With research labs, universities and colleges located directly in the heart of Boston and Cambridge, it’s no surprise that these two cities alone are home to more than 1,000 biotechnology companies. From Boston, many notable biotech companies were born, including PathAI, PillPack, Benchling, and many, many more. Below, you’ll receive a high-level glimpse of who you should follow, where you can network, and who invests in biotech, life sciences and pharma companies.
Who to Follow in the Biotech Space
Stay in the know of what the Boston Biotech Startup Scene is saying. These are some twitter handles you’ll want to follow!
Adam Feuerstein - reporter at STAT, a publication covering health and medicine
Bruce Booth - early stage biotech investor, focused on starting and funding new companies working on transformative new therapeutics at Atlas Venture
Daphne Zohar - the Founder and CEO of biotherapeutics company, PureTech
Kendalle Burlin O’Connell - President & COO of MassBio and name one of Boston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40
Kenn Turner - the President and CEO of Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
Rowan Walrath - reports news about biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device companies in Massachusetts for the Boston Business Journal
Ryan Cross - award-winning science journalist based in Boston. He covers the biotech industry, drug discovery, gene editing, and related fields for the Boston Globe and previously for the American Chemical Society
Wendy Webber Nelson, PhD - Founder and President of the Boston Biotech Forum, a content-rich networking event for biotech executives
Networking Groups, Events, Accelerators and Incubators for Biotech Startups
Interested in the Boston biotech scene? Maybe looking for some advice on what the trends are or just looking to network? These are some groups, events, accelerators and incubators you may want to check out:
ASAP BioPharma Conference - join alliance and partnering leaders from around the globe who represent prominent pharma, biotech, life science, academia, and consulting groups, among others
Bio Pharma Networking Group - a pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life sciences professionals' group. It connects communities across various disciplines & corporate cultures that value relationship building at all stages of industry careers.
Harvard Biotech Club - a student organization on a mission to bridge the gap between industry and academia and provide the education, skills, and network for students to become future leaders in biotech.
Biotech Week Boston - brings together scientific minds and business leaders from both Boston and the world in the drug development value chain
Boston Biotech Forum - by invitation only; held to address pertinent industry topics with experts from many local biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies
Boston Cambridge BioTech Networks - features news, events and jobs in the Boston biotech industry
Boston Life Sciences Showcase - a collaboration between bioverse, the life sciences division of VietChallenge and Boston New Technology
Boston Taiwanese Biotechnology Association - a non-profit organization who wants to foster individual career development, to enhance scientific collaborations, to facilitate interactions and to strengthen networking among academic and industrial bioscience communities in Taiwan and US.
HR Biotech Connect - an HR community for the biotech industry
Latinos in Bio - an organization of latino leaders and professionals in Biotechnology and the Life Sciences in Massachusetts
Life Sciences Cares - Boston - empowering the life sciences community to make change
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center - on a mission is to serve as the hub of the world’s life sciences ecosystem, encourage innovation through investments in good science and business, strengthen and protect Massachusetts’ global leadership position in the life sciences, accelerate the commercialization of promising treatments, therapies, and cures that will improve patient care, create jobs, drive economic development and STEM workforce development.
Massachusetts STEM Week - organized by the Executive Office of Education and the STEM Advisory Council in partnership with the state’s 9 Regional STEM Networks. It is a statewide effort to boost the interest, awareness and ability for all learners to envision themselves in STEM education and employment opportunities, and complement the formal instruction happening in the Commonwealth beyond STEM week.
MassBio - their mission is to advance Massachusetts’ leadership in the life sciences to grow the industry, add value to the healthcare system, and improve patient lives.
MetroWest Life Sciences Network - a regional collaboration of healthcare and life science-based organizations, municipalities, and economic and business development organizations located in Boston’s MetroWest
OUTbio - empowering LGBTQ professionals in drug development
Science in Boston - events, jobs and resources for the life science industry in Boston
The Termeer Foundation - their mission is to connect the world of healthcare innovators until every patient has a cure through events and scholarships
Women in Bio - welcomes women working in the life sciences to events created to support professional development, leadership, and mentoring
Investors in Biotech
See below a few firms that invest in biotech startups in the Boston and New-England area:
5AM Ventures - focused on building next-generation life science companies capable of delivering outstanding returns to our investors
Atlas Venture -build breakthrough biotech companies with remarkable life science entrepreneurs
Broadview Ventures - impact investing in cardiovascular disease
Fast Track Initiative - invests in therapeutics, healthcare and well-being
Flagship Pioneering - create breakthroughs in human health and sustainability and build bioplatform companies
MPM Capital - biotechnology investment firm with three decades of experience creating and investing in innovative biotechnology companies seeking to deliver transformative therapies to patients in the areas of highest unmet medical need.
OrbiMed - From biopharmaceuticals to medical devices, digital health, diagnostics, and healthcare services, OrbiMed is scouting the globe for innovations that will help ensure humanity lives healthier, longer, and more productive lives.
RA Capital - dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare and life science companies developing drugs, medical devices, diagnostics, services, and research tools
Sante - invests at the leading edge of innovation in healthcare and technology. Manages approximately $1B of capital in two separate strategies.
Section32 - invests across the entirety of technology. This includes cybersecurity, enterprise software, fintech, web3, quantum computing, space, machine learning, artificial intelligence, computational biology, and biotechnology
Thirdrockventures - push the boundaries of science and technology to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families. By starting with big ideas and fostering collaboration among brilliant people with expertise in science, medicine, business and strategy, they set out to do more than fund startups – they aim to build sustainable, innovative companies that can transform the lives of patients.
Stay tuned with latest updates on the Boston Biotech Startup Scene
The space is constantly changing and new players enter the game. We try to keep our resources up to date, but if there’s anything we missed send us a message using this link. Thank you!