ABCT, the Accelerator for Biosciences in Connecticut, Announces 2024 Cohort of Life Science Startups

BRANFORD, CONNECTICUT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, December 18, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — ABCT, the Accelerator for Biosciences in Connecticut, today announced the seventh cohort of emerging biosciences ventures invited to participate in the annual program.

Ten ventures will participate in the 6.5-month-long program that features entrepreneurship education, coaching and mentoring to develop fundable business plans and expand the biosciences community in Connecticut. Ventures are supported by an experienced entrepreneur coach and receive customized networking introductions to business professionals to help advance their early-stage ventures.

The selected startups were chosen following an extensive screening process.

The 2023 ABCT cohort participants and ventures include:

– Bobbianne Elizabeth, Angerlyk Frytz, Tawanna Woolfolk, Emily Carveth & Kim Whittingham (Independent) – Tenacity Art, developed the VR/EMDR app, offering immersive 3D therapy to patients. For clinicians, it includes a real-time trauma treatment database and a machine learning BE.Well algorithm for home-based mental health treatment.

– Courtney K. Rowe, Christopher Foster, & Kelly Burke (University of Connecticut) – Biodegradable implantable pain film to deliver targeted, sustained, opioid-free local anesthetics for postoperative pain control.

– Joseph Gennaro (Yale University) – Exoscope is developing a liquid biopsy-based diagnostic to enable precision treatment of acute rejection in heart transplant patients.

– Joshua Gilmore & Kenneth House (Independent) – Social Health Passport (SHP) is an end users and social service providers platform to share information and resources to support their client’s social mobility and self-sufficiency

– Julien Berro & Yuan Ren (Yale University) – Biosensors for Force-Based Diagnostics and Therapeutics.

– Ming Hui (Independent) – First complete potty-training solution that teaches babies to use the potty at an earlier age using sound association

– Mustafa Khokha (Yale University) – Victory Genomics uses the latest in genomics technologies to advance horse health, welfare, and performance.

– Ons M’Saad (Yale University) – Panluminate is developing pan-OptiX, a tissue analytics platform which allows scientists to identify new disease biomarkers and catalog the cellular signatures underlying fundamental drug interactions.

– Prisca Obi (Yale University) – Virtus Therapeutics is pioneering a new class of small-molecules that activate Coenzyme A (CoA) biosynthesis—a potential breakthrough for rare diseases marked by CoA deficiency.

– Vanessa Sena & Helen Wu (Independent) – Our personalized nutrition program integrates the expertise of dietitians and the culinary artistry of our chefs. We individualize patient care through tailored Medical Nutrition Therapy.

“We are excited to launch the seventh, 2024 cohort and honored to support emerging CT bioscience ventures. ABCT ventures have added $131M in investment and 161 jobs to Connecticut since 2017” said Mary Howard, Principal of FirstXFounder which delivers the ABCT program.

In 2023, ABCT Cohort alums achieved important professional milestones: Neuvotion, led by Chad Bouton ‘20, and his team were the first to successfully restore sensation to a person living with paralysis via a double neural bypass. Luna Biosciences, led by Carla Devillers and Joe Vinetz ‘22, demonstrated proof of principle in a second animal model for first vaccine candidate and were awarded a NIH Phase 1 STTR for $600,000. Additionally, Joe Vinetz was awarded the Yale Faculty Innovation Award.

About ABCT

ABCT is the only competitive-entry, six-month program of personalized entrepreneurial education delivered for first time founders of bioscience ventures of any development stage focused on healthcare innovation in Connecticut. ABCT focuses on unlocking the unknown by addressing individual needs and utilizing accredited entrepreneur coaches and expert mentors to craft unique, educational experiences crucial to the development of successful ventures. Arome Science, led by Alexey Melnik ‘23, reached an agreement with Thorne to validate painless blood collection devise for consumer testing. A number of ABCT alumni, including SolitonZ Games and Vis Pre Surgery, embarked on clinical trials across the world.

ABCT is supported by Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Wilson Sonsini, Wiggin and Dana, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Atostek, and C3 Medical Device Consulting.

For more information on these ventures and their successes, visit ABCT.co.

About FirstXFounder

FirstXFounder (formerly DesignTechnologies LLC), founded 2008, supports first time founders of life science companies of any stage in three competitive entry metro area accelerator programs ABCT, WCBA, and Next Milestone, and the ELabNYC Master Class series. Over $2.3B has been collectively raised by 500 program alums delivering the largest pipeline of ventures into Metro area incubators, creating 1,000 new jobs, and helping build the regional ecosystem.

Mary Howard
FirstXFounder
mary@firstxfounder.com
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