Attending conferences provides an opportunity to make connections with professionals.
If you're in the process of creating a startup, it's highly recommended that you attend conferences and events whenever possible. For one, you'll be able to learn from business owners and leaders who have an extensive amount of experience in running a business, which means that the advice they give during the conference could be invaluable to you.
These conferences also provide you with a great opportunity to make connections with other professionals in your industry. If you're creating a medtech startup and are in need of partners or managers for your company, a startup conference may be the perfect place to build your network and bring in new partners. You'll also be able to learn more about the industry that you're about to enter, which will almost certainly be important as you attempt to grow your company.
If you work within the medtech and bioscience fields, these conferences can be very beneficial at allowing you to learn more about the latest advancements that are occurring within the industry. Knowing about these technological advancements should help you gain a competitive edge when you're developing a new medicine, device, or product. Once you've determined that attending a startup conference is right for your business, you'll need to choose between the various conferences held in and around Southern California.
It's recommended that you attend any startup conference that you can make time for if you want your startup to have the highest chances of success. The following is a detailed list of the six best medtech and bioscience startup conferences that are occurring in Southern California throughout 2019.
The 2019 UCLA Bioscience Innovation Day was a fantastic startup conference that was held from May 22-23 in 2019. This was the second annual Bioscience Innovation Day that was held at the UCLA Luskin Conference Center. The main purpose of this event is to advance science and foster partnerships with investors, companies, and entrepreneurs, which is something that can be highly beneficial for any bioscience startup in its early stages. It's believed that the third annual Bioscience Innovation Day is going to be held early next year as well given the great success of this event.
For each of the first two years, well over 500 people attended the two-day event, which extended to startups, investors, and larger biopharma companies. The 2019 event focused primarily on showcasing new initiatives that have helped to grow the biotech ecosystem throughout Southern California. Attendees at the event were also provided with a comprehensive look at some of the latest translational research that was conducted at UCLA and other nearby institutions.
If you want your startup to understand how the bioscience industry works and what types of research are being conducted, this is an event that you don't want to miss. Since it occurs once every year, you'll also have ample amounts of time to clear your schedule in preparation for the event.
Find out more about the UCLA Bioscience Innovation Day event at https://tdg.ucla.edu/bioscience-innovation-day-2019
OC LIFe is a fantastic event that's held every month by University Lab Partners. The Life Science Innovators Forum is an entirely free event series that is next set to take place on October 23 from 4:00PM-7:00PM. The goal of this forum is to connect the life science industry with entrepreneurs who are interested in starting a business or getting a job in the industry. They believe that this event helps to strengthen the medical technology and life sciences communities.
This is a somewhat more laid-back event that's perfect for entrepreneurs who require guidance for their tech venture or are thinking about obtaining venture capital or angel investments. While this event is open every month at 4:00PM, arriving on time will provide you with the opportunity to take a hard hat tour until 4:30 that gives you an inside look at the new University Lab Partners facility. Keep in mind that food and drinks are always provided during the event and that different speakers host the event each month, the latter of which means that you can get a new perspective on the industry at each event.
Sign up and attend University Lab Partner's monthly OC Life events at https://www.universitylabpartners.org/our-events/
The 2nd Annual Medtech Mega Mixer is a popular medtech event that's set to be held at the UCI Research Park on December 2, 2019 from 5:30PM-7:30PM. This event is designed primarily for entrepreneurs, investors, and professionals within the medtech industry and is set to include such activities as peer-to-peer mentoring, an organized Q&A session, and a lengthy session of brainstorming.
All of these activities and events can be highly beneficial for you and your startup. You'll be able to strengthen your network and gain new insight into the medtech industry that could help you navigate some of the hurdles that a startup will typically encounter early on. The Q&A session and discussion portion of the event are expected to delve deep into subjects that will likely be helpful for young startups.
If you're creating a healthcare startup but don't know where to begin, this event will provide you with this information. You can also gain insight on how to streamline your business or career, which may be what you need to start growing your business.
The Festival of Biologics San Diego was a highly successful event that took place earlier this year on March 3. The second annual festival is set to be held next year from March 2-4. This event was based on a European conference series of the same name that has been popular for 13 years. It's referred to as a festival because of how it combines four separate events under one roof. The four separate conferences focused on immunotherapy, biosimilar, clinical trials, and antibodies.
By holding all four of these conferences under one roof, entrepreneurs were able to attend multiple conferences that they were interested in. The event itself brought together 200 speakers, 80 sponsors, numerous exhibitors, and hundreds of different companies within the medtech and bioscience industries, which goes to show that this was among the most important industry events of 2019.
The two days of conferences included high-level science, case studies, round-tables, workshops, and practically limitless networking opportunities. Since this event is scheduled to take place again in 2020, it's something that you won't want to miss and should clear your schedule for. If you're trying to gain a foothold in the medtech industry and are interested in biologics, this is the perfect event for you.
Find out more about the Festival of Biologics San Diego at https://www.terrapinn.com/conference/festival-of-biologics/index.stm
The Ophthalmology Technology Summit was a startup event that was held on June 28 at the Fashion Island Hotel in Newport Beach. If your medtech or bioscience company is focused on vision care, this is an event that you should consider attending on future occasions. This summit is held in Southern California because Orange County is considered to be the epicenter of ophthalmology technology. It's also an annual event, which means that you can always visit next year around the same time if the event interests you.
This conference focuses on providing entrepreneurs, clinicians, technologists, and researchers with a forum where they can come together to have an in-depth discussion about the latest ophthalmic technologies, the clinical needs that are currently unmet, and new and exciting business opportunities in the field. It's believed that holding this summit helps to grow the ophthalmology ecosystem throughout Southern California. If you're interested in creating a business that centers around ophthalmology, there's really no better conference to attend in Southern California than this one.
From here, you'll be able to meet leaders of the industry, learn about the latest technological advancements, and make connections that could pay dividends for years into the future. As a startup, success isn't guaranteed by simply having a great idea for a product or service. You need to do the legwork that will help you grow as a company, which includes attending industry meetings that your competition is almost certainly going to be attending as well.
Learn more about the Ophthalmology Technology Summit at https://octaneoc.org/program/ophthalmology-technology-summit-ots/
Concept to Commercialization 2.0 is an annual event that was recently held on September 11 at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business. This is a somewhat unique event in that it usually lasts for upwards of nine hours and includes numerous conferences that entrepreneurs can check out. This event is tailored specifically to entrepreneurs, developers, and pioneers in the life science industries. Those who attended this latest event received targeted information from experts in the industry about how to effectively define and interpret their latest inventions.
Because of how long this annual event lasts, entrepreneurs who attend are able to gain all kinds of useful information. For instance, one of the panels focused on the inevitable setbacks and detours that occur when attempting to run a successful startup. The event was broken down into four separate sessions and panels. The morning session centered around the regulatory pathway basics for medical devices, drugs, and other types of regulated products.
Following the morning session, the keynote speaker made a talk about how to get FDA agreement for product classification. The afternoon session was a particularly exciting one that focused on emerging technologies in the industry, which included stem cell therapeutics, breakthrough devices, and SaMD. The final afternoon event was a "Disaster Panel" that taught attendees about what happens when a company takes a shortcut with their product or deviates from industry regulations. If you're trying to convert your initial concept into a product or service that's viable for the market, this annual event should be at the top of your list.
Learn more about Concept to Commercialization at https://sbdctech.com/conferences/c2c/
Many successful entrepreneurs and startup business owners connect and network with other entrepreneurs through various conferences that are geared towards startups, which allows them to gain useful knowledge, connections, and experience. Some of the upcoming events for startups in Southern California include the ULP Open House on October 2 and the monthly OC LIFe on October 23.
If you're interested in starting your medtech or bioscience company, take part inour monthly OC LIFe event within the UC Irvine Research Park at the University of California, Irvine! When you attend this event, you'll be able to learn more about what it takes to successfully run a business within the medtech or bioscience industry, which should help you avoid making some costly mistakes during the early stages of your startup.
Revised 11/17/2020
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