Options for financing newly formed companies will be the topic for the next program in the 鈥淭hings Your Mother Never Taught You鈥� series sponsored by the School of Medicine鈥檚 Office of Industry Relations.
鈥淣ew Company Financing: Pre-Seed, SBIR to IPO鈥� will feature Laura Dorsey, marketing manager for Washington Technology Center, and John Flemming and Betsy Lindsey from the Kirkland branch of Silicon Valley Bank. The speakers will be introduced by Dr. Susan Wray, director of the Industry Relations Office.
The presentation will be from noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 12, in room D-209, Turner Auditorium, at the Health Sciences Center. No registration is required and everyone is welcome.
Dorsey will discuss sources of research funding for technology companies, including the WTC鈥檚 program for funding the university side of industry-university research partnerships. She will also describe Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants from the federal government, which provided over $1 billion last year to companies developing new technology. These grants are awarded to small companies and can include a subcontract to a university collaborator.
Flemming and Lindsey, from the Seattle branch of Silicon Valley Bank, will discuss funding small life-science businesses from a financial institution鈥檚 perspective. They will describe various capitalization strategies, including advantages and disadvantages of each. Options include pre-seed funding, seed money, venture capital financing, debt financing, grants, self-funding and corporate alliances. Their presentation will conclude with a discussion of common exit strategies for small businesses, including merger, acquisition, or initial public offering (IPO).
The next program in the series is scheduled for April 9. For more information on the series and other Office of Industry Relations programs, see the Web site at