Health~Holland just published the special edition of the Health~Holland Update, devoted to the LifeSciences@Work (LS@W) accelerator programme. Want to be inspired? Read the real stories of researchers on how to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations in the life sciences business.

For example, Eline Vrijland-van Beest, CEO of Nightbalance shares ‘Five lessons learned by experience as a CEO’. Even though she knows that “We made many mistakes in setting up the right clinical trial”, with the help of the LS@W accelerator the development of her Sleep Position Trainer was so successful that the company won the Venture Challenge in 2010 and it has just been acquired by Philips. And even more recently, she was awarded as one of the Innovators Under 35 Europe 2018 from MIT Technology Review on 4 December 2018 at Station F in Paris.

This shows that taking a research result out of the university, translating it into a commercially viable product while building a team, a company, and raising venture capital to pay for it all – is possible!

Ten years of building life science business, how did it all begin? Chretien Herben, Programme Director of LS@W, explains that: “I wanted to do something for all those other scientists out there with brilliant PhD results that, just like me at the time, probably have no clue what it actually takes to start a science-based company.”

And where are we at now, ten years later? The proof is in the numbers! LS@W already coached 146 biotech and medtech startups, worth 343 million euros and 550 jobs. 4 new therapeutics are in advanced clinical trials, 6 diagnostics and 6 medical device startups have products on the market, and another 18 startups offer their services. Successful alumni of the programme include Quirem Medical, Nightbalance, NCardia, and Kite Pharma.

Are you a startup? Do you want to be the next success story of LS@Work? Find out how it will work for you here.