Capital Connect: From Seed to Series A in Today’s Market
Join Foley, CollectiveMinds, HSBC Innovation Banking, and Magnet in Silicon Valley for Capital Connect, a high‑value look at what early‑stage life science companies need to move from Seed to Series A in an increasingly diligence‑driven market.
Hear insights from venture investors, repeat founder‑CEOs, seasoned biotech operators, and senior intellectual property legal experts. They’ll dive into investor expectations, smart milestone design, intellectual property and legal essentials, early team building, operational readiness, and real‑world lessons from recent fundraises. This discussion will offer practical guidance and meaningful connections for Seed and early Series A founders, CEOs, investors, and advisors navigating an increasingly rigorous market.
Agenda
Timing listed in PT
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm Registration/Check-in
4:00 pm – 4:05 pm Welcome Remarks by Antoinette Konski
4:05 pm – 4:25 pm State of the Industry Game Show by Jonathan Norris
4:25 pm – 5:25 pm Panel Discussion moderated by Tara Kochis
5:25 pm – 5:40 pm Closing Remarks by Tara Kochis
5:40 pm – 7:00 pm Networking Reception
Cosponsors
Speakers
Vikram Chaudhery, Ph.D., is a Partner at Genoa Ventures and Co-Founder & COO of General Inception, a venture platform focused on company creation in life sciences.
An investor and operator with deep technical roots, Vikram has led venture investments, strategy, and company building initiatives across biotech and advanced life sciences. Prior to General Inception, he held leadership roles at Lam Research and McKinsey & Company.
He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and has authored 25+ scientific publications.
Karl Handelsman focuses on early-stage pre-clinical therapeutics and synthetic biology. He enjoys collaborating with brilliant teams to build companies around breakthrough technologies. Karl’s experience yielded an excellent track record of building and investing in exceptional startups, attracting the best entrepreneurs with whom he helps plot a path with an option for early exits. Previous investment examples include multiple companies where entrepreneurs were able to generate exits in under 18 months via acquisition or IPO.
Tara Kochis is the Founder and CEO of CollectiveMinds, an executive search firm specializing in leadership recruitment for venture- and private equity-backed life sciences companies. With more than 30 years of experience and over 1,000 executive placements, she partners with investors, boards, and CEOs to build leadership teams that scale companies from early stage through growth.
Antoinette F. Konski is a partner and intellectual property lawyer with Foley & Lardner LLP, and served as managing partner of the Silicon Valley office. She also served as a co-chair of the firm’s national Life Sciences Industry Team and is the former vice-chair of the firm’s national Chemical, Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Practice Group.
Antoinette’s practice focuses on advising clients about the creation, protection, acquisition, and maximization of intellectual property assets in a manner that optimally aligns with their business objectives. She primarily counsels biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies on all aspects of obtaining, defending, evaluating, licensing, and enforcing intellectual property rights and patents.
Jonathan Norris joined HSBC’s Innovation Banking Division in April 2023. He manages healthcare venture relationships and works with investors and companies on commercial banking and debt products.
In addition, for more than a decade, Jonathan has written comprehensive reports on the venture healthcare ecosystem, covering venture fundraising, investment, valuations and exits. These reports have been widely cited in the ecosystem and he often speaks at major investor and industry conferences. He has more than 23 years of healthcare banking experience.
Jonathan earned a B.S. in business administration from the University of California, Riverside, and a J.D. from Santa Clara University.
Dr. Kiersten Stead is a co-founder of DCVC Bio and a scientist-investor dedicated to building deep-tech platforms in the life sciences. She partners closely with entrepreneurs — often at the very beginning — to help launch companies on solid scientific and strategic foundations and then supports them as they grow through each stage of development.
Dr. Stead has been investing since 2011. Before joining DCVC Bio, she worked as a scientist and co-founded several life-science companies over the course of her career. She currently serves on multiple company boards and contributes to the broader scientific community as a director of nonprofit organizations such as Keystone Symposia.
Kiersten holds a PhD in molecular biology and genetics, and an MBA from University of Alberta.
Brian Wheeler is a seasoned strategic advisor with decades of experience providing legal and business guidance to clients across a wide variety of industries. Both Brian’s work in private practice and his in-house career have given him an extensive background in M&A —particularly cross-border M&A — transactions involving venture-backed companies in the technology and life sciences sectors, growth equity, private equity, and fund structuring.
Darren Sabo is a seasoned operator and entrepreneur with 25+ years scaling products and P&Ls across Samsung, Nielsen, Orange Telecom, and LG Electronics, with commercial reach spanning 26 countries. As former Head of Commercialization for New Digital Health Ventures at LG NOVA in Silicon Valley, he incubated and launched Primefocus Health in 2024, a healthtech startup deploying modular and customizable remote patient management solutions to democratize healthcare access for rural communities. Darren also serves on the UN World Food Programme’s Innovation Advisory Council, reflecting a career-long commitment to using technology to address the challenges of overlooked populations.
