Fannin Innovation Studio

Fannin Innovation Studio
Private
Industry Venture capital
Founded 2005[1]
Headquarters Houston, Texas, United States
Products Investments
Website www.fannininnovation.com

Fannin Innovation Studio (FIS) is a seed accelerator firm focused on developing medical technologies developed in Houston's Texas Medical Center and NASA's Johnson Space Center. The firm, which is based in Houston, Texas, was founded in 2005 as AlphaDev, LLC.[1] In 2014, the firm announced the change of name to Fannin Innovation Studio.

Business model

FIS's business model is a Life Sciences Studio. This is a hybrid of traditional venture capital, business incubator and seed accelerator with some unique elements. Like seed-stage venture capital firms, FIS screens and invests in technologies coming from research laboratories. Similar to business incubators, FIS provides office accommodations and back-office support.[2] FIS funds development of its portfolio companies with a heavy focus on non- or lightly-dilutive funding, such as grant support from governmental and philanthropic sources and also accesses angel investor networks and other sources of funding when appropriate.

Portfolio companies

In 2015, the firm closed a $7.3 million round to help fund 15 new companies in the next five years.[3] Current portfolio companies include Acelerox,[4] Apaxis, BreviTest, Exotect,[5] GuidaBot, ACF Pharmaceuticals,[6] Clearview APP, MinVasc Devices, Procyrion [7] and Pulmotect.[8] Fannin Innovation Studio and the University of Houston announced the formation of GuidaBot LLC in July 2015 to continue robotics research.[9]

Leadership

Leo Linbeck III is the chairman of Fannin Innovation Studio.[10] Atul Varadhachary is the Managing Partner of Fannin Innovation Studio, and Mark Worscheh is the CFO and Treasurer of Fannin Partners.

Associate program

FIS has an active associate program which attracts interns from the Texas Medical Center, including institutions such as the University of Houston, the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and Texas A&M University.
In an interview with the Houston Business Journal, John Osborne, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, said that he recruits young Ph.D. candidates from the life sciences and provides them with entrepreneurial training so that they can then act as bridge leadership of a startup.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 fundingpost.com
  2. ↑ Joe, Martin (2014-09-18). "The Fannin Studio scales up new model for medical commercialization in Houston". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Keshavan, Meghana (6 March 2015). “Houston life sciences firm using $7.3M to seed 15 new startups.” MedCityNews. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  4. ↑ {{Xconomy (2015-02-11): Fannin spinout Acelerox aims to halt immune attacks with nanotech}}
  5. ↑ {{Xconomy/2015/11/10/: Houston's Fannin launches new biotech Exotect to treat asthma}}
  6. ↑ {{Bionews-tx.com: news/2015/09/18/ACF Pharmaceuticals formed.}}
  7. ↑ MDB (1 August 2014). "CIRCULATORY SUPPORT WITHOUT SURGERY FOR HEART FAILURE PATIENTSt". Medical Design Briefs. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Business, Wire (9 June 2009). "Texas Emerging Technology Fund makes $250,000 Investment into Pulmotect". Business Wire. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Fannin Innovation Studio and University of Houston Announce The Formation of Guidabot, LLC". BioSpace: Life Science News + Jobs. BioSpace. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Tomlinson, Chris (November 13, 2014). "Startup Studio Overcoming an Entrepreneur Shortage". Hearst Newspapers. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Raji, Bayan (8 February 2013). "Houston's biotech industry poised to grow, but more momentum needed". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved 20 June 2014.


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