MedCity Community invites applications
Developed during the pandemic, when face to face networking was not possible, the MedCity Community is our new virtual community of life sciences entrepreneurs. Since moving into its soft launch phase in January 2022, the platform has continued to steadily grow and evolve into a supportive and collaborative space for life science entrepreneurs to benefit from both peer-to-peer interaction and specialised opportunities.
Our phased launch
As highlighted in our February feature, MedCity Community was built to serve London-based SMEs, as well as national and international SMEs who wish to connect into the vibrant London health and life sciences ecosystem. It acts as a singular place for them to access all the right support, funding and people they need to thrive. Following a short pilot phase that began in November 2021, the Community has continued to grow organically throughout 2022, now consisting of over 150 members in total.
Benefits of the Community
In addition to networking with other founders and having first sight of MedCity-related investment calls and other opportunities, every new member benefits from a 1:1 with a member of the MedCity team. We have also begun offering other opportunities in recent months. Our regular life science briefing sessions, which were already popular with members, now always feature a special guest who is an expert in relevant areas of life sciences commercialisation or business. These guests usually agree to set aside some of their own time at a later date, to resume conversations with some of our members in attendance at the briefing. Examples include digital health specialist Hassan Chaudhury and investor Hitesh Thakrar, who were both able to offer multiple 1:1 sessions to our Community members following their respective briefings. Through our partnerships with VWV and Potter Clarkson, we have also been able to connect our members with legal expertise and resources, most notably through our monthly ‘Lawyer in Residence’ clinics with VWV.
Member feedback
Ahead of our next phase of Community growth, we designed a survey to collate feedback from our members. The survey returned some highly positive results, with 100% of respondents saying that they would recommend MedCity Community to other life science SMEs. Members told us that the most valuable features of the Community were having access to ecosystem news and funding and event opportunities, along with networking and invitations to briefings with special guests. The responses also offered some insightful suggestions for future improvements to the platform. The feedback that we have collected in recent months has included testimonials from some of our members;
“The MedCity Community ensures that, as an entrepreneur, you never miss important opportunities happening in biotech and medtech. Their team is excellent in identifying and keeping us up to date with important grants, conferences, events, and training opportunities. It has been very beneficial for Avenna to be part of this platform so far and I would highly encourage SMEs from our field to join.”
– Nina Skorytchenko, Avenna
“Incredibly insightful – was surprised with just how many insights, tips & tricks Hassan had in 20 mins! Great to get an overview of the landscape and where he feels we fit in. Thanks team MedCity for organising”
– Issa Dasu Patel, CONNECT Care (On the 1:1 sessions with Hassan Chaudhury)
The next stage for the Community
Now we are preparing to move into the next stage of growing and developing the Community. Having grown the platform organically so far, we are preparing to open up to any eligible life science founders in the UK and internationally, who are looking to connect into London’s life science ecosystem.
Peer to peer support, interaction and engagement are key aspects that we want our Community to deliver, and scaling up the membership numbers is just one part of the approach to nurture these outcomes. Later in the autumn, we are planning to host our first Community member meet-up, consolidating virtual connections via the crucial in-person element that many of our members have expressed interest in. We plan to make such meetups a regular occurrence as we move into 2023.
Interested in joining the Community?
Almost a year since the pilot launched, the steady growth and development of the MedCity Community platform has laid the foundations for a sustainable network of life science founders across all sectors, from digital health to cell and gene therapy. If you have an interest in joining the platform, or would simply like to find out more, please visit our Community webpage.
If you are an organisation or company interested in working with us to sponsor the Community please get in touch by emailing Sarah Bruce-White, our Programmes and Partnerships lead sarahbrucewhite@medcityhq.com