Ignite Award

February 5-28, 2022

Boston Convention & Exhibition Center

Boston, MA, USA

Ignite Award

The SLAS Ignite Award recognises the best start-up or emerging company exhibiting within Innovation AveNEW, the specially designated area for start-ups and emerging companies within the Exhibition.

Congratulations to the following five companies chosen to compete for the 2022 SLAS Ignite Award. Watch their presentations on-site or connect with them on the event platform.

BennuBio (USA) -- their transformational analytical system, the Velocyt^®, addresses the challenges of flow cytometry by delivering technology that can analyze samples regardless of particle size or sample volume.
Celldynamics ISRL (Italy) -- their W8 Physical Cytometer represents the only available technology for the biophysical characterization, physical-based sorting, and sterile recovery of sphere-like 3D cell cultures.
Celtarys Research (Spain) -- provides a highly versatile conjugation methodology for the efficient optimization of fluorescent probes for drug discovery.
Magnitude Biosciences Ltd. (UK) -- brings a unique C. elegans approach to all drug discovery and biological R&D researchers who can benefit from it.
Partillion Bioscience Corp. (USA) -- democratizing advanced single-cell assays. (See the technology that helped co-founder Joseph DeRutte win the Innovation Award at SLAS2020.)

Companies selected for Innovation AveNEW, and who opt-in to compete for the SLAS Ignite Award, will be judged by an SLAS panel on a combination of key concepts, including their marketing plan, market presence and potential, funding prospects, plan for growth and the existence of balanced company leadership, among other qualities, for a chance to win $5,000.

Application and Deadlines

Deadline for SLAS2022 Innovation AveNEW Applicants — Monday, October 11

Announcement of SLAS2022 Innovation AveNEW companies — Week of November 8

Deadline to Opt-In for the Ignite Award — Monday, November 29

Announcement of Ignite Award finalists — Week of December 13

Evaluation Guidelines and Judging Process

Pre-judging will take place in November and December to select the top five (5) finalists for on-site judging for the Ignite Award.

Judging will take place Monday, February 7 and Tuesday, February 8, 2022, in the Innovation AveNEW area of the Exhibition. A panel of judges will visit the booths and meet with each company’s representative. There must always be AT LEAST ONE person at the booth during the judging period who can discuss the company’s mission with the judges.

The competing companies will also provide a brief presentation in the Ignite Theater for inclusion in the judging. The award winner will be announced at the Tuesday, February 8.

Presentation

Was the company representative able to speak to the product/technology comfortably and clearly?
Was the marketing, web/social media presence clear and evident?
Did the company have flyers, handouts?
Could the product or service be clearly demonstrated?

Presentation (in Exhibition Theater)

Did the company representative explain the key concept(s) well?
Did the company representative provide the correct amount of background information so that the audience could understand the trajectory of the company from inception?

Market Impact

Is the market potential evident (extreme niche/niche/moderate/large)?
Does the company have a clear competitive advantage and is the product/technology significantly better than currently available or potentially competing technologies?
Is the proposed product/technology highly innovative?
Does the product/technology have the potential to address a currently unmet need?
Where does next round of funding come from, or is it projected to generate income?
Is there a plan for growth, expansion or sale?
Is the company leadership a balance of business and science professionals?

Scoring Criteria

The judging panel’s decision will be based on a series of criteria (in no order of significance) evaluated through presentations at the company’s booth and in the Exhibition Theater:

Marketing presence
Compelling message and market opportunity
Impact
Potential
Competitive advantage
Level of innovation
Addresses an unmet need
Funding sources, plan for growth
Leadership stability and diversity

Scoring System

5-to-1 Rating Scale:

5 — Outstanding, Novel and Broad Impact for a New Product
4 — Very Good, Solid, Novel Product
3 — Some Unique New Product Qualities
2 — Needs More Proof and Development
1 — Not Substantially New or Improved

Eligibility

All companies who are chosen to exhibit in Innovation AveNEW are eligible to compete for the SLAS Ignite Award. Innovation AveNEW companies must align in some fashion with the area of life sciences and technology, and while it is not required, an established relationship with a university, bioscience incubator or research institution is preferable. The company’s products and/or services must be available for sale/distribution in the year of their conference participation.

Non-Discrimination Statement

Discrimination based on race, religion, gender, age, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status or disability in regard to the SLAS Ignite Award designation is prohibited. Each candidate company shall be evaluated based on the award's criteria, which are tied to SLAS's purpose of advancing science and education through technology in the laboratory.

Reservation

SLAS reserves the right to select and deselect any company at any given time. All decisions are final.

Questions? Contact Elizabeth Frank, Program Manager or at +1.630.256.SLAS (7527) ext. 102.