Repositive and Novaseek Awarded $15k Each Plus Mentorship
Wilmington, DE – Repositive Ltd. (UK) and Novaseek Research LLC (USA) are the winners of the inaugural 2015 edition of the Pistoia Alliance President’s Startup Challenge.
Repositive is a software company developing novel tools to improve access to human genomic research data, while Novaseek is a health technology company that provides access to an extensive supply of clinically annotated human biospecimens and clinical data from consenting patients.
The winners of the competition each receive a cash prize of US$15,000 and a period of six months of expert mentorship from a senior industry figure drawn from the Pistoia Alliance membership.
The contest has been a huge success and has attracted over 30 entries from around the world.
Dr Steve Arlington, President of the Pistoia Alliance, said: “My congratulations to Repositive and Novaseek for their success in winning the top prize. Both companies have developed excellent technologies which support the Pistoia Alliance’s core aim of supporting innovation in life sciences research and development. Start-up companies are a major part of the future of the life sciences industry, and the two winners of the Pistoia Alliance President’s Challenge are excellent examples of how the demand for new ideas and approaches is being met by the start-up community. All the entries we received were of a very high standard and our judges had a tough task choosing between them.”
Fiona Nielsen, CEO of Repositive, said: “We are delighted to have won this prize. Repositive has made great progress thanks to the feedback of our partners and users, and winning this award is a strong validation of the value we bring to the genomics R&D industry – especially for facilitating pre-competitive data collaborations and simplifying data access. I am also pleased to see the Pistoia Alliance supporting an increasing range of companies across the life sciences sector through initiatives such as this.”
Dr. Kate Torchilin, CEO of Novaseek Research said: “Novaseek is honored to receive this award. Going through the rigorous process of judging and working with our mentor at Pistoia allowed us to substantially enhance our Clinical Data Network for Research platform, the industry’s first comprehensive platform for accessing clinical data and human biospecimens that are essential for understanding diseases and developing medical advances.”