Novo Nordisk doubles up with Nucleate: renews partnership with Nucleate Boston and adds Seattle chapter
Novo Nordisk to bolster their support to Nucleate by renewing their sponsorship of Nucleate Boston’s Activator Program and extend it to Seattle chapter, facilitating formation of early-stage life science ventures.
Today, the Nucleate Boston chapter is pleased to announce renewal of its partnership with Novo Nordisk which will be anchored at Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub. As a Platinum level regional partner, Novo Nordisk provides funding to the Boston chapter and supports its programming, promoting entrepreneurial education and life science innovation through hands-on workshops and mentoring.
“We are excited to continue supporting Nucleate’s Boston Chapter,” said Novo Nordisk Scientific Advisor Emiliano Cló. “The educational mission of Nucleate closely aligns with our work at the Bio Innovation Hub, and we are eager to meet the 2023 Activator cohort. Many exciting startups will emerge from the teams going through the Activator in the near future and potentially become involved in our activities.” The Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub is a cross functional R&D team within Novo Nordisk based in Boston’s innovative life science ecosystem with an ambition to establish and drive an externally anchored portfolio of co-created breakthrough therapeutic concepts as well as technology and delivery projects.
Since 2019, Nucleate’s equity-free Activator program has supported over 50 early-stage venture teams in the Boston Area, including Glyphic, Concerto Biosciences, and Manifold Bio. In the past two years, the Activator program has rapidly expanded from its founding Boston chapter to 18 U.S and international geographic regions. Activator participants meet potential co-founders and are equipped with an unparalleled network, educational workshops, and legal support. In total, Activator companies have received more than $170M in funding following program completion and created over 120 new jobs.
“Novo Nordisk has been a key supporter of Nucleate over the past year,” said Vidisha Mohad, Co-Managing Director of Nucleate Boston. “We deeply appreciate their support and commitment to our mission of empowering the next-generation biotech leaders. We look forward to further building our partnership and developing more joint programming.”
“Our Novo Nordisk partnership has been instrumental in the success of our expansion,” said Nucleate Co-President, Oliver Dodd. “Many of our teams share scientific interests with the Bio Innovation Hub and will deeply appreciate their vast expertise.”
Novo Nordisk has also decided to extend support to the newly established Nucleate Seattle chapter as a Gold sponsor. The activities will be anchored at the site in the same city, the oldest and largest research site in the US focused on type on diabetes, obesity, kidney disease, liver disease, and connected medical devices.
“I’m excited to get involved with Nucleate in Seattle right from the start of their activities”, says Nick Cox, Associate Director of Discovery Chemistry. “I’m passionate about supporting the local Life Science entrepreneurial ecosystem, and Nucleate will be a great way to build connections and get engaged”.
“We envision a close partnership with Novo Nordisk in Seattle, complete with joint local programming and Novo Nordisk mentorship of Activator teams, starting with this year’s inaugural cohort of 5 teams across the Pacific Northwest,” says Melih Yilmaz, Managing Director of Nucleate Seattle.
Partnership between Novo Nordisk and Nucleate supports the Activator program, which connects early-stage ventures with experienced entrepreneurs and mentors. Nucleate recently selected their 2023 Activator cohort, consisting of over 150 promising new technologies across the US and internationally.
About Nucleate
Nucleate is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering the next generation of biotech leaders. With chapters spanning 18 geographic regions and participation from over 120 academic institutions, Nucleate sparks new intellectual communities and embeds emerging talent within a global biotech community. Through open-access educational programming, Nucleate helps democratize biotech innovation — removing barriers and helping founders concentrate on building transformational technologies. Visit www.nucleate.xyz for more information, and email contact@nucleate.xyz if you want to get involved with our programming.
About the Activator Program
Nucleate’s flagship educational program, Activator, facilitates the formation of new life science companies solving pressing biomedical or ecological challenges. Unlike traditional accelerators, Activator is an equity-free, fee-free, hands-on entrepreneurship program that stimulates regional innovation and builds a global community of biotech entrepreneurs. Empowering academic trainees to translate their groundbreaking science into successful companies, Activator facilitates entrepreneurial education through team formation, mentorship and expert support, rigorous workshop series, and a final pitch showcase.
