celerator IndieBio , which invested $ 250,000 in Pheronym , the initial seed funds it provides to each company it invests in . IndieBio invests in biology-based innovative technology tackling global issues .
“ It ’ s a founder-first , a scientist-first model ,” Po Bronson , IndieBio ’ s managing director and partner , says of the accelerator ’ s business methodology , which rejects conventional thinking that scientists can ’ t become great business executives and founders need extensive business experience . Additionally , the company has invested in 136 startups with 44 percent of those companies with at least one women cofounder , says Bronson .
“ It ’ s flatly and plainly obvious there ’ s prejudice and bias in the system against women . … Let ’ s call it what it is ,” says Bronson . “ In the world of venture capital , this is improving , but I think everybody would say it ’ s not improving fast enough , and it ’ s not improving fast enough for founders of color either .”
While Bronson doesn ’ t discount the value of business experience , especially down the road , he says a lot of it can be learned on the fly , and those with business experience can be hired for other positions or as consultants .
That ’ s what Kaplan did . She hired Pam Marrone , a pioneer in biological and nonchemical products for agriculture , to advise Pheronym as it seeks another $ 2 million to $ 2.5 million for manufacturing and scaling production . Efforts to raise additional funds will follow for research and development of its second product , Pheracoat , a pheromone-based seed treatment that tricks the root-knot nematode by making them unable to detect the roots on which they feed .
Marrone founded Davis-based bio-ag companies AgraQuest and Marrone Bio Innovations , raising more than $ 200 million in venture capital . She took MBI public in 2013 , making her one of 22 women in the U . S . to lead their companies to an initial public offering , 17 of which did so in the last seven years , according to Business Insider .
Marrone , who recently retired as CEO of Marrone Bio Innovations , advises entrepreneurs and startups through her privately held company , Marrone Bio Advisors , and places an emphasis on women-led startups to shrink the gender gap . “ Women do not have the kind of networks and support to raise funds ,” says Marrone . “ For example , I am advising a young male entrepreneur , and compared to the women I am advising , he has a swarm of established men jumping in to create a cocoon of influence around him , opening their networks to find him investors .”
But that is changing , says Marrone , with incubators and accelerators ( such as IndieBio ) providing more formal
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