Firm provides funds, ‘essential’ coaching sessions to support women entrepreneurs in early-stage life sciences companies

Mintz is proud to partner with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) through sponsorship and participation in its Massachusetts Next Generation Initiative (MassNextGen), a competitive program to support women entrepreneurs in early-stage life sciences companies, in which winners receive non-dilutive grant funding and access to a network of executive coaches for a year. For the 2020 program year, Mintz designed and executed two coaching sessions focused on negotiation skill building in financings and partnerships. In addition, Mintz joined Takeda, King Street Properties, Sanofi, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation as a sponsor of MassNextGen.

“Mintz is proud to support the MassNexGen program,” said Mintz Member Joshua D. Fox. “We have been actively involved in the life sciences industry for decades, including by advising start-ups and entrepreneurs who are building biotech companies, so this program is a great fit for us. The attorneys at Mintz who provided their time and expertise to the women entrepreneurs in the program were happy to be able to contribute to the life sciences community through MassNexGen.”

As part of access to the executive coaching network, MassNextGen entrepreneurs take part in a series of coaching sessions focused on specific topic areas, ranging from best practices for pitching to an overview of the regulatory approval process. Mintz’s first coaching session brought a financing focus of commonly negotiated issues in financing term sheets for early-stage life science companies, as well as insight into what to consider when receiving investment dollars. The second, centered on negotiating partnerships, offered an overview to entrepreneurs on protecting their company and ideas while still moving their mission and business goals forward through partnerships as an early-stage enterprise. In addition to the coaching sessions, Mintz provided $5,000 in additional funding toward future MassNextGen event opportunities.

“The coaching sessions provided by Mintz were absolutely essential,” said MassNextGen Entrepreneur Ida Pavlichenko, who serves as CEO, President, and Co-Founder of PionEar Technologies. “Speaking for myself and my fellow MassNextGen Entrepreneurs, the coaching and expanded networking opportunities provided by the MLSC and its partners are immeasurable in their benefits, allowing us to gain confidence as an entrepreneur and leader of a company.”

The MLSC is an economic development and investment agency with a mission of supporting the growth and development of the life sciences in Massachusetts. Launched in 2017, MassNextGen aims to ensure greater gender parity in the next generation of life science entrepreneurs. Since inception, the MLSC has deployed more than $1 million in funding for women entrepreneurs through MassNextGen with an executive coaching network providing 200-plus hours of coaching.

Mintz is one of the leading law firms to the life sciences industry. The firm’s attorneys advise hundreds of businesses and other organizations across the sector’s ecosystem—from start-ups and emerging growth companies to large public companies as well as venture capital firms, investment banks, and research and academic institutions—on pivotal deals, mission-critical disputes, intellectual property, and regulatory matters. Learn more about Mintz’s Life Sciences Practice here.