The second BioPhoT Platform Research and Innovation Project (RIP) competition has concluded with presentations to industry panels, where 97 research teams presented their ideas to an international panel of experts.
During the four-day intensive evaluation process, which took place on 2, 3, 9 and 10 December at the Riga Technical University Science and Innovation Centre, scientists gave short presentations focused on innovation and its practical application. Industry experts analysed the market potential of the ideas and their technological and commercialisation readiness, providing an in-depth assessment of each project's development opportunities, technological advantages and potential barriers to market. This close collaboration allows research teams to receive structured, evidence-based feedback at an early stage, which is essential to develop ideas towards real products and technologies.
“We saw a very high standard in these presentations - many of them were so convincing that the project representatives could stand on international stages. This is a clear improvement on even the previous BioPhoT competition in the spring and shows the importance of using the training and mentoring offered by the platform - the teams that did this proved themselves much more convincingly,“ says Panelist, Venture Capital Fund and Accelerator Buildit Latvia Managing Partner and CEO Matīss Neimanis.
“At the same time, it should be remembered that commercial potential is closely linked to ambition: projects with an eye only on the Latvian market are objectively limited. The most important question remains the same: what real problem is the project solving and who will be willing to pay for it? This format of industry engagement is very good at identifying which projects have this potential and which might need to look for other development paths,” he highlights.
Other experienced industry professionals and deep-tech Investors Tamar Raz, PhD in Biology and Business Management, Barak Azmon, MD and founder and CEO of several medical startups, Daniel Carew, investor and board member of early stage defense deep tech startups, Julien Venturini, international expert in the semiconductor and laser industry, and International SubFAB Research Labs founder, Ilya Zabelinsky, specialist in semiconductor plant support equipment and infrastructure, as well as VLX Ventures and NetwoRx Bio Mr Ori Choshen. Project presentations were moderated by venture capital and startup exosystem expert, BioPhoT mentor Andris Baumanis.
Industry panels are an essential part of BioPhoT's approach to bridging the gap between research and business by ensuring that scientific ideas are formulated with a clear understanding of market needs from the outset of the application. The involvement of industry experts in the evaluation process motivates researchers to define project objectives precisely, select project team members correctly and identify commercialisation opportunities.
By 16 December, the BioPhoT Platform Project Steering Group has to decide which project applications have passed the qualification threshold of the 1st evaluation round and will be forwarded for scientific evaluation by experts selected by the Latvian Science Council.
See photos from the event: https://biophot.lv/foto-1-kartas-industrijas-panela-prezentacijas-2-3-un-9-10-12-2025/
Here is a video insight into the experts' views:
Matīss Neimanis, Managing Partner and CEO of the Venture Capital Fund and Accelerator Buildit Latvia
Company VLX Ventures and NetwoRx Bio Manager Ori Choshen
Barak Azmon, physician and founder and CEO of several medical start-ups
