Portal Innovations, LLC

Thank you to Julia Robinson with Chemistry World for interviewing Portal's Sr. Director of Lab Operations and Expansion, Elizabeth Harney, for a recent piece on the rise of urban labs! Elizabeth talked with Julia about the complicated logistics of building a lab space from scratch in a more urban environment, and also discussed the benefits of having places like Portal in a city center. Take a look at the full piece below! https://lnkd.in/dnUX2tv5

What a week around the Portal ecosystems - we had some busy events across Portal to help celebrate both Earth Day and our members. In Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago we had plant making parties where members painted pots and planted seeds in celebration of Earth Day. Fantastic job by our member experience teams for putting together this unique idea! In Houston, Eppendorf hosted a Pipette Olympics where members got to put their pipetting skills to the test by measuring both skills and accuracy with food dye. Thanks to everyone who participated in these events - we're looking forward to a packed Spring and Summer with more member-specific events!

On the heels of Grove Biopharma, Inc.'s massive $30M Series A round, John Flavin interviewed Grove co-founder and CEO, Geoffrey M. Duyk, M.D., Ph.D. on Lab Rats to Unicorns! In this episode, Geoff shares the story behind Grove Biopharma’s founding, born from a collaboration between a Northwestern chemist, a green chemistry innovator, and himself—culminating in a startup focused on intracellular targets using novel protein-mimetic polymers. Geoff brings over 35 years of experience across academia, biotech leadership, and venture capital. From his early work in human genetics at UCSF to co-founding Millennium Pharmaceuticals and leading R&D at Exelixis, Geoff unpacks the evolution of biotech from the 1970s to today. Take a listen to the full episode! https://lnkd.in/dnGEfzGq

Come grab some champagne to toast Portal alumni members, Rhaeos and Grove Biopharma, Inc. for a graduation ceremony! Excitingly (and slightly sadly!) Rhaeos and Grove are moving into the grad suites at Fulton Labs - though they won't be too far - just a few floors away from Portal at the 400 N Aberdeen location. Both Rhaeos and Grove have been fantastic ecosystem members for years, and what better way to celebrate their success than with a cap and gown ceremony? Spots are limited - register below for our May 15th event! https://lnkd.in/gFh_7TJp

We're hiring a Member Experience Manager for our UChicago Science Incubator space! The Member Experience Manager will help create a welcoming environment at the incubator space while advancing the goals of our member companies. They will also collaborate with the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and University of Chicago departments to coordinate events at the science incubator. The Member Experience Manager will work closely with the Chicago Member Experience team on the strategic planning of events, map out the member journey and ensure alignment with Portal’s brand, mission, and values to maximize member engagement. Interested? Learn more and apply below! https://lnkd.in/gRJZApCN

The Portal model is working! Spun out of Nathan Gianneschi, PhD's lab at Northwestern University with a focus on Bionic Biologics, Grove Biopharma, Inc.’s platform provides a new approach to targeting protein-protein interactions to discover and develop therapeutics against previously undruggable targets in oncology, neurodegenerative, and other diseases. Despite a challenging biotech fundraising environment, Grove announced today a monster $30M Series A round led by our friends at DCVC Bio along with Eli Lilly and Company and Chicago-based investors Invivium Capital, Walder Ventures, and the Mansueto Office. Stacked with seasoned leadership and groundbreaking science, Grove was one our first investments. We helped them get started, participated in their seed round, housed them in our labs and nurtured warm connections to the Series A syndicate. Proud to watch them start and grow in Chicago from their initial Portal lab to their own floor at Fulton Labs. Join us in congratulating CEO, Geoffrey M. Duyk, M.D., Ph.D., President, Paul A. Bertin, Ph.D. and COO, Laura Robinson, Ph.D. and the rest of the Grove team on their raise! Below is a link to their feature in Endpoints along with their press release announcement! Endpoints: https://lnkd.in/g3ccW3Jf Press release: https://lnkd.in/g8Ap4sFJ

Hey Atlanta - if you're a med device startup, we have an event for you! When you're building a medical device startup, it's easy to get caught up in the tech, but skipping over things like regulatory strategy and quality systems can come back to bite you. Getting ahead of it all early can save a lot of time (and headaches) down the road. Join Sarah Jo Tucker, MS, MBA, PMP from Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, along with Sanjana Singh, MBID and Rebecca S., for a practical lunch and learn that breaks down what you need to know. Interested? Learn more and register for the April 29th event at Portal Atlanta at Science Square here: https://lnkd.in/gdiRP7bR

Exciting news from our Houston portfolio company, March Biosciences - their first patient has been dosed in their Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating MB-105, a first-in-class CD5-targeted CAR-T cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory CD5-positive T-cell lymphoma. Their Phase 2 trial will take place at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and enroll approximately 46 patients to study the safety and efficacy of MB-105 after encouraging Phase 1 results. This is an exciting milestone for the company - congratulations to Sarah Hein and the March Biosciences team! Take a look at their full press release here: https://lnkd.in/gKBDSizR

Attending the MedCity News INVEST conference next month? If so, make sure you attend the morning Pitch Track session on Infectious Disease startups where Portal's Senior Director of Venture Operations, Michael Schultz, PhD will be a judge. Register here: https://lnkd.in/g7mWqYqG

Join Astellas Pharma and Portal Innovations on May 29th for an evening of engaging conversation, meaningful networking, and fresh perspectives during the 2025 ASCO conference in Chicago. Astellas will have a panel discussion hosted at Portal to discuss their commitment to advancing early-stage science through collaboration and strategic partnerships. Following the panel, enjoy a reception where life science startups, venture capital firms, and industry experts unite to explore innovative collaborations in the fight against cancer. Register below to attend! https://lnkd.in/gU9DrZtM