BioBuzz recently met with the Nucleate DMV team, including Ankush Verma and Yueh-Chen Chiang, to learn more about its flagship Activator program and the role it plays in supporting early-stage biotech founders. The conversation offered insight into how the program is structured, what distinguishes it from other accelerators, and why it presents a valuable opportunity for scientists across the BioHealth Capital Region who are looking to turn their research into a company.
From the Lab to a Launch
Nucleate helps scientists make the transition from research to entrepreneurship. The organization focuses on students and early-career scientists who want to start their own companies, providing the skills, mentorship, and connections that are often difficult to access within an academic or laboratory setting. Through student-led chapters around the world, Nucleate builds communities of aspiring founders. The DMV chapter brings that model to the region through events, workshops, and outreach across the local life sciences ecosystem.
The Activator is Nucleate’s flagship program, a workshop series designed to help founders and contributors develop entrepreneurship skills and launch their companies. The DMV chapter is now in its fourth year running the program. Its workshops cover the core building blocks of a biotech startup, including market and risk analysis, intellectual property strategy (from when to pursue a patent to how to obtain one), pitching and communicating science to investors, and fundraising strategy.
The program culminates in Demo Day, a pitch competition judged by a diverse panel of experts, including venture capital professionals who can connect teams with potential fundraising partners.
What Makes the Activator Different
It’s equity-free. In a startup’s early days, founders can’t afford to give away large portions of their company, and raising meaningful capital can mean giving up half or more, according to the Nucleate DMV team. The Activator helps founders build early skills and avoid common mistakes without giving up ownership.
It’s run by trainees, for trainees. The program is led by people who are themselves navigating the path from research to entrepreneurship, so they understand the challenges participants face.
It’s global and local at once. This year’s workshops run virtually through Nucleate’s global Activator, featuring experts from around the world, supplemented by experts from the local DMV network.
It’s personal. Teams can book one-on-one sessions with their matched mentors for individualized guidance.
It builds whole teams. The program welcomes contributors from scientific, clinical, and business backgrounds, helping founders assemble the well-rounded teams that early-stage companies need.
Built for the BioHealth Capital Region
The virtual format suits a region stretching from Baltimore to Northern Virginia, so founders across the BioHealth Capital Region can take part without long commutes. And the results show the program’s local impact. Around 25% of the startups on Technical.ly’s RealLIST Startups 2026, a list of 20 Maryland companies, are Activator alumni.
One of them is Baltimore-based SereNeuro Therapeutics, which participated two cohorts ago. The company recently closed an oversubscribed pre-seed financing round, received an SBIR grant, and is hiring. Its founder, Daniel Saragnese, still mentors for the program, a sign of how Activator alumni give back to the next generation of founders.
What’s New This Cohort
This year’s cohort brings a new leadership team with backgrounds spanning medicine and research. It is also the largest team the chapter has had, with more resources than in previous years and new partnerships with an intellectual property lawyer, AstraZeneca, NEA, and Empower Bio.
The Nucleate DMV team encourages anyone with a solid scientific background to apply, even without a patent. Incorporated startups are also eligible if they have raised under $5 million. Contributors from scientific, clinical, and business backgrounds are welcome, with or without a product. That’s especially valuable because inventors who spend much of their time in the lab may lack connections to people with business experience.
Applications are due October 20. Learn more and apply at nucleate.org.
About Nucleate
Nucleate is a nonprofit organization that empowers the next generation of biotech leaders, including students and early-career scientists who want to start their own companies. Operating through student-led chapters in cities around the world, Nucleate runs programs like the equity-free Activator to help aspiring founders build entrepreneurship skills, connect with mentors and investors, and launch new ventures.
