Latde Diagnostics won $50,000 and Quaesar Therapeutics won $25,000 in Lever Innovation Grant funding after competing in Lever’s Western Mass Health Tech Challenge on Friday, March 3rd at the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst. The two startups were selected from among five finalists by a panel of expert judges.
“The five startups in this Challenge are each working to develop transformative innovations in diagnosis and therapy. The Western Mass Health Tech Challenge program helps these companies bring their innovations from the lab to the clinic,” said Jeffrey Thomas, Executive Director of Lever.
All five startups have their origins at UMass Amherst, and have been supported by the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS).
The Challenge is funded in part by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MSLC), an economic development investment agency dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the life sciences throughout the state. Lever and MLSC have partnered since 2016, with the Western Mass Health Tech Challenge representing the seventh in a collaborative series of acceleration programs.
MLSC CEO Kenn Turner was on hand to award the grants. State Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao opened the session, with IALS Director Peter Reinhart providing welcoming remarks.