Lessons from Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2021!
This year we sent Mélodie Dupré Chair of the iGEM Industry Network, (an iGEM Community steering group which promote the effective communication between iGEMers & iGEM Industry Alumni) to represent the iGEM community and check out the worlds largest deeptech event - The Hello Tomorrow Global Summit 2021! We caught up with Mélodie to learn more about her experiences!
What did you learn?
Deep tech companies are flourishing worldwide and are on their way to bring some disruptive innovations to the environment and healthcare fields. Even if some deep tech technologies are starting to get relatively mature (AI) others (such as Blockchain technologies) are relatively new and still need to find their way to shine.
How did this change your perspective of Deeptech & SynBio?
SynBio seems to be also creating its place in these fields with a growing interest from investors and established companies. However there is a lack of investment in Europe towards these companies and we are seeing a lot of amazing projects leaving to elsewhere. On the plus side we also see the development of more and more accelerators and incubators are starting to be created in Europe, with a strong willingness to help young startups and young entrepreneurs to launch their deeptech businesses. Even established companies are starting some programs to access to this external innovation in a cheaper way.
What advice would you share with iGEMers based on this experience?
One idea is to put iGEMers in contact with companies having some challenges to answer, make them work on these challenges with at the end the opportunity to be hired by the company to continue the project. iGEMers wanting to continue their projects towards startups may also be interested into building strong connections with the industry during their iGEM journey, and afterward with the help of the industry steering group for example, to have a support and maybe some fundings at the end of the contest.
We are proud to have talented iGEMers, like Mélodie, represent us at deeptech conferences like Hello Tomorrow and will continue to offer similar representative opportunities in the future. Please feel free to reach out to epic@igem.org if you would like to be considered for our future representative opportunities.
If you are interested to learn more about iGEM Entrepreneurship please make sure to check out the rest of our blog and find out how to get involved in our program apply here.
About iGEM EPIC
The Entrepreneurship Program Innovation Community (EPIC) supports the development of iGEMs entrepreneurial community. The vision of the program is to become the driving force behind hundreds of SynBio based start-ups globally to help accelerate our transition to a more sustainable bioeconomy. The core of the program is focused on supporting iGEMers by connecting them to relevant co-founders, mentors, accelerators, investors and partners. This is done through a range of activities globally including the Venture Creation Labs, Mentorship Program, Fast Track Program and the Annual Startup Showcase.
