Celebrating the Investor Catalyst Hub’s Second Year

In the Investor Catalyst Hub’s second year, we leveraged the network, partnerships, and systems developed in our first year to catalyze the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) programs and performer progress. We grew our membership by nearly 25%, connected spokes with relevant capabilities to dozens of new opportunities, and saw more than $370 million in ARPA-H funding distributed to spokes.

Here’s how we mobilized this year to deliver results.

Advancing Commercialization Readiness for ARPA-H Programs and Performers

The IC Hub supported new initiatives to help fast-track ARPA-H-funded innovations to market by connecting them with specific resources and expertise.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the year was providing tailored commercialization support to the 23 awardees of the ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health who are working to address some of the most urgent challenges in women’s health. Through this initiative, we’ve advanced innovators’ commercialization readiness with one-to-one mentorship, connected performers to subject matter experts in our network to achieve commercialization inflection points, and guided customer discovery through introductions to target customers in our network to optimize market adoption for awarded solutions. Now one year into the performance period, performers have hit key milestones from securing follow-on funding to starting clinical trials–exciting progress toward delivering the innovations to the people who need them.

We also connected ARPA-H performers to spokes uniquely positioned to support market-bound agency-funded solutions and accelerate their path to market. For example, we partnered with Belle.ai–a performer of ARPA-H’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program–to shape and advance their customer discovery at a critical juncture in their commercialization journey. We introduced Belle.ai to 70 spokes and facilitated nearly 10 virtual meetings which could pave the way for establishing pilot sites and integrating Belle.ai’s technology into hospital systems.

Leveraging Network Expertise To Inform Future Commercialization Partnerships and Services

For many spokes, securing reimbursement for their medical devices and diagnostics can take years. In support of an ARPA-H effort to better understand the complexities of the reimbursement landscape for innovative medical technologies, we issued a network survey to gather feedback from key stakeholders who have navigated the system.

Our Medtech Reimbursement Network Survey Brief captures insights from our network on strategy development, common challenges, and recommendations that could potentially inform new ARPA-H services and partnerships to support performers and shorten timelines so that novel solutions can reach patients more quickly and improve health outcomes.

Convening Network Members Around Unifying Themes

Throughout the year, our team was fortunate to have various opportunities to connect with spokes, learn more about their capabilities, and discuss common themes or challenges in the health innovation space.

Last fall, spokes from the southeastern U.S. convened in Atlanta for the IC Hub’s first in-person meetup for a full day of networking and community-building.

Over the summer, I also had the chance to meet with several spokes who attended the BIO International Convention in Boston. It was a great opportunity to hear from industry leaders about new trends and innovations in biotech, speak with changemakers about their work to drive investment in women’s health, and connect with spokes.

Measuring Our Impact

As I mentioned in my reflections on the IC Hub’s inaugural year, our focus this year was to build upon the foundation we set in our first year so that our network was even more equipped to make an impact–and we delivered on that promise.

Join Us For Year Three

It’s been a rewarding year. We’ve grown our network, facilitated meaningful connections among spokes, advised on commercialization strategies, and supported new ARPA-H programs and initiatives.

I encourage spokes to stay engaged by keeping tabs on new opportunities and visiting the member portal. Introduce yourself in the member community, start new conversations, and make connections with other spokes. Be sure to check out the new resource library to view helpful templates, guides, and recordings. If you need guidance navigating the member portal, watch this tutorial.

If you’re not yet part of our network, I invite you to apply. By joining our network, you’ll gain access to members-only events, research and development funding opportunities, curated commercialization support, and more. Learn how our spokes engage with the network and support ARPA-H program development.

Thank you to ARPA-H for your meaningful partnership, to the IC Hub team for your leadership and agility over the past year, and most importantly, to our visionary members who are driving innovation forward.

Chelsea Schiller
Director, ARPA-H Investor Catalyst Hub