Health Innovation Showcase: TechBio

The birth of the TechBio industry, using data-driven technology to transform drug discovery and patient care, has created novel opportunities to scale and innovate life sciences solutions. Plug and Play held an in-person Health Innovation Showcase at our HQ in Sunnyvale, CA, to bring together startups, investors, and leaders in biotech and pharmaceutical innovation for an intimate, invite-only discussion on the topic of TechBio.

A Discussion with Industry Experts

Julianne Roseman, Principal in Ventures at Plug and Play, had an insightful conversation with Dr. Mostafa Ronaghi, Co-founder of Cellanome and GRAIL, as well as the former CTO at Illumina, along with Dr. Alex Morgan, a Partner at Khosla Ventures specializing in biotechnology, healthcare, data science, and AI/ML. Their discussion delved into the noteworthy trends in life sciences and AI, the true cost of drug discovery and delivery, and invaluable advice on bringing a TechBio startup into the market. To top it off, we also hosted a rapid-fire pitch session featuring six promising startups.

TechBio Health Innovation Showcase_featured image

Meet the Startups

Meet the Speaker

Ayah Hamdan, from the Plug and Play ventures team, gave an overview highlighting the major milestones in the last century of the biotech industry and how we got to the present-day “TechBio era.” Find our insights below:

Ayah Hamdan Headshot

Highlights of the Trends Presentation

  • In the years 2019-2021, VCs have invested $35bn into platform biotechnologies.
  • Within TechBio, the areas of greatest investment interest are Cell Therapy 2.0, Next generation gene therapies, Precision Medicine, machine learning-enabled drug discovery, and validated but “undruggable” targets.
  • Although the total funding in life sciences decreased by 28% from 2021 to 2022, the average check size increased to $20.1m.
  • 2022’s most notable fundraises were Altos Labs ($3.3bn) and Resilience ($1.3bn)
  • Although there is dry powder to invest in this year, investors are more conservative. Founders in the TechBio space should expect to show clinical trial success and strong financials. Generalist investors have taken a step away from investing in life sciences startups, generally considered a “complex industry.”
  • Despite the hesitancy around involving AI in the biotech industry, such as concerns of data breaches and security violations, TechBio is still expected to grow due to: Reduced costs of sequencing, increased pace of innovation due to automation and computation advancements, and scientists working with new tools to make their jobs more time and capital-efficient.
TechBio Market Map

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