Life sciences investing is doing relatively well locally, despite slow economy - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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“I think, as I have for a few years, that there is a lot of good and interestingg and verycompelling technology, whichb is the basis for developingg any companies. So I think we have a lot of good material tostart with. “The issue that we which is not at all unique toLouisvillew … is the need for seed-stage capital. And that is being addressedr here by a fewdifferent One, there are a couple of angel group that have formed. The state has some The seed fund that I manage is obviouslga source. So, there are some sourcee for seed capital, but we alwaysz can use more.
“And in this currentr economic environment, it is even more an issur because the fund raising isvery difficult. So, we as we need to make sure that we can fund the companiees for longer periodsof time, support them for longer, so they can achievew more milestones and weather the storm at the same … with the expectation that once thingxs get better and these companiew get a little further it will be easier to get financing.” Are you seeinf many new ideas that could become companies ? “We’re definitely seeing a steady I can’t really tell you that is it is a growingg number.
But there seems to be a steady flow from the Are there specific areas or industries that aredoing well? “Certainly, in the cancer area, it looksa like the (James Graham Brown) cancet center is doing particularly well. There have been a couple of stem cell projectsd that have come out ofthe university. “Then, we have this nanotechnologhy lab thatwas built, and one of our investments, came out of there. … That’s a relatively new but I think we will see morecoming out. And I am reallu excited about that. “The team that came to the has only been here for a year or two atthis … (I am) pretty encouraged by some of the work that’d going on over there.
” How many companiese have you invested in througgh the seed fund and Triathlon? “The seed fund has five investmentsw in its portfolio. Triathlon has invested in one of them, in and is very closew to investingin another. “They have been trackingf two othersas well. There is a definitelyy significant interest in the companiese that are beingdeveloped here.” Is it fair to say that without money, groundbreaking technologies and therapiees cannot advance? “It’s hard to Some of them may kind of withe r on the vine.
” Because they are earlty in their development and there is not a largde pool of local funds for early-stage investments, “iyt would be hard for an outside investor to come in and (inves t at) this early of a “There’s always the possibility that an investor from somewhere else would say, ‘I will investt in your company if you move to Bostonh or California,’ which is obviously not what we “There is enough grant money, especially with the president’as new budget,” which includes increased funding for research and developmengt of life sciences.
“Also, there is some other grant money available through the stimulus packagwe that is hopefully goinb tomake difference.”