Deadline:
As soon as possible
Location(s)
Online United States of America
The San Francisco location is at 479 Jessie St in downtown San Francisco one block off of the Powell St BART station. Our New York location is at 1188 York Avenue, on the campus of the Rockefeller University. We also support startups remotely, and we have startups in every region of the world.
Overview
IndieBio is always looking for the next generation of early stage life sciences companies that will transform the future of human and planetary health. We review companies from across all different backgrounds, geographies, and sectors in the life sciences to invest and accelerate the next wave of innovation. IndieBio reviews applications on a rolling basis after the announcement of each program and up until the program start date.
Details
- Choose SOSV as your Partner: IndieBio’s parent is SOSV, which has $910 million under management, and is consistently a Top Quartile VC. SOSV runs programs around the world in robotics, biotech, mobile ecommerce, fintech, automated manufacturing, food, and cryptocurrencies.
- Accelerate Your Science: A huge focus for every team while at IndieBio is going from bench to product in four months. This means making prototypes, getting them into hands of mentors and potential customers, and iterating off of their feedback over and over again.
- Accelerate Your Business: We’re always pushing teams to close the distance between science and money. Your startup isn’t an academic project or research for a new paper. Becoming a real company means having a real product that people want and pay for.
- Our Locations: For five years we have been in the heart of downtown San Francisco. We are located in the same building as HAX Boost, and the Revolution, which is a shared co-working space run by SOSV. Many of our graduated companies continue working at the Revolution where they can be amongst the most exciting startups to be found in the world.
How to Apply
- Apply online, and someone from our team will read your application shortly to see if we’re a good fit.
- If we’re interested in learning more, we’ll reach out for an interview (or more, if we really like you and your idea).
- After we’ve determined that your idea is revolutionary and game-changing, we’ll send an offer to join our next cohort.
What is the IndieBio program curriculum and experience like?
The curriculum varies from 4-6 hours a week with panels of mentors and talks about tech product production, business models, intellectual property, sales, product design. There are also assignments and milestones so that the companies can focus on their individual development. The curriculum is reviewed for redesign before every class. Founders will find that they are working on their companies steadily through the rest of the week.
Do I have to be at IndieBio for the entire 16 week period?
No. During the pandemic we began to work with companies remotely, and we are now very comfortable with it. However, we do need to emphasize that IndieBio is an absolutely full-time program, no matter where a startup is in the world. It’s very intense. We insist that founders are fully devoted to making their company great.
We do recommend startups take advantage of our SF and NY locations as much as possible, for networking, events, meetings, and the benefits of in-person coaching.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
What kind of companies are you looking for?
We look for companies with deep scientific insights aimed at solving intractable or difficult problems that will impact 1B+ members of humanity. We see biology as a technology that can be applied across all verticals which can include therapeutics, the future of food, biomaterials, biological tools, diagnostics, synthetic biology, genomics, and data analysis to just name a few areas.
Companies can be based on hardware, software, or wet-biology and go straight to consumers or sell to business.
For the therapeutics track, because only $250K is upfront and the other $1.75 million is over time, we are looking for truly novel platforms and methodologies that need this time to prove their concept.
I don’t have a company, just an idea or maybe a half built prototype, can I apply?
All you need to apply is a well thought out idea with the science worked out at least in principle and a good team (two co-founders minimum). We’ll help you with all the rest.
I’m a single founder. Can I apply by myself, or do you only accept teams?
If you are a single founder, we suggest you apply, but understand that we will need you to find at least one other co-founder for us to fund your company and bring you to the program. All startups must have at least two people at IndieBio during the program (though it is normal to travel to conferences, visit customers, and check in back home.)
We look for great, balanced teams who have a full range of skills. We strongly advise you to seek co-founders who balance your skill-set.
Dates
Deadline: As soon as possible
Cost/funding for participants
How much funding do IndieBio companies receive?
We start companies with a $275,000 package for an equity position of 10%–12% post-Seed. $200,000 is in cash and $75,00 is in-kind. Our instrument is an ACE, (Accelerator Contract for Equity), that converts at Seed. During the program we also offer an additional $250,000 from Genesis Consortium, which is the startup’s choice to take or not.
We continue to invest in our companies in every subsequent round.
For therapeutics companies selected for our new $2 million package, we will come to agreement with you about milestones. We start with the same initial $275,000 package, then when the first milestones are hit, the second tranche of $275,000 is triggered, and if those milestones are hit, $1.5 million for the seed stage. The amount of equity we receive in return would be negotiated along with the milestones.
As part of the program you have access to lab space, co-working with a community of like minded teams, our huge mentor network which melds science, business and the best silicon valley has to offer. The program is designed to derisk your company in science, business and customer value proposition to help you blast your biotech startup into the stratosphere.
You will also have the opportunity to pitch to press, corporate partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists during and at the end of the program at Demo Day. Our companies raise, on average, $2.6 million at the seed stage (though this can vary greatly).
SOSV is the venture fund that runs IndieBio. SOSV continues to invest in our companies at the seed stage and beyond. SOSV is set up so that 1/4 of our total fund is deployed in pre-Seed, and 3/4 is deployed in follow-ons as the companies grow. This separates SOSV and IndieBio from most other accelerators. SOSV is one of the most active investors in the world, managing over $850 million. Last year, SOSV companies raised over $1 billion.
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
