Life Science Entrepreneurship 2025: Crowning Finale in Mainz

Lief Science Entrepreneurship Program 2025: Healthcare Shapers accompany young founders to the pitch. (Copyright: Healthcare Shapers)

The Life Science Entrepreneurship Program Rhine-Main (1), initiated and organized by the University Medical Center Mainz (2) and supported by speakers and mentors from the Healthcare Shapers consulting network (3), has in the past six months provided over 20 young researchers from various research institutions in the Rhine-Main area with the tools needed on their way to founding their own companies. The program is part of the nationwide initiative for gene and cell therapy GeneNovate (4).

Turning Researchers into Founders

Alongside eleven specialists from the Healthcare Shapers network, six startup founders and ten mentors have challenged and supported scientists, doctoral candidates, postdocs, and professors from the life sciences sectors of pharma, biotechnology, MedTech, diagnostics, and digital health through intensive discussions and workshops. They have advanced the networking of researchers and facilitated exchanges with experts from the pharma, biotech, diagnostics, and MedTech markets. “Thanks to the industrial experience of the Healthcare Shapers, the scientific ideas of the researchers were developed into viable business concepts. The result is convincing and inspiring project presentations,” rejoices Dr. Matthias Schwabe (5), head of the Technology Transfer Department at the University Medical Center Mainz. He is one of the project managers and has been successfully developing the entrepreneurship program for three years in collaboration with partners from the Rhine-Main region. At the closing event on June 13, 2025, in Mainz, the participants' concepts will be presented before a critical audience of investors, researchers, and representatives from politics and science — the best pitches will be awarded. Investors and innovation scouts are warmly invited and can register via email (technologietransfer@unimedizin-mainz.de) with the Technology Transfer Department at the University Medical Center Mainz (2).

Mentors – Invaluable in the Startup Phase

“The last few months have been very intensive,” reflects Günther Illert (6), founder of Healthcare Shapers, on the Life Science Entrepreneur Program. “Business-savvy, well-connected consultants from our network have contributed as mentors. With their market knowledge and contacts, they can significantly ease the start-up process for young researchers,” emphasizes Günther Illert, the strategy coach who moderated the six workshops in the program.

Answers to 'New' Questions from Young Founders

How does one convince peers and investors of a founding idea? How can the benefits and unique selling points of a product or service be positioned in the market? These are new questions for researchers, as well as protecting their own startup ideas or developing a viable value creation model for sustainable growth, which are central to market success. “With strong speakers and mentors by their side, researchers reach better answers faster. In the Life Science Entrepreneurship Program 2025 in the Rhine-Main metropolitan region, this included mentors such as Dr. Nina Althoff (7), Dr. Jan-Uwe Claas (8), Ricarda Cramer (9), Dr. Andreas Erkens (10), Dr. Merike Glass (11), Dr. Georg van Husen (12), Prof. Dr. Clarissa Kurscheid (13), Dr. Markus Riester (14), Yvette Schollmeier (15), and Thorsten Schmitt (16),” introduces Günther Illert the participating partners.

Networking – A Key Success Factor

Especially because the healthcare market is so heavily regulated and founders face an extremely fragmented stakeholder landscape, choosing the best market entry route and the “right” customers is very challenging. “Those who rely on networking and collaborate in partnerships and cooperations with regional network partners and market players also find open ears among investors. It is essential to move from the startup phase through growth to scale-out or to recognize when the time for a successful exit has come,” believes Günther Illert.

At the closing event on June 13, 2025, in Mainz, investors and startup supporters are warmly invited; registration is directly through the University Medical Center Mainz, Technology Transfer (2).

About Healthcare Shapers

Healthcare Shapers is a network of around 150 interim managers and consulting professionals in the healthcare industry in Germany, Switzerland, North America, Canada, and France-Benelux. They support globally operating pharmaceutical companies, SMEs, and startups in the life sciences and MedTech sectors, from strategy development to successful market entry of medicines and digital medical devices for diagnostics and therapy. Profiles of all consultants are accessible via the Consultant Search (17). The network’s activities are reported in a monthly newsletter, which can be subscribed to free of charge (18).

Sources/Links:

1. Life Science Academy, University Medical Center Mainz. https://forschung.uni-mainz.de/entrepreneurship-workshop-programm 
2. University Medical Center Mainz, Technology Transfer technologietransfer@unimedizin-mainz.de 
3. Healthcare Shapers Network https://www.healthcareshapers.com/ueber-uns 
4. GeneNovate: https://www.bihealth.org/de/translation/nationales-netzwerkbuero-fuer-gen-und-zelltherapien/genenovate 
5. Matthias Schwabe https://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/technologietransfer/footer/impressum.html
6. Günther Illert https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/guenther-illert
7. Dr. Nina Althoff https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/dr-nina-althoff
8. Dr. Jan-Uwe Claas https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/dr-jan-claas
9. Ricarda Cramer https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/ricarda-cramer
10. Andreas Erkens https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/dr-andreas-erkens
11. Dr. Merike Glass https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/dr-merike-glass
12. Dr. Georg van Hussen https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/dr-georg-van-husen
13. Prof. Dr. Clarissa Kurscheid https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/prof-dr-clarissa-kurscheid
14. Dr. Markus Riester https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/dr-markus-riester
15. Yvette Schollmeier https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/dr-yvette-schollmeier
16. Thorsten Schmitt https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants/thorsten-schmitt-0
17. Healthcare Shapers Consultant Search with all partner profiles https://www.healthcareshapers.com/consultants
18. Healthcare Shapers Newsletter Registration https://www.healthcareshapers.com/newsletter