Phoenix, AZ (October 30, 2018) – The Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA) today announced 25 semifinalists in the Fall 2018 round of the Arizona Innovation Challenge, a bi-annual business plan competition for promising early-stage companies in high-growth industries.
As many as ten recipients in each round will receive up to $150,000 each in capital to grow their businesses, advancing innovation and technology commercialization opportunities in Arizona. The funding for each awardee will be released in phases, according to milestones that are defined by participation in the Venture Ready mentorship program.
“We’ve implemented enhancements to the Arizona Innovation Challenge in order to support a greater number of innovative Arizona startups in commercializing their technologies,” said Sandra Watson, President & CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority. “These modifications will also ensure all participants receive the Venture Ready mentorship experience, a rigorous process designed to equip them with the skills they’ll need as they continue scaling their ventures.”
A total of 104 applications were received for the Fall 2018 round from companies across Arizona. The judges assessed each application on a set of criteria including technology potential, marketing strategy, quality of management team and economic impact.
Every applicant that meets the Challenge’s eligibility requirements receives constructive feedback generated from the rigorous online evaluation and scoring process. Semifinalists will participate in another round of judging and 20 finalists will be selected to continue on to the next round of the Challenge. Up to ten awardees will then be selected from that group of finalists.
About bioSyntagma
bioSyntagma is a precision medicine company dedicated to transforming how cancer is treated by providing deep data on the uniqueness of each person’s cancer. Its suite of platform technologies enables comprehensive, multi-omic and spatial profiling of tissues to get a complete and informed understanding of a patient’s cancer so they can be matched with relevant therapies and provided recommendations to avoid acquiring drug resistance. bioSyntagma serves the needs of clinicians, academic researchers, and drug developers to advance the implementation of precision medicine for cancer treatment.