LifeX Labs Receives $750K Federal Grant to Expand Services

PITTSBURGH - July 24, 2019 - PRLog -- LifeX Labs, a Pittsburgh-based life science startup accelerator, has received a grant award of $750,000 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to enhance its efforts in southwestern Pennsylvania. The initiative will centralize and strengthen the region's life science ecosystem and further develop the education and training resources offered by LifeX Labs.

LifeX Labs, which was launched by the University of Pittsburgh in 2017, estimates that with the addition of this three-year award it will have the ability to serve thousands of innovators and entrepreneurs, add dozens of startups to its portfolio, and create over 100 jobs in the region by 2028.

"LifeX helps young life science startup companies overcome the unique challenges that they face," said Evan Facher, Ph.D, MBA, and interim CEO of LifeX Labs. "The goal of this award is to help LifeX accelerate the development of resources and programming needed to enable these companies to thrive in the Pittsburgh region. In parallel, the award will also help us build a stronger sense of community within the life sciences ecosystem."

The grant funding will be used for a variety of educational, training and life science community-building projects, including:

·      Developing programming for "pre-seed" to "Series A" life science companies

·      Engaging regional key opinion leaders to identify needs and opportunities in the life science community

·      Creating a pipeline of life science workers at all skill levels by collaborating with local colleges and job training organizations.

LifeX Labs is one of 44 organizations nationwide – and the only organization in Pennsylvania – to receive grants totaling $23 million to expand entrepreneurship. The grants were awarded under the i6 Challenge grant program, which is a part of the EDA's Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) initiative. The 2019 awardees will leverage an additional $26 million in matching funds from a variety of private and public sector sources.

About LifeX Labs

LifeX Labs is a life science startup accelerator launched by the University of Pittsburgh in 2017 with a mission to help startup companies translate the region's world-class research into breakthrough commercial products. To find out more about LifeX Labs, visit https://www.lifexventures.com/lifex-labs.