2023 BexarBio Pitch Competition

About the Competition

May 1st | Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

BexarBio is Greater San Antonio’s $100K cash prize pitch competition strictly focused on biomedical startups. With $100,000 in prize money, the competition is hosted by VelocityTX and is sponsored by Bexar County Economic & Community Development.

Requirements

Biomedical startups located throughout the nation that meet the below eligibility requirements are strongly encouraged to apply. The application deadline is March 15th, 2023. All applications will be reviewed and screened by the BexarBio Screening Committee. The screening committee will determine which applicants advance to the semi-final round of 12 competitors based on the following criteria from their submitted applications:

  • Meeting all necessary competition eligibility requirements
  • Leadership – Does the team have the ability to reach the next level of success?
  • Business Model – Is the revenue model realistic and sustainable?
  • Execution – Are there strong growth metrics or measurable traction?
  • Jobs – If success continues and scales, will this create more jobs?
  • Quality of submitted responses in the application.

Process

Semi-finalists will be randomly placed into one of four groups (designated as Groups A, B, C & D to participate in private pitch sessions with 5 judges).  Each group will be comprised of 3 semi-finalists. Each semi-finalist will go through a screening process that consist of a 5-minute private pitch and a 5-minute Q&A session.  A finalist from each group will then be selected by their group’s judging panel to advance to the final round of the competition.

The BexarBio final event will consist of 5-minute pitches with a 5-minute Q&A session that will be delivered to a panel of 5 judges.

All semi-finalist groups will participate in pitching on Thursday, March 23rd.

All finalists will compete in the BexarBio final event on May 1st, 2023

Qualifications

Applicants for consideration should:

  • Be a company with one of the following focus areas: medical device, biotech, healthcare IT or related fields
  • Preferably be headquartered in the United States
  • Be a properly registered business entity in the United States. (International companies are welcome to apply with the commitment of moving their business to Bexar County.)
  • Have received less than $4.5M from 3rd-party investors
  • Generate less than $2.0M in annualized revenue
  • Has been validated by securing non-dilutive or dilutive funding
  • Maintain a company presence (office or remote employee) within Bexar County for a minimum of 6 months after prize money award date.

Competition Details

A finalist from each group will be selected by their judging panel to advance to the final round of the competition. The 4 finalists will then compete for the Judges’ Grand Prize of $75,000 live on May 1st, 2023.

The 2023 BexarBio finalists will deliver a 5-minute pitch and have a 5-minute Q&A session with a panel of 5 judges. Judges will then deliberate to select the Judges’ Grand Prize of $75,000 winner and 1st runner-up of $15,000. A live audience poll will be conducted to select the second runner-up of $10,000 of the remaining prize.

Disclaimer: Finalist prize winner required to maintain a company presence (office or remote employee) within Bexar County for a minimum of 6 months after prize money award date.

FAQ

What is the definition of a “biomed” startup for this competition?

Companies in the pharma, biotech, medical device, health IT, and related industries will be considered.

When is the deadline to submit our application?

Applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM on March 15th, 2023.

How long will it take to fill out this application?

The application should take roughly 30 minutes to complete.

Do I have to submit a pitch deck?

You are strongly encouraged to submit a pitch deck and/or demo video to be reviewed by the selection committee choosing the semi-finalists. However, this is not required.

What happens if I’m a semi-finalist but can’t travel to San Antonio?

The semi-finals will be conducted over a Zoom call so it is fine to be remote. However, if selected as a finalist you will need to travel to San Antonio for the final competition on May 1st.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

Incubator Program

The Incubator Program is designed to scale early-stage bioscience companies by providing long-term support and includes office and meeting space, access to industry experts, mentors, and more.

CEO Roundtable

The CEO Roundtable is an exclusive membership program that brings together executives from non-competing bioscience and healthcare companies to foster innovation, collaboration, and connections.