StartupAcceleration
High interest rates, cautious investors, and an increasingly competitive pool of funding were just a few of the obstacles facing early-stage life sciences and healthcare technology founders in 2024.
These challenges presented us with an opportunity to build upon our strong foundation of startup acceleration programs. In doing so, we strengthened our model for derisking startups by creating a more efficient pathway for customer discovery, stakeholder engagement, and market adoption.
2024 Highlights
Key Takeaways
We helped transition ideas into businesses.
By providing resources, mentorship, and industry access, we supported innovators in transforming their concepts into viable enterprises.
We primed startups for investment.
Through strategic guidance and connections, we prepared startups to attract and secure critical funding.
We shaped founders into CEOs.
Our programs equipped founders with the leadership skills and business acumen to drive their ventures forward with confidence.
By the Numbers
2024 Impact
The Science Center's gravitational pull:
Rooted in Philadelphia, with a global network of startups and investors.
A total of57startups were supported
Including 63 founders
$13.5Mraised by Capital Readiness March and June 2024 cohorts
Data for Cohort 6, December 2024 not yet captured
Alumni Company Total Raised: $35.5M
We welcomed14Investors-in-Residence to Philadelphia
Startups represented6industries
Includes Capital Readiness alumni only. Companies had the option to self-report more than one industry category; therefore, the metrics aggregate to a figure exceeding 100%.
The founders we support represent a wide range of backgrounds.
Women
Founders &
Men
Founders
Race/
Ethnicity
90%of the founders we supported are undercapitalized
2024 Stories
Our Startup Acceleration Milestones
—TIFFANY WILSON, PRESIDENT & CEO“THE PATH FROM INNOVATION TO IMPACT IS NOISY, UNCERTAIN, AND COMPLEX—BUT THIS IS WHERE THE SCIENCE CENTER EXCELS.”
2024 Company Wins
Laudable Wins& TransformativeReach
Science Center alumni companies achieved significant milestones in 2024, from advancing diversity in clinical trials to pioneering early cancer detection and sustainable testing solutions, they exemplify our mission of powering progress across healthcare innovation. Here are a few examples.
This impact would not be possible without the support of our funders.
Your support matters—it fuels our innovation ecosystem and allows us to continue to offer free programming.