LifeLink and Laser Valley Innovation Bootcamp

On 15-17 June, I had the privilege of participating in the inaugural Laser Valley Innovation Bootcamp. The purpose of this event was to foster collaboration between researchers from National Research and Development Institutes, entrepreneurs, and students, with the goal of creating innovative projects or advancing existing initiatives within a unique framework—an innovation bootcamp.

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Throughout the three-day program, we had the opportunity to work closely alongside esteemed researchers from renowned institutes such as the "Horia Hulubei" Institute for Nuclear Physics and Engineering (IFIN-HH), the Institute for Lasers, Plasma, and Radiation Physics (INFLPR), the Institute for Materials Physics (INFM), the Institute for Earth Physics (INFP), the Institute for Microtechnology (IMT), and the Institute for Optoelectronics (INOE). It was an enriching experience to collaborate with experts in various fields.

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The main focus areas of the initiatives developed during the bootcamp encompassed healthcare, education, environment (including energy and climate), public services (including research and development institute activities), cultural heritage, and recreation. These domains were addressed through interdisciplinary teams comprising experienced researchers, students from institutions like UB, UPB, ASE, EA, and others, as well as tech startup founders.

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For me, Laser Valley proved to be an incredibly gratifying experience. Despite my prior participation in numerous business competitions, it was the first event that successfully brought together the realms of business and research. I must emphasize that my previous involvement in a different accelerator did not afford me the opportunity to form a team, let alone collaborate with individuals as talented and skilled in their respective fields, particularly in research. Our team connected exceptionally well, and we are determined to carry forward our project within the @Future Makers incubator.

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The project we participated in is called LifeLink, and it aspires to make a significant impact on the future of longevity. Allow me to introduce the LifeLink Team:

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Mihnea Stoian - CEO and Founder, aka me, entrepreneur with multiple businesses in areas such as digital and physical game development, e-commerce, dentistry (in Brasov), and digital marketing.

Ana Udrea - CRO and Co-Founder - researcher at Magurele in the field of pharmaceutical development.

Ana is also a Scientific Researcher at the National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics and Assistant professor at University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biology??

?The main purpose of her research is the development of new drugs. Her area of research is multidisciplinary and involves drug discovery, biology (experimental and computational), chemistry (experimental and computational), neurobiology, microbiology, biophysics, cellular biology, and spectroscopy.

Her current research investigates the potential of a phenothiazine derivative as an anticancer drug, both before and after laser irradiation.

Cristian-George Farauanu - CFO and Co-Founder - Entrepreneur who was involved in Confidas, a business that exited through a deal with Termene.ro. Currently providing consultancy services. The company offers access to data helping customers find new clients, learn about them, showing also non-paying companies, and the collaborators that had insonvencies in the past.

Silviu Vulpe - CTO and Co-Founder - Researcher at Magurele in the field of medical devices.

He is a scientific researcher at the National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies - IMT Bucharest, with experience in the development of new devices such as: types of sensors used in IoT, memory devices based on field-effect ferroelectric transistors, and logic gates based on memory diodes.

Laser Valley Innovation Bootcamp (June 15-17, Magurele, Iflov County) was a very pleasant experience for him. Although he has participated in many business competitions, it is the first time he attends an event that tries to bring together researchers (from National Research and Development Institutes), entrepreneurs, and students to collaborate.

It is worth mentioning that I previously participated in another business accelerator where I couldn't form a team, let alone one with such skilled individuals in their respective fields, including research. They got along very well, and they wish to continue the project in the Future Makers .

Dragos Codrin Schitcu - CLO and Co-Founder - Law graduate and Founder of VeritGo, an EdTech platform.

@David Neagu - CMO and Co-Founder, a student at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest and Ambassador of the UPBizz Entrepreneurship Center.

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I am happy to say that we had a great connection as a team, and the time we spent togehter only made the team stronger and better focused. It was the right balance of fun times and intense work for a projct very dear to me.