Last time San Diego hosted BIO in 2014, San Diego companies were inundated with requests for meetings from visitors looking to make connections outside of the convention center. After all, if you are going to visit one of the world’s preeminent biotech hubs, you better take advantage of your surroundings. Many of these meetings result in inbound investment opportunities for San Diego businesses and research institutions.
WTC San Diego, in partnership with Biocom, has launched discoversdbio.com, a website that will track, vet and expand investment opportunities for San Diego businesses during the BIO International Convention
The 2017 BIO International Convention, the world’s leading biotechnology conference, comes to San Diego June 19 – June 21. In 2017, BIO is projected to attract more than 16,500 attendees, with more than 2,000 individuals coming from international destinations. These delegations, comprised of venture capitalists, foreign dignitaries, private companies and others, collectively send hundreds of requests to businesses and organizations for tours and meetings outside of the San Diego Convention Center.
Foreign investment (FDI) is an integral part of San Diego’s life sciences cluster. In Q1 2017 alone,
San Diego’s life sciences cluster received more than $1.7 billion in FDI – more than 75 percent of the region’s total FDI during that quarter.
Discoversdbio.com will function as a one-stop-shop for delegations seeking opportunities in the broader San Diego community during BIO 2017. The tool will streamline requests, improve the tracking of visitors and strengthen the follow through. Delegations are directed to a website that captures contact information, delegation make-up, requested company tours and more.
“The annual BIO convention offers significant opportunities for companies to network at the conference, and because San Diego has a vibrant life sciences ecosystem, many visiting delegations are eager to make connections outside of the conference,” said Jennifer Landress, senior vice president and COO at Biocom. “However, sifting through a high volume of requests can be difficult. This tool will help track and vet the opportunities for San Diego organizations, giving them the information they need to make the decisions about which meetings to hold.”
San Diego life sciences companies and/or research institutions that are interested in hosting delegations, please contact Drew Garrison at dg@sandiegobusiness.org to be added to the website.
San Diego Regional EDC, the parent organization of WTC San Diego, will also be running subsequent programming during BIO 2017 as a way to market the region and attract additional inbound investment. EDC will launch an economic impact study on San Diego’s genomics industry, making San Diego the first region in the U.S. to quantify its genomics industry.