Founders Fellowship

An immersive startup experience for budding life sciences entrepreneurs

Founders Fellows
Founds Fellows Raquel Hollatz and Ian Dardani

Founders Fellowship

This 12-month program offers hands-on startup experience for life sciences entrepreneurs interested in transforming ideas into business reality.

Our 2024-2025 cohort will put an emphasis on applicants with a research focus on fields relevant to aging and/or Alzheimer's disease.

Science Center Founders Fellows will receive:

  • $50K stipend for the 12-month program
  • Six months of hands-on learning punctuated with an “elder solutions” capstone project
  • Six months to focus on technology translation supported by medical faculty and aging-focused advisors.
  • Access to facilities at CIC Labs + Innovation Campus in Philadelphia.

The Fellowship will:

  • Expose founders to the aging market for their solutions in a practical and material way
  • Position founders for success in their commercialization efforts
  • Leverage government investment by increasing the likelihood of raising private capital

Meet Our Fellows

Tiara Durham

Director of Commercialization Programming

  • Interested in applying?

    Check back soon for open application period, or subscribe to our newsletter for program updates

Program Structure

The Fellowship includes in-person lectures, online workshops, and facilitated meetings with startups that is delivered over 12 months in two phases: Immersive Learning and Active Building.

MONTHS 1 - 6

Immersive Learning

Aging Focus

We've created an aging and longevity curriculum that gives our entrepreneur fellows insight into issues that are of concern for our aging population.

  • Dementia 1 & 2
  • Regulatory/Policy/Workforce
  • Social Determinant of Health
  • End of Life/Ethics
  • US Healthcare System
  • Chronic Dz Management
  • Functional Impairment
  • AI/Digital
  • Payment/Insurance

Entrepreneurial Focus

Fellows are embedded with startups to learn from and provide direct support to the founders, in addition to serving as a Venture Associate for Capital initiatives.

  • Technology and Market Assessment
  • IP Protection and Management
  • Raising Capital and Negotiation
  • Valuations and Deal Screening
  • Commercialization
  • Marketing and Corporate Management
months 7 - 12

Active Building

Fellows apply lessons learned from the Immersive Learning phase to transform their business concepts into a business reality. Fellows explore capital and private investment and develop a path to market.

Deliverables
  • SBIR/STTR application
  • Company legal structure definition
  • IP option or license agreement execution
  • Due diligence package development
  • Customer discovery for prototype development
  • Fundraising and partner development cultivation

Our 2024-2025 Fellows

Jun Beom Pyo, PhD

Developing a sensor platform technology that accurately and continuously measures blood oxygen levels regardless of skin pigment content or body movement.

Chinaemerem “Chinae” Daniel

Working on a comprehensive platform that combats financial scams targeting the elderly – a problem that accounts for $28 billion in losses annually. Her digital platform will give older adults greater financial security.

Cole Hagen

Using technology to analyze older adult movements, then use that information to assist with virtual healthcare and mobility-based interventions.

J.M. Kim

Developing a mobile augmented reality experience to help aging adults stay physically, mentally, and socially active.

Afsaneh Razi, PhD

Developing an AI-driven epilepsy monitoring app targeted at self-care functionality for older adults.

Our 2023-2024 Fellows

Daniel Baker

From the University of Pennsylvania, Danial is working to unite the fields of cell therapy and longevity to generate translational cellular products to ameliorate aging and its associated pathologies.

Yazmin Feliz

From Columbia University, Yazmin is developing low-cost ultrasound prototypes.

Divya Gowdar

Founded NubGenix Consulting, a quality and regulatory consulting firm who provides services related to design and implementation of Quality Management System (QMS), establishing regulatory, quality and compliance strategies for product launch and streamlining workflows.

Aravind Krishnan

From the University of Pennsylvania, founded ToxiSense, a biotech venture developing more sustainable and cost-effective bacterial endotoxin assays by engineering a plant biosensor system.

Our 2022-2023 Fellows

Raquel Hollatz

Founded Nesys, a food label that monitors perishables and produce for freshness, indicating the current state of shelf life and helping to reduce waste.

Ian Dardani

Providing life sciences researchers over 100X the amount of biological samples in just a few days, to accelerate understanding of disease biology and new therapeutic approaches.

Kristina Li

Developing a digital platform that democratizes drug development to improve access to healthcare.

Program FAQs

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