Innovator Partner
Colorado BioScience Association
Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) creates co-opportunity for the Colorado life sciences community. CBSA champions a collaborative life sciences ecosystem and advocates for a supportive business climate. From concept to commercialization, member companies and organizations drive global health innovations, products and services that improve and save lives. The association leads Capital and Growth, Education and Networking, Policy and Advocacy, and Workforce Cultivation to make its members stronger, together.
Colorado BioScience Association
Elyse Blazevich
President & CEO
Elyse Blazevich leads Colorado BioScience Association’s work to create co-opportunity for Colorado’s life sciences community. Together with the CBSA Board of Directors, team, partners, sponsors, and members, she strategically advances CBSA’s efforts to build a collaborative environment for health innovation.
Elyse brings deep knowledge of life sciences company needs, CBSA as an organization, and Colorado’s business community to offer continuity, connections, and a clear vision for the future of CBSA and the ecosystem it represents. Before joining CBSA, she co-founded Securisyn Medical and led the organization as COO and CFO, transitioning the company from a founder-led startup to a professionally led, commercial-stage medical device company. She remains a member of the Securisyn Medical Board of Directors.
Colorado offers the ideal factors to start, grow, or relocate a successful life sciences company, including our central location, top talent, and experienced partners ready to collaborate. We welcome you to our thriving community.
Elyse Blazevich
Meet Colorado BioScience Association
Partner News and Insights
Colorado’s Life Sciences Community Raises $1.2 Billion in First Two Quarters of 2024
Colorado’s life sciences community raised $1.2 billion in the first two quarters of 2024. Public and private capital, as well as federal and state grants contributed to the fundraising totals January 1, 2024-June 30, 2024.
The continued strong fundraising comes after CNBC highlighted the fundraising momentum of Colorado’s life sciences community during its “Cities of Success” special report. The ecosystem’s fundraising now stands at $11 billion raised in the last seven years and six months.
“Colorado is the Hub for Health Impact, with life sciences financings surging past the billion-dollar mark in the first two quarters of 2024,” said Elyse Blazevich, President & CEO of Colorado BioScience Association. “Health innovations from Colorado save and change lives around the world and investors want to seize opportunities here.”
Fundraising Totals
In the first two quarters of 2024, Colorado companies raised $794.6 million in public capital through M&A, post-IPO debt, and post-IPO equity. Companies and the state’s academic and research institutions also received $257.9 million in state, federal and foundation grants. Colorado life sciences companies also raised $155.3 million in private capital.
Venture Capital Totals
Pre-Seed and Seed: $8.9M
Series A and B: $111.4M
Series C, D, and Later: $35M
Colorado Life Sciences Financing History
2024 Q1 and Q2: $1.2 billion
2023: $1.47 billion
2022: $1.6 billion
2021: $2.4 billion
2020: $1.2 billion, $2.6 billion including Invitae acquisition of ArcherDX
2019: $850 million, $12.1 billion including Pfizer acquisition of Array Biopharma
2018: $1 billion
2017: $1.2 billion
Colorado BioScience Association compiles and analyzes annual life sciences financings using publicly available sources, including company news releases, media reports, SEC filings, federal and state databases, and Crunchbase.
CNBC Covers Record Funding in Colorado, the Hub for Health Impact
CNBC coverage highlights the growth and momentum of life sciences in Colorado, including record funding, top talent, innovative collaborations with leading academic and research institutions, and investments in lab space.
Colorado Bioscience Association: Record Fundraising
“Investors from Colorado as well as across the coasts are seeing opportunities here,” said Elyse Blazevich, president and CEO of the Colorado Bioscience Association. “Our ecosystem has raised in excess of a billion dollars for the past seven consecutive years — and early-stage funding in Colorado in 2023 grew faster than other life sciences markets around the country.”
The Colorado Bioscience Association plays a pivotal role in supporting the region’s life sciences sector. Notably, the association says the consistent rise in funding, with early-stage funding surpassing other markets in 2023, indicates robust growth and potential for further innovation.
BioMed Realty: Bold Investments
San Diego-based BioMed Realty’s acquired the Flatiron Park life sciences campus in Boulder for $625 million.
“This was a logical next step … to invest in Boulder and scale,” Tim Schoen, BioMed Realty’s president and CEO, told CNBC. “Boulder has all the elements you want in an innovation ecosystem — research universities, scientists, venture capital, and then ourselves who provide the mission-critical infrastructure.”
Edgewise Therapeutics: A Serial Entrepreneur’s Success Story
Entrepreneur Kevin Koch’s journey exemplifies the region’s entrepreneurial spirit. Co-founder of Array BioPharma, Koch’s company was acquired for over $10 billion, demonstrating the region’s track record of success. Koch’s current venture, Edgewise Therapeutics, continues to thrive, showcasing the region’s conducive environment for startups and talent.
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus: Fostering Innovation
At the heart of Denver’s biggest suburb, Aurora, lies the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, an academic medical campus at the forefront of transformative education, science, medicine, and healthcare. The campus’s Center for Drug Discovery utilizes state-of-the-art technology to expedite drug development, potentially revolutionizing treatment timelines and fostering collaboration between academia and industry.
Colorado’s ascent as a life sciences powerhouse underscores the convergence of innovation, investment, and collaboration, positioning the region as a global leader in biotech advancements around the country.
Colorado Life Sciences Organizations Raise More Than $1B for Seven Consecutive Years
The global impact of life-saving health innovations from Colorado attracts substantial private, public, and government funding. The state’s life sciences ecosystem raised $1.47 billion in 2023, marking the seventh consecutive year of fundraising over $1 billion, after reaching a peak of $2.4 billion in 2021.
Funding Sources
In 2023, federal grants and contracts, the largest source of funding, totaled $560.9 million. Colorado companies raised $499.2 million from public sources and $402.8 million from private sources, primarily venture funding. Pre-Seed through Series B funding increased $52.8 million, demonstrating Colorado’s resilience during challenging times for fundraising.
The state of Colorado offers critical support through robust tax credits for investors and non-dilutive grants for advanced industries companies.
Colorado BioScience Association’s Focus on Capital + Growth
Colorado BioScience Association (CBSA) President & CEO Elyse Blazevich celebrated a strong start to 2024 life sciences fundraising, joining a group of colleagues to ring the New York Stock exchange opening bell in January. CBSA will welcome leading investors to Breckenridge, Colorado during its Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor and Partnering Conference in September.
“Our 2023 funding levels, including the increases in early-stage capital, reflect the quality and impact of life-saving innovations from Colorado,” said Blazevich.
PharmaJet: Vaccinating the World with Colorado-Built Medical Technology
The toddler’s mother had brought him in for a vaccination, and his face expressed the familiar fear that this was going to hurt. But rather than a syringe, the woman doing the honors held a plastic device designed in Golden, Colorado. With a click, the spring-powered PharmaJet Tropis ID pumped a tiny stream of fluid into the lower layers of the child’s skin. It took less than one-tenth of one second.
The look on his face was: “That’s it?”
The boy was one of seven million people in Pakistan who received needle-free polio vaccines via PharmaJet’s system prior to 2023. “And polio is just the start”, says Chris Cappello, the company’s CEO.
Cappello cites Colorado’s ability to attract talent as a key factor in PharmaJet’s success here. He’s an example of that. The Golden native had moved to California after earning his mechanical engineering degree at Colorado State University. A couple of years later, he was looking for a mission-driven company with a medical device that could have a global impact.
“Right in my backyard, there was [a company] that checked all the boxes,” Cappello says.
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Meet Our Partners
Colorado:
Hub for Health Impact
We love to collaborate with new arrivals. Our welcoming life sciences community is right-sized for high-growth companies. There’s more than a million square feet of lab space planned or in development critical infrastructure and state support for startups expansions and relocations. Our supportive partners are ready for every step of the journey.