The Women's Entrepreneurial Life Science Initiative (WELSI) is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. The Initiative provides pro-bono wet laboratory space as well as a number of professional services, such as business development and management consulting, legal support and patent strategy assistance, grant proposal guidance and public relations assistance donated by benefactors and volunteers.
WELSI is directed by Sarah Sykora, who works in the Office of Strategic Initiatives at Northwestern University.
"Huge disparities exist between venture capital funding received by men and women," Sykora said.
Research shows that only about 5-6 percent of funds raised for venture capital has gone to women.
Recently, WELSI announced that it had signed its first two women-led companies, one that is using nanotechnology to target infectious diseases and cancer, and another that develops specialized software and services for archiving medical images and multimedia data for hospitals and health care facilities. The founder and CEO of the software company, called Medifacts, recently oversaw a beta test site at a large hospital and is now ready to enter the sales and marketing phase of the venture.
WELSI also recently sponsored an event called Girls * Go * Science, a program that enabled 100 high school girls in Chicago to learn about nontraditional business opportunities in the sciences. Throughout the day, the girls talked with industry professionals, participated in a lab demonstration, heard from college admissions personnel and toured the Northwestern University Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics and its affiliated start-up company, Nyxis.
Some of the companies that support WELSI include: Abbott Laboratories; Accelerated Business Solutions; Biotron Group; Counseltech; cueBIOtech; Piper Rudnick; Springboard Enterprises; Wellspring Communications; Women Advancing Bioscience; the Association for Women in Science; the Ceres Venture Fund; Arch Development Partners; Inroads Capital Partners; the Illinois Coalition; and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
WELSI encourages women professionals in the life sciences industry to become involved in the educational outreach component of WELSI by mentoring, providing internship opportunities, participating in educational seminars and/or allowing for company site visits.
KEYWORDS: women entrepreneurs, WELSI, Women's Entrepreneurial Life Sciences Initiative
5/28/03