The European Parliament approved new rules on 5 October 2020 that will enable crowdfunding platforms to easily provide services across the EU single market. This will widen the pool of potential investors for start-ups, innovators and small companies, as well as ensuring investors have a larger choice of projects and better protection.

Crowdfunding platforms operating in more than one EU country will have to comply with a single set of basic rules - the new regulation - instead of different rules in each country. The accompanying directive aims to broaden access to finance for small companies. The rules will apply to European crowdfunding service providers that raise up to €5 million per project per year.

Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC)  President and CEO  Benjamin Wu Chats with Rich Bendis on BioTalk.

Listen now Apple https://apple.co/2SJB2a5, Google https://bit.ly/2SMLbmd, Spotify https://spoti.fi/34SWcrI, https://bit.ly/2SMde5j, and YouTube Audio https://bit.ly/2GSHXeu

As the President and Chief Executive Officer of MCEDC, Ben Wu leads the public-private economic development of Maryland’s largest jurisdiction which comprises 25% of the state’s economy with a GDP greater than 13 states. A Montgomery County native, Ben is an accomplished executive with over three decades of professional experience leading operations at the highest levels of our nation and state.

The title of this article poses a question that is likely on the minds of many people who work in the oil and gas and chemicals industries. A recent Rigzone article presents one firm’s attempt to answer that question by way of a projection, and it generated considerable interest among Rigzone’s downstream readership this past week. Keep reading to learn more about the forecast, along with other topics that resonated with Rigzone’s downstream audience in terms of page views.

Despite recent challenges, venture capital firms are still seeking out investment opportunities across the country. Since our last analysis of most active VCs in June 2020, we've seen shake-ups across 6 states. Our graphic maps out the most active VC investor in every US state.

Image: https://www.cbinsights.com

All the fundamentals are aligning for the life sciences industry, as Covid-19 accelerates already growing demand for real estate in the sector.

Rents are rising for lab space, vacancies are plunging and research and development, and employment and new development are expanding further, thanks to strong venture capital investment. 

Due to the pervasive Internet, the scope of most successful startup teams today has become global. Also, more people are only available to work remotely, especially with the current pandemic. The traditional model for hiring permanent employees who can grow their career with your company just doesn’t work, and can jeopardize your business before it even gets traction.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

European peer-to-peer lending platforms and investors are set to learn the date for new harmonised crowdfunding regulations across the continent within weeks.

The European Parliament this week adopted the latest text on cross-border crowdfunding rules agreed by the European Capital Markets Union (ECMU) in July.

The rules will apply 12 months after the text is published, which is expected in the coming weeks.

Our day-to-day life is dependent on products, applications and services that make our life easier and better. And with the new technologies dominating every sphere our lives, the role of designers has changed manifolds in today’s world. There is no doubt in the fact that designers are directly responsible for defining societies, cultures and their outlook in a progressive world.

The 2020 BIO Alabama Conference wrapped up its final day with panels and keynote speakers including biotech innovation, incubators and accelerators, and remarks from the 18th U.S. Surgeon General. In total, the conference delivered over 70 presenters in over 30 sessions.

Image: Dr. Karim Budhwani of CerFlux Inc. gave a talk on innovation and new knowledge using a superhero mural to make points. (contributed)  - https://alabamanewscenter.com

Entrepreneurs are often seen as confident, successful people who never have doubts. They’re decisive about everything, always know what to do and never have regrets. All of which isn’t true. 

Doubt is a natural part of being human — and entrepreneurs aren’t immune to it. In our efforts to be better, create better products and deliver as much value as possible to our customers, we feel there’s always something missing. We worry about the path not taken or the what-if of every situation.

The pandemic has had all sorts of unexpected consequences, from a boom in sourdough-bread baking to more people listening to nostalgic music on Spotify. Less noticed is a once-in-a-generation surge in startups. The government regularly releases figures on new-business formation, derived from applications for tax registrations. And “high-propensity” business applications—those displaying characteristics typically associated with firm-creation and the employment of staff—recently reached their highest quarterly level on record (see chart).

This year, our planet has been setting records with extreme wildfires, storms and spiking temperatures. Now, it's set another record: The hottest September since record-taking began over 30 years ago.

The globe was 0.05 degrees Celsius (0.09 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer this September than it was in September 2019, the previous record-holder, according to a statement from the Climate Change Service, which is part of the European Union's Earth Observation Program known as Copernicus.

The U.S. remains the entrepreneurship capital of the world, but its hold on that distinction is in danger, according to Steve Case.

Case, the co-founder of America Online and CEO of venture capital firm Revolution, has some thoughts on how we can fix that--and it involves focusing less on the startup hubs of Silicon Valley, New York City, and Boston. Revolution's Rise of the Rest fund invests exclusively in startups located outside those three places. Case discussed the topic during a Thursday panel at the Fast Company Innovation Festival that also featured Minnesota senator and 2020 presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar.

COVID-19 has upended the world and our global society at a pace and in a manner that are both unprecedented. In this era of uncertainty, start-ups play an ever more important role by bringing to market innovative solutions for tackling the challenges and mitigating the negative impacts caused by the pandemic. These days, however, such solutions do not originate solely in Silicon Valley or London; they are coming from other regions of the globe with strong start-up ecosystems and unique values and cultures.

The average venture capital firm screens 350 companies and makes only four investments in any given year. A recent study from the Journal of Financial Economics surveyed 885 institutional venture capitalists and 681 firms on how they make their investment decisions. The results showed that when selecting investments, VCs focus more on the management team than business-related characteristics like products or technology. 

More specifically, the management team was mentioned most frequently both as an important factor (by 95 percent of VC firms) and as the most important factor (by 47 percent of VC firms). Business-related factors were also frequently mentioned as important, with business models at 83 percent, product at 74 percent, market at 68 percent and industry at 31 percent. 

California Life Sciences Association (CLSA), the trade association representing California’s life sciences industry, is proud to release the 2020 California Life Sciences Sector Report, which shows that California’s life sciences sector directly employed 323,723 people, generated $191.6 billion in revenue, is projected to attract $6.5 billion in venture capital (VC) and received $4.5 billion in funding from the NIH.

New U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance means a COVID-19 vaccine likely will not be approved by Election Day—which could actually be a good thing for public health.

On Oct. 6, the agency posted an industry guidance document on its website asking pharmaceutical companies applying for emergency-use authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine to monitor study subjects for at least two months after vaccination, so they can look for side effects that may arise over time and get a better sense of the shot’s efficacy. That means it’s unlikely any manufacturer will receive authorization before Election Day on Nov. 3, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed for.

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its 10th month, the pressure to develop an effective vaccine, or vaccines, continues to mount. Speaking at the Johns Hopkins University and University of Washington Vaccine Symposium online, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, scientific head of Operation Warp Speed—the government organization funding and supporting development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines—provided the latest updates on when a vaccine (and how many doses) might be available in coming months.

Good day. The power law is a common concept in venture capital which says that a relatively few deals provide the vast majority of returns in a venture fund and in the industry. Top deals such as Facebook, Uber or Snowflake can return hundreds or thousands of times more than the average venture deal.

Venture capital funding in the U.S. surged to its second-highest quarter on record in the third quarter, driven once again by megarounds.

The data released today comes from PwC/CB Insights’ “headline report” of key findings ahead of its full quarterly MoneyTree venture capital report due to be released later this month.

For the third quarter, venture capital funding in the U.S. hit $36.5 billion, up 30% from the second quarter and up 22% year-over-year. The historical record is $40.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, making the third quarter also the highest quarter for funding in seven quarters.