Welcome to Austin Next, where we explore Austin's ascension into a global innovation powerhouse. We delve into the region's evolution, examine the building of robust ecosystems, and consider the impact of emerging trends and technologies. With Austin as our real-world case study, we aim to deepen our understanding of the true nature of innovation, especially at the exciting intersections of diverse fields.
Today, we turn our attention to a particular area of innovation that is rapidly transforming our city: the life sciences. We're excited to launch our report, "Austin Life Sciences Sector: A Powerhouse Emerging at a Pivotal Crossroads”
The report uncovers key insights, including:
- Austin's life sciences community attracted an impressive ~$900M in VC funding in 2022. This surge in funding has propelled us from 23rd in the nation just 5 years ago to 10th, placing us on par with Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and establishing Austin as a leader in Texas.
- Our life sciences ecosystem is consistently producing cutting-edge research. This is evidenced by the significant growth in the number of peer-reviewed publications, which have experienced a remarkable 13% CAGR over the past decade.
- Despite operating with just 10% of the workforce and 3% of the lab space compared to national leader Boston, Austin's life sciences industry is thriving. We're truly punching above our weight, a testament to the innovation, productivity, and ingenuity here.
While this report offers a valuable snapshot of our sector, it also underlines the fact that this is just the beginning. There's more work to be done and many questions that remain unanswered:
- What are the exact talent needs of our companies?
- How much of these talent needs can be met locally or developed at our schools and training programs vs. to what extent do we need to recruit from other regions?
- What specific infrastructure is necessary to be built here, and what resources can we leverage from the rest of the Texas Triangle?
- Where are the funding gaps in our sector and how can they be filled?
- What are the drivers needed to increase the creative collisions that spark innovation?
We believe Austin's life sciences sector stands at a tipping point. The goal behind this report is to initiate and amplify a dialogue that can act as a catalyst. Within our community, we aim for this conversation to galvanize a critical mass. On a broader scale, our objective is to accelerate the attraction of new founders, funders, talent, and infrastructure to our region.
This endeavor is the result of a collaborative effort from Jawad Ali of Austin Medtech Connect, myself at Austin Next, with key contributions from Joyce Zhuang & Nirjhar Mundkur, and significant data partnerships led by Aoife Morrin from Dealroom.co and Sydney Morris from Real Staffing.
We invite you to embark on this journey with us by downloading and exploring the report.
https://www.austinnextpodcast.com/downloads/ATX-Life-Sciences-Report-2023
Share and discuss its findings & help our region ascend to new heights in the life sciences.
We can't wait for the exciting developments this next chapter in Austin's life sciences story will bring.
What's Next?
