The ASCEND Business Advising Cohort was a valuable experience for my company. I received great feedback and advice on my pitch, which was very timely as it prepared me for the Alaska Angel Conference final event where I won the people’s choice award. I am also grateful for the opportunity to attend the BIO Digital conference, where I made several new connections for future prototyping and collaborative grant applications.

Bahareh Barati, PhD Barati Medical, LLC
University of Alaska Fairbanks

We are extremely grateful for being part of the ASCEND Business Cohort program. It has been an extremely productive and eye-opening experience for us as going through this program gave us the knowledge, tools, and training that we needed to enable us to pitch our technology to large pharmaceutical companies. The ASCEND program is the starting point to help us develop CNS Curative Technologies LLC and has opened the door to participate in other NIH-funded programs.

Ruben Dagda, PhDCEO of CNS Curative Technologies, LLC

University of Nevada Reno 

[The ASCEND Team] met with me weekly, answering questions I had about the process of starting up, what is necessary and what is not, and how to proceed. During these meetings, we developed a terrific side deck for use at the BIO International Conference, and one for a MicroGrant pitch sponsored by ASCEND. Being a part of the cohort was a great help to me during this difficult and sometimes confusing time as I start my biotech business. 

Elizabeth Corbin, PhD CEO of Optima Labs 

Montana State University 

The Ascend Hub gave me an opportunity to develop a pitch to showcase our technology. By working with the Ascend team and mentors I was able to take the next step towards bringing our life saving technology to the clinic. Thank you Ascend!

Kelly Drew, PhDCEO of BeCool Pharmaceutics

University of Alaska Fairbanks