Last week we attended the Nordic Life Science Days in Malmø, a partnering conference for the global life science industry. Physio R&D (Optimov) was among the 16 chosen startup companies to participate at a StartUp Challenge, where our Social Media Marketing Strategist (SMMS), Hristina, pitched about our Optimov project.
Hristina pitching on stage.
Therapeutics, medical technology and platform solutions were among the topics presented by the participating companies. Each contestant was given 3 minutes to pitch, followed by a 1-minute Q&A session by the jury and audience. The jury consisted of 3 life science experts and one investor. “The pitch itself went generally well”, recollects Hristina. “I had fun, was a bit nervous, as there were some communication gaps in relation to technology used for presenting, but I think I managed to stay calm and present Optimov in the best possible way, keeping the time and answering the questions from the jury”.
Hristina was the only one from Physio R&D present at the event, as the organizers could grant free access only to the pitcher. So, you can imagine that taking pictures of the pitching can suddenly become a problem – probably one of the few situations selfies would be a no-go. Here, our SMMS’ networking skills proved to be useful, after partnering with another lonely contestant. We would like to take this occasion and give special thanks to Claudia A. McDonald Bøen, the CEO of Arctic Pharma, for taking pictures and wish her all the best of luck with her company.
As you can probably guess, we did not win, but there are definitely no losers in an event like this. There was a somewhat big audience of potential partners and investors, which gives great exposure. It could have been nice with more time for engagement with the audience. However, one of the spectators was in particularly interested in Optimov – the managing director (Marshal Ma) of Link China Pharma Solutions, located in the UK. He thought there was potential for a platform like Optimov in China, because there are a lot of COPD patients in China (due to pollution), scarcity of physio therapists, as well as people located in remote areas.
To sum up, we did not get a prize this time, but we did get a great learning experience and many ideas on how to improve our pitching and networking skills for the next pitching event. Stay tune to find out more.
StartUp Challenge Contestants
Here’s an article with more details about the NLS Days event and the winners if you are interested:
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