work with entrepreneurs every day, many of them first-time entrepreneurs, and we feel strongly that diversity, even in the earliest days, makes a company stronger. We are committed to supporting all of the entrepreneurs in this fifth cycle of the program and look forward to selecting the Mission BioCapital Award recipients,” said Jennifer Griffin, Ph.D., Partner at Mission BioCapital.
The fifth round of MassNextGen launched today with applications being accepted through Wednesday, May 18.
MassNextGen identifies promising women-led life sciences companies and provides critical funding and access to a robust panel of executive coaches. Since inception, the MLSC has deployed more than $1.4 million in funding for women entrepreneurs through MassNextGen with an executive coaching network providing 200-plus hours of coaching. Increasing the number of successful entrepreneurs is in the best interest of the entire life science industry and as such, this initiative is a public-private partnership between the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Sanofi, King Street Properties, Johnson and Johnson Innovation, Mintz, and the initiative’s initial corporate sponsor, Takeda.
“A key pillar for how Massachusetts remains a global leader in the life sciences will continue to be the role the Life Sciences Center and its partners can play in shaping the Commonwealth as the most equitable and diverse life sciences ecosystem in the country,” said Pam Randhawa, MassNextGen coach, MLSC Board member, and CEO and Founder of Empiriko. “MassNextGen continues to set a standard for supporting strong, diverse leaders that represent the best of our industry. It is incredibly exciting to welcome Mission BioCapital as the latest sponsor to this exemplary public-private partnership.”
Now with 21 companies in its portfolio, MassNextGen continues toward its goal of shifting the paradigm to build a diverse ecosystem with equal representation. As MassNextGen Entrepreneurs and their respective teams work toward new innovative therapeutics and products for patients, MLSC funding and executive coaching have proven invaluable for these women entrepreneurs in building their teams and progressing forward with new opportunities. Five companies have raised a Seed or Series A financing round. In total, MassNextGen companies have raised more than $30.7 million in follow on funding.
About MassNextGen
MassNextGen is a five-year, $2 million commitment to foster greater gender parity in the next generation of life science entrepreneurs. Each year, following a competitive program, the MLSC awards women-led, early-stage life science companies a yearlong customized package of support, which includes non-dilutive grant funding and access to a network of seasoned executive coaches from the life sciences ecosystem to refine their business strategies and help increase the effectiveness of efforts to raise capital.
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) is an economic development investment agency dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the life sciences in Massachusetts, home to the most verdant and productive life sciences ecosystem in the world. Through public-private funding initiatives, the MLSC supports innovation, research and development, commercialization, and manufacturing activities in the fields of biopharma, medical device, diagnostics and digital health. Since its creation in 2007, the MLSC has strategically deployed more than $850 million in Massachusetts, through a combination of grants, loans, capital infrastructure investments, tax incentives and workforce programs. These investments have created thousands of jobs and propelled the development of new therapies, devices and scientific advancements that are improving patient health and well-being in Massachusetts and beyond.
About Mission BioCapital
Mission BioCapital is a venture capital firm focused on making pivotal early-stage investments in transformational life sciences companies. We support our portfolio companies through a unique combination of shared lab space, capital investment, and access to strategic partners. With offices in the nation’s leading life science clusters in Cambridge and San Francisco, Mission BioCapital is dedicated to helping entrepreneurial scientists build successful companies, from idea to exit. Learn more at missionbiocapital.com.