Commercialization Academy — Fall 2026 Application

Commercialization Academy

A free, 4-day, in-person bootcamp at RoVa Labs for health & life sciences innovators — built for researchers with actionable Biotech, Medtech, or Health-tech research (TRL 4–7), or practitioners with a concept at the bench-testing stage.

Life science entrepreneurship means longer timelines, regulatory hurdles, and different funding needs than a typical startup path. This cohort-based bootcamp prepares participants to navigate that journey, and each participant leaves with a personalized commercialization plan.

Graduates are eligible for 6 months of free wrap-around support through Innovation Studio, including bench and incubator space ($9K value) and 1:1 expert coaching ($5K value).*

Program Commitments (Required)

By applying, I acknowledge and agree to the following:

I commit to attending and fully participating in all 4 days of the in-person bootcamp at RoVa Labs. The program will run from October 19 - October 22 for 8 hours/day. Exact times of the sessions is being finalized and will be communicated to all applicants.
I understand that completing any pre-work or follow-up activities needed to develop my personalized commercialization plan is part of program participation.
I understand that if I am invited to continue into the 6-month wrap-around support period, additional expectations for that phase will be communicated separately.
I acknowledge that failure to fulfill these commitments may result in dismissal from the program and forfeiture of eligibility for wrap-around services.

First and last name:

Title:

Email address:

Legal name of organization (and trade name, if different):

Incorporation type:

Primary business address and preferred mailing address, if different:

Federal Tax ID (type "N/A" if not applicable):

SCC ID (type "N/A" if not applicable):

What date did you start the company?

Company website URL or LinkedIn, if applicable:

In 2 - 3 sentences, describe your technology and what your company does:

Which stage best describes your company's current development?

Please describe your target customer or market (e.g., patients, clinicians, hospital systems, payers):

First and last name, title, and role on the project:

Percentage of ownership:

Current status with the company (full-time or part-time):

Type a question

Contact info: phone number, email address, LinkedIn profile, and primary residence (city, state):

Describe team member's relevant previous experience (prior startups, domain/clinical expertise, grants or awards received, etc.):

For reporting purposes, does any member of the founding team self-identify as (please select all that apply):

Do you have any formal institutional affiliation or support (e.g., a university/hospital tech-transfer office, a "lab-to-launch" program, an incubator, or a research institution? If yes, please describe the relationship and level of support:

Do you currently have any mentors, advisors, or an advisory board supporting the company? If yes, briefly describe their role(s) and area(s) of expertise:

Have you applied for, received, or are you considering applying for an SBIR/STTR grant? If yes, please note the agency and phase/status:

Describe the core scientific principle or mechanism your technology is based on. Is it your own novel finding, or an application of established science to a new use case?

Has your core hypothesis been tested experimentally (in vitro, in silico, or bench-scale)? Summarize the data or attach any reports, lab notebooks, or publication data.

File Upload

Have your key experimental results been independently reproduced (by another lab, a collaborator, or a repeat study by your own team)? If yes, please explain:

Have the individual components/elements of your technology been integrated and tested together, even in a crude or early form? If yes, please explain:

What is the current form of your technology (isolated experimental data vs. a single integrated lab prototype/assay/formulation you can run start-to-finish)?

Has your technology been tested in a model system beyond basic bench conditions (cell lines, organoids, animal models, or a relevant simulated environment)? Which model(s), and at what stage?

What stage of pre-clinical development are you in?

If a device/diagnostic: has a functional prototype been built and bench-tested against performance specifications (sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, durability, etc.)? (type "N/A" if not applicable)

If a digital health/software product: has the algorithm/software been validated against a real or representative dataset? How large and representative was it of your intended population/use case? (type "N/A" if not applicable)

Has your technology been tested by anyone outside your core research team (independent lab, KOL, collaborating institution, or CRO)? What were the findings?

What is the single biggest unresolved technical risk for your product or company right now?

Has your technology (or a representative prototype/formulation/device) been tested in a setting resembling real-world clinical or commercial use (pilot clinical study, field trial, beta site with an actual health system/lab/clinician)? Describe the setting and scale.

If clinical, what is your current regulatory/clinical stage?

Has an actual (non-affiliated) end user evaluated the technology under real conditions? What was the outcome?

Do you have performance data from that testing (efficacy, safety, usability, reliability)? Please summarize:

Is your current prototype/formulation the version you intend to bring to market, or do you expect further changes?

What regulatory pathway are you pursuing?

Have you had formal interaction with a regulatory body (FDA pre-submission meeting, Q-sub, EMA Scientific Advice, etc.)? What was the outcome?

Have you completed or are you running any GLP-compliant studies, biocompatibility testing, or other formal qualification studies required for your pathway? If so, what were the results?

Do you have a quality management system in place (ISO 13485, GMP-readiness, design controls), even in early form?

Are there any known regulatory, safety, or ethical issues (adverse events, IRB/IACUC holds, clinical holds) affecting your program? Please explain:

What IP protects your technology (issued patents, pending applications, trade secrets, licensed-in IP)? List application/publication numbers if available.

Have you conducted a freedom-to-operate (FTO) analysis or landscape search? What did it find?

Have you already licensed your technology — either in from another party (e.g., a university) or out to a commercial partner? If not yet licensed, do you anticipate needing to? If licensed-in, what are the key terms/milestones attached (diligence requirements, sublicensing rights, milestone payments)?

Is your current process/design "locked," or do you anticipate further iteration before scale-up?

Where do you and your team feal like you need the most help? (Select all that apply.)

What do you hope to achieve through the Commercialization Academy?

Have you participated in any other accelerator or commercialization program? If yes, which one, and when?

How did you hear about this program?

Commercialization Academy — Fall 2026 Application

Applicant & Company Information

Founder & Team Information

Support Network & Institutional Backing

Scientific Foundation & Proof of Concept

Development & Validation Status

Real-World / Relevant Environment Testing

Regulatory Pathway & Quality Systems

Intellectual Property & Freedom to Operate

Program Fit & Goals