Maximizing business opportunities for a startup at BIO International Convention
Case Study: JULY 2022
TL;DR
JADBio is a small artificial intelligence startup, established in 2019, that develops an automated machine learning platform purpose-built for biomedical data. The company participated in the BIO2022 Conference & Exhibition, America’s leading medical exhibition, during 12th – 16th of June, in San Diego, with a 5 sq. meter booth within the EU Pavilion, at no cost. Initially, we applied for our client and got them into the EU delegation. Then, within a few weeks, booked 51 meetings with large pharmaceutical and biotech companies that have led to 5 of these meetings considered ‘tangible within the first week after the event’ and a projected sales cycle between USD 225K up to 2M within the year.
Context
JADBio was chosen after a highly competitive evaluation process along with 19 more innovative EU companies, to participate for the first time in the OTF 2.0 delegation of the European Innovation Council (EIC) initiative; due to its track record in European projects but also its technology innovation. We submitted the initial application to the EU, highlighting our client’s internationalization goals, technological fit with the scope of the trade fair, as well as its capacity to create business out of their participation.
Finally, the client was able to be part of an exhibition, in the US, that otherwise would be financially prohibitive for a startup. It was time to take advantage of the client’s presence within the EU pavilion, the matchmaking tool, and other promotional opportunities.
Business Meetings
- 12% conversion from prospects to MQLs
- 51 meetings arranged
- USD 225K to 2M within the year
Rushing to book high-level business meetings within 2 weeks
MATCHMAKING TOOL
By utilizing the event’s matchmaking tool we were able to send out over 170 invites, requesting an in person meeting at the EU pavilion. We had limited time, only two weeks, to research and invite good potential matches for the company. We received 12% positive answers, of which all, minus one, actually took place. Five of these meetings were considered ‘tangible within the first week after the event’, with a projected sales cycle between USD 225K up to 2M within the year. They continued to be pursued in the next weeks. Most meetings originated from pharma, diagnostics and genetics. We also arranged two meetings with investors interested in the client.
We used the LinkedIn platform to reach out to all delegates and investors, separately, through “Getting in touch at BIO2022” campaigns yielding 3 additional meetings and a considerable brand awareness during the event.
In parallel, we designed, and executed two additional campaigns “Meet me at BIO2022” for senior executives through their own personal LinkedIn accounts.
Once the team was back at HQ we ran an additional campaign “Sorry we didn’t meet” with event attendees yielding 24 requests for software demos.
We can help with your next Event
We can help with your next Event
Collateral
- Case Studies in print
- Product deck
- Demo
- Investor information one-pager
- Landing pages
Give Aways
We prepared four types of material for the event:
- A selection of 8 case studies of research projects, that have used the client’s ML model development capabilities. They were printed and laminated on small 12x12cm cards that took up limited real estate, on the counter, and were very successful with visitors as they could get an idea of our client’s work in a very limited space. Most visitors chose to take all 8 cards. These were also distributed by the Sales team during their meetings.
Note: One of the case-studies was an important Research Paper published on NATURE during the second day of the event. We were completely ready, with collateral and landing page, to start promoting it within the exhibition as soon as we were notified it was live. - In depth presentations on tablets, including the type of data the platform accepts, and the 5 step-process of running an analysis.
- Live demonstrations of the platform, via the Sales team.
- A one-pager PDF pitching file specific to investors.
- Landing pages on the client’s website.
PR
Brand Awareness
- The press opportunities at the event were several and our team arranged interviews with journalists and photo shooting opportunities with Senior executives of the European Innovation Council. Two examples:
BIO 2022: 20 European innovators paved the way for innovation and strategic business partnerships overseas
Our client is one of the two companies that appear with a booth photo, in the press PR the European Union prepared for BIO2022. Our client was recognized as the most active among the 20 companies that participated in the EU Pavilion.I Am BIO – Convention Podcast – Ioannis Tsamardinos
Hosted by BIO President & CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath, the podcast showcases powerful stories of biotechnology breakthroughs, the people they help, and the global problems they solve. Our client’s CEO was selected to be a guest speaker.
- We arranged the team to be present at two social events, organised by the European Union and the BIO convention organisers, in order to network with the other participating companies and the organising executives.
- We had a social media person throughout the event, on the event floor, posting updates and photos on the client’s SM platforms.
In Person
Hands On
The DG team was present at every step of the way including manning the booth with two, experienced in events, marketing people.
- Arranged travel and accommodation logistics
- Designed the booth graphics, swag, and collateral, including printing where required
- Staged meetings for the Sales team
- Ran social media before, during, and after the event, extensively, promoting the client’s presence at the event and inviting people to come by and discover more about the AutoML platform
- Created content for the client’s website promoting their participation
- Negotiated the reimbursement of incidental costs successfully
- Arranged for interviews with the Press during the event, by literally seeking out opportunities on every floor
- Arranged for photo shooting opportunities with EU officials
- Followed up with all Walk-ins and kept track, for analytics purposes, with the meetings (MQLs) we had arranged for the Sales team
