A year-round opportunity for exceptional Biotech founders to work closely with the 2048 Ventures team at the earliest stages of their journey. If accepted, you get $300K for 8% on a post-money SAFE.

We ran the world’s top accelerators - Techstars, IndieBio and 500 Startups - and invested in over 200 early stage startups. We KNOW how to help EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDERS at the earliest stage of their journey.

Here is what 2048 Ventures Biotech Studio will be like for YOU.

- You will have a highly personalized, 1-1 experience with all members of 2048 Ventures team, our circle of biotechnology industry experts, and our founders. The Studio is HIGHLY SELECTIVE - we work with no more than half a dozen teams at any given time.

- You will work very closely with us for 256 days, which is much longer than a typical accelerator, because good things - like startups - take time.

- You will be in an environment specifically geared towards Biotech startups that traditionally don’t get a good support system in a generic accelerator. We will help with spinning technology out of university, navigating IP issues, selling into pharma and healthcare, selecting CROs, thinking through the tradeoffs between being a single asset or platform company, choosing go-to-market, and much more.

- Are you a talented scientist and a solo founder? We can help you find business and other co-founders. If you are wrapping up your PhD or research, we are happy to help figure if there is  market opportunity, and the mechanics of the spin out.

- Are you already working on a startup? Thats great - we will help you refine the product, introduce you to early customers, validate your go-to-market, help with the sales pitch, pricing and financial modeling.

- You will get access to the 2048 Ventures community and resources, including access to our founder Slack, workshops, Biotech channels, vendor specials and much more.

- You will get world class fundraising support, because we are BEASTS when it comes to help you get additional funding. We literally wrote the book on it! Once you are ready, we will work with you on your pitch deck, financial model and other materials. We will help you save time by creating a relevant pipeline of prospective investors and will do warm introductions for you.

- You can apply year around, and no one is too early. That said, we might be at capacity, so you should apply sooner rather than later.

- You get straightforward funding. No common stock, no tricks, no gimmicks. Receive $300K on a post-money SAFE that will convert into 8% of preferred stock in the next equity round.

2048 Ventures Biotech Studio

Startup Semester at Berkeley provides visiting students a unique opportunity to unleash their creativity and have a truly global experience. 

You will learn from world-class faculty and mentors, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, accelerators, and investors while experiencing an array of cultural activities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two separate tracks are available for you to develop your entrepreneurial journey. 

Track 1: Venture Discovery
Designed for undergraduates, our Venture Discovery Track is designed to inspire students who want explore different technologies, industries and opportunities for new ventures.

Explore emerging technologies
Create social impact through technology
Innovate and lead from within
Future proof a family-owned business
Join a global network of entrepreneurs
Requirements: Venture Discovery requires an F1 visa and 12 academic units with at least 8 units of SCET coursework.

Track 2: Venture Validation
Designed for graduate-level students, our Venture Validation track is for early-stage founders preparing for eventual acceleration.

Know your team & talent
Understand your customer
Validate your market
Prepare a world-class pitch
Prioritize and execute
Expand your global network
Requirements: Venture Validation requires a J1 visa and 9 academic units with at least 7 units of SCET coursework.

See https://scet.berkeley.edu/global/startup-semester/ for how to apply and additional information.

SCET's Startup Semester Program Spring 2024

This workshop is co-presented by a venture capitalist Jonathan Bronson and an entrepreneur Carl Dahlberg to teach students the basics of venture investing:

What is venture capital
When does it make sense to take venture investment
How to put your best foot forward with investors
Valuation logic
Common terms and conditions


Venture 101: A VC and Entrepreneur's Guide to Navigating the Basics of Startup Investment

Entrepreneur, speaker, author, innovator, and philanthropist
Exponential technologies are accelerating faster than anyone has imagined, enabling individual entrepreneurs to pursue their moonshots and enable a world of abundance.

In this keynote, Diamandis will dive into:

1.  What are the mindsets required for success during the exponential decade ahead?
2.  How do we create a world of abundance and uplift humanity?
3.  What are the key meta-trends emerging as exponential tech converges transforming every industry, as well as how we govern our nations and raise our families?

Q+A to follow, plus pizza! 🍕

This event is open to the MIT Community. Space and pizza are limited, so please RSVP using the form on the event page

The Future is Faster Than You Think: The Exponential Road Ahead — A discussion with MIT alumnus Peter Diamandis

Lowercarbon Capital (a climate focused VC) and Lithios (a MIT started lithium extraction startup) is hosting a seminar for PhD, post-docs, and faculty on how to transition research in the lab to climate venture and how to frame the right questions to solve the big problems in climate change.

Lab to Climate Venture: Solving Problems That Matter

Join MIT Sloan alumni and experienced investor Jaime Alatorre, Stanford GSB alumni and investor Rob Cherun, and their team for a two-day in-depth seminar on how to be successful in raising and executing a traditional search. 

Attendance to this seminar is on acceptance only. You will be required to fill out this Google Form for final consideration:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sxBKKtqvady4YIPAmBReGkD9bY3hsvuRfIIB7idTeEM/edit.

Objectives: For most people ‘Being an entrepreneur’ means starting a business from scratch, the well-known start-up model. This traditional model has two forms of risk: a) business model risk, building a product or service that will have demand and b) execution risk, knowing how to build and run an organization that can sell such product or service. The ETA model takes a different approach, Its objective is to find a good business to buy and focus only on being exposed to the execution risk. This means having the skills to (1) find the right company to acquire, (2) negotiate and structure the deal to acquire that company, and (3) scale and improve the acquired company. The main objective of this Seminar is to walk participants through this process and help them understand the pros and cons of the ETA model.

During this Seminar, we will discuss the entire ETA process, clearly identifying its challenges and rewards. The ultimate objective is for participants to be able to answer the following questions:

• What is a search fund and how does it work?
• What are the pros and cons of the ETA model?
• What are the major stepping-stones to start down the ETA path? 

Methodology: This Seminar will focus on exploring the 3 main stages of the ETA world:

1. Search Phase:

a.(40%) Raising a search fund, how to approach it, and how to find the right investors.
i. Understanding SF economics.
ii. Understanding SF structure and tradeoffs.
iii. Picking the right partners (in-depth review of institutional) 
iv. Partnered search: pros and cons (in-depth).

b. (40%) What is a good business? The right metrics to look for
i. Entry and exit multiples.
ii. Value Creation thesis. 

c. (20%) How to find a great company to buy
i. Brokers 
ii. Email drips
iii. Referral network
iv. Investors
v. Investment Banks

2. Acquiring the Business:
a. How do I convince the seller to sell to me?
b. How to think about structuring the deal, common pitfalls
c. Getting the money and closing the deal

3. Building a great company:
a. Taking over a business as a CEO with no previous experience
b. Building a team and becoming a leader
c. Thinking about long-term value creation

Each of these stages will be presented along a real-life case and explained by the entrepreneur who lived it to walk you through the challenges and pitfalls that they experienced during that stage. Leaving participants with a deep understanding of the Search Fund world and the implications of choosing ETA as a career path.

The Team:
Rob Cherun: Rob has been an active investor for over ten years. He has invested in over 50 companies and 20 search funds. For the last 12 years, Rob was CEO of Stealth Monitoring where he led 2,000 employees across 4 countries. The acquisition of Stealth started as a search fund, with the backing of 28 investors. Under Rob’s leadership, the company grew to become the leader in remote monitoring services and a top 10 security company in North America. The company grew at a 35% CAGR to over $100 million annual recurring revenue and 40+ offices. During his tenure, Stealth raised over $300 million of equity and debt. Prior to Stealth, Rob worked in strategy and business management at Morgan Stanley. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Rob earned an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and interviews applicants for GSB admissions. He also received an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, where he was an Ivey Scholar. He received Canada’s Top 40 under 40 award and is a member of YPO NY Metro. Rob serves on the Board of Stealth Monitoring, AppWrap, and the West Village Chabad Synagogue.

Mario Sicilia: Mario is a Partner and Co-Founder at Cerralvo Capital a fund dedicated to invest in search funds globally. Mario was CEO of BOMI, a company acquired with his search fund (52% IRR, 4.1x) and later served as CEO of LMP a testing and diagnostics company based in Mexico (45% IRR, 2.6x). He has served as Director in 4 SF acquired companies and 1 publicly traded company. Mario has invested more than $150 MM in equity, raised 4 PE funds and Co-founded 3 companies. He holds a BSE from UIA and an MBA from Stanford.

Jaime Alatorre: Jaime is a Partner and Co-Founder at Cerralvo Capital a fund dedicated to invest in search funds globally. Prior to joining Cerralvo, Jaime worked at Promecap Capital where he structured high yield debt transactions (+100 MM with +20% IRR) and co-founded ProActive Capital. Jaime has served as a director at 4 SF companies, 1 nonprofit and 1 publicly traded company. Jaime has invested more than $200 MM in PE equity funds and Co-founded 3 companies. He holds a BSE from UIA and an MBA from MIT Sloan.

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Event Details: https://sloangroups.mit.edu/rsvp?id=1927441

Event Information:
https://sloangroups.mit.edu/rsvp?id=1927441

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Search Fund Seminar 

In line with Boston University Questrom School of Business’ mission to offer exceptional learning opportunities rooted in a strong emphasis on creating value for the world, it brings a sustainability-themed case competition with one of the largest cash prizes – $50K – among events of this type around the world.

The Questrom $50K Sustainability Case Competition will ask interdisciplinary / cross-program student teams, to grapple with and develop solutions for real-life sustainability challenges. The overarching theme of the case competition is on Sustainability, with the following objectives:

a) Seek to solve a current real-world problem

b) Develop solutions that will be commercially and practically viable to build and implement, and ultimately generate a profit and/or support further sustainability initiatives (i.e., analyze and recommend direction amongst multiple strategic choices a company is considering in real-time).

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!
Qualifying Round: Maximum of 30 teams (respectively) from each of the 15 schools.

Quarterfinals: Each team will be required to submit a 2-page solution on a provided issue / theme.
A panel of judges will anonymously select the top submission from each school.

Semi-Finals: The selected teams will then need to present on a case prompt.
A panel of judges will deliberate on the top teams who will be selected to compete in the finals.

Finals: The selected teams will have the opportunity to revise their presentations.
Based on these final presentations, the judges will then select a single winner.

Participants will have the opportunity to hear live judging feedback via closed-circuit TV (something no other case competition does) and direct client feedback.
Audience voting will also be integrated.
After the competition, there will possibly be opportunities for additional client feedback at their offices.

See https://questromworld.bu.edu/questromsustainabilitycasecompetition/home/ for how to apply and additional information.

Email Greg Stoller at gstoller@bu.edu if any questions.

2024 Questrom $50K Sustainability Case Competition

Join Chad Laurans and Parker McKee(Pillar VC), for a fireside chat discussing AI, consumer hardware and SimpliSafe's founding story at MIT.