Invitation For Researchers To Knock-Out The Competition For $500,000
June 27th, 2014
They can definitely knock-out a gene and apparently they can also throw some serious blows! Who will be the next Contenders at AmorChem’s KNOCK-OUT Event?
FRQS and AmorChem invite you to come and find out at BioContact 2014.
Back by popular demand, AmorChem is hosting its second KNOCK-OUT Event at BioContact 2014, in Québec City.
Researchers selected to participate in the Dragons’ Den inspired AmorChem KNOCK-OUT Event will fight it out in the ring against our panel of “heavyweights” eager to defend their title for the second year in a row.
If you are an academic life science researcher with an appetite to knock-out the competition, if you have innovative science with strong commercial potential, then you may be one of the participants chosen to duke it out in the AmorChem KNOCK-OUT Event and could be granted an AmorChem financing of up to $500,000!
As part of the celebrations marking its 50th anniversary, the Fonds de recherche du Québec–Santé is joining forces with AmorChem to promote the KNOCK-OUT Event. The two groups very naturally complement each other’s strengths: the FRQS, as the first step toward value creation in the field of life sciences, offers grants to support basic research and encourages applied research, while AmorChem, the accelerator venture fund for Quebec’s applied research, acts as the second step, leading to the commercialisation of life sciences innovation.
Interested researchers must fill out the form describing their technology, its clinical applications, its relevance to human disease, as well as its commercial potential. As competition in the ring will be fierce, researchers are encouraged to seek the assistance of their technology transfer or commercialization office that can also prove useful in training for the final Event.
All application forms must be submitted no later than Monday, July 14th, 2014, at 10 am at the following email address: info@amorchem.com
Participants chosen to climb into the ring in the final round will be notified no later than September 2nd, 2014. They will then become Contenders in the Amorchem KNOCK-OUT Event and will be invited to a call in order to assist them in their final preparations. Contenders will then convene on October 8th at the “AmorChem” session of BioContact 2014 in Québec City. Note that all Contenders must register for the conference in order to participate in the AmorChem KNOCK-OUT Event.
The Event will play out in front of a live audience (last year was standing room only!). At the sound of the bell, each Contender will be given up to five minutes to make their case on their technology. Following their pitch, each Contender will duke it out, in the ring, with our “heavyweights” over a ten minute Q&A “boxing match”. The Contenders will confront the “professional boxers” with only wits and scientific agility in their corner. Just as boxers climb into the ring with only their gloves, our contenders will not be allowed visual support. The champion of this second Québec edition of the AmorChem KNOCK-OUT Event may qualify for a financing of up to $500,000 from AmorChem, subject to completion of final pre-investment conditions including approval by the AmorChem Investment Committee. All Contenders will be invited to a dinner in Québec City with our “heavyweights” following the Event.
Can you roll with the punches, and go 5 rounds in the ring with our seasoned biotech executives? If you think you can, act fast: spaces will be limited to a maximum of 5 participants and the deadline for application is July 14th, 2014!
About BioContact 2014: http://www.biocontact.qc.ca/english/default.html