The mountains are calling at the 2024 Colorado BioScience Association Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference.
By: Fitzsimons Innovation Community
For the past 15 years, Elyse Blazevich has been innovating and creating new pathways in life sciences discovery in Colorado, most recently as President and CEO of the Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) and President of the Colorado BioScience Institute. An important Fitzsimons Innovation Community partner from their beginning, CBSA advances Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem by building a collaborative, pro-innovation business environment. CBSA expands access to capital, offers education and networking opportunities for their members, and advocates for life sciences companies by creating strong partnerships with policymakers and business leaders. One of the many ways they provide these opportunities is through the Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference, an event Fitzsimons Innovation Community is always honored to sponsor.
Recently, we were excited to catch up with Blazevich following the success of the biannual CBSA Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference that took place this month in Breckenridge, Colorado. The goal of this event is to connect investors and strategic partners from across the country with high-growth companies from Colorado and the Rocky Mountain West. Blazevich told us, “This conference brings together the region’s most promising life sciences companies to meet with leading investors and strategic partners from across the country. This year, we were joined by top innovators, researchers, investors, and partners—including incubation and development communities like Fitzsimons—all passionate about bringing life-saving breakthrough technologies to patients.” The event offers a relaxed mountain environment, providing opportunities to connect through formal presentations, one-on-one partnering, and informal networking. This year’s conference had the highest-ever attendance rate and included representatives from leading investment organizations, including J.P. Morgan and the New York Stock Exchange.
Since this conference began, Fitzsimons Innovation Community has been a proud key sponsor, which made it even more exciting this year to have these six Community members participating (follow the links below to see what all of these innovators are working on):
With so many from our Community taking part, we wanted to use this month’s blog interview to take a deeper dive into how the Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference helps bring investors and businesses together, thereby shaping the future of life sciences development here in Colorado. Here’s how the conference works:
High-profile angel investors, venture capitalists, and representatives from large life sciences companies interested in partnering opportunities attend formal presentations by 30+ preselected companies and connect through direct meetings to learn about new breakthroughs coming out of the Rocky Mountain region. This gives conference goers the chance to:
- Connect with investors and health innovators.
- Explore networking and one-on-one partnering opportunities.
- Discover leading-edge innovations in medical device, diagnostics, biotech and pharmaceuticals, agriculture biology and animal health, and digital health.
- Hear from nationally recognized speakers and panelists sharing key life sciences trends.
- Enjoy a beautiful setting while sourcing opportunities and building partnerships.
Capital is obviously a key element of this conference, but Blazevich tells us why it means so much more to participants. “While connecting investors with emerging life sciences companies is the foundation of this event, the heart of the connections made this week are based on a collective desire in the room to improve patient care. This event brings into focus the ‘why’ at the core of what we all strive for, and that is to save lives through discovery and innovation.”
With Colorado consistently ranked among the top ten in leading life sciences hubs in North America, and Fitzsimons Innovation Community as a proud leader in that space, investors have started paying more attention to our region than ever. “This is a very exciting time of unprecedented growth and momentum for life sciences in the Rocky Mountain region and in Colorado. Our goal is to achieve a critical mass of resources and infrastructure to accelerate health innovation, and this requires all of us to commit to being ‘all in.’ We are doing everything in our power to support our innovators and advance the economic growth and vitality of our ecosystem. Colorado is in the top ten right now, and we are driving to the top five,” explains Blazevich. Her confidence in where Colorado’s life sciences ecosystem is headed is contagious.
While the 2024 CBSA Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference has come to a close, Blazevich is still generous with her expert advice for startups, “My advice to startups raising funds is this: ask for feedback early and often; it’s a gift that you should listen to and act on. In addition, keep your pitch deck crisp and easy to understand by non-scientists, and most importantly, expect and embrace change. You will need to pivot more than once, so be ready for it.” This important advice can only be enhanced by attending the next CBSA Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference in 2026. We look forward to seeing you there.
