Big Tree Innovation Fund is recruiting companies to a recently launched Big Tree Start Up Academy— a national platform designed to equip healthcare and life science founders with the tools, strategies, and investor-ready insights needed to fund, build, and scale successfully.

Empowering healthcare and life science innovators by:

  • Educating & preparing founder

  • Teaching the language of capital

  • National Ecosystems for Investors, Experts, Sponsors

  • Helping navigate the complex landscape of healthcare

Our Differentiation:

• Deep Healthcare specific topics led by industry experts and previous founders, Not Generalists

• Big Tree connects you to ecosystems across Boston, San Diego and Internationally with expert fellows, capital partners, and peer founders

• We train founders to think like investors—demystifying capital strategy, pitch scoring, and deal dynamics

• 4-week bootcamps and half-day masterclasses designed for modular learning and fast movers

Signature Bootcamp:

  • A structured 4-week Investor Readiness Bootcamp, hands-on program that demystifies the funding process, prepares founders to be investor-ready and concludes with a Pitch competition connecting with investors. Competitions occur throughout the year at local venues and result in the national “BIG PITCH” annual event

    Summary objectives:

    • Learn how to navigate current funding landscape

    • Receive formal Investor scorecard review & recommendations

    • Practice, refine pitch & story to capture investor interest

    • Develop and refine funding roadmap review & recommendations

    • Formal review and recommendations of Data room for investor due diligence

    • Develop funding roadmap including local events and investor introductions

    • Establish detailed activation plan for funding roadmap

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Register for Winter 2026 Cohort
Upcoming Events

 Masterclasses:

  • The inside Track to Fundraising- Think Like an Investor

    • Understand the funding process, trends and landscape

    • Understand the anatomy of the pitch- an investor view

    • Act as an investor to understand their perspective on founder pitches

    • Lessons learned and practical strategies for raising capital

    • Learn how investors score your company for investment with an investor scorecard template

    • Get real time peer feedback on current pitch 

    • Present pitch to broader group for overall feedback

    • How to find the best fit investor and develop a funding roadmap

    • The fundamentals of a deal and how to protect your interests as a founder

    • Take-home toolkit: Investor scorecard template

  • How to Navigate the Current AI Healthcare Landscape

    • Understand the current state of AI in healthcare, including key technologies, applications, and market dynamics

    • Learn about the regulatory frameworks and ethical considerations unique to AI-based healthcare solutions

    • Identify viable business models, buyer ecosystems, and clinical workflows for AI-enabled tools

    • Gain insight into FDA pathways for AI/ML-based medical devices, including Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)

    • Understand how to validate, deploy, and scale AI solutions in real-world healthcare settings

    • Explore partnerships, alliances and how to build platform ecosystems for scale

    • Review emerging risks and challenges, such as data bias, privacy, explainability, and provider trust

    • Take-home Toolkit: Buyer persona builder template

  • FDA & Regulatory Approval Tips & Tricks

    • Understand the structure and function of the FDA and its regulatory pathways for drugs, devices, and digital health products

    • Identify which FDA pathway (510(k), PMA, De Novo, IND/NDA, Emergency Use Authorization, etc.) applies to their innovation

    • Gain practical knowledge of how to prepare for FDA interactions, including pre-submission meetings and Q-subs

    • Learn how to avoid common mistakes and delays in the regulatory process for startups

    • Understand how to align regulatory strategy with business models and funding milestones

    • Discover tips and tools to streamline the approval process and accelerate time-to-market

    • Learn the role of regulatory consultants, CROs, and how/when to leverage external partners

    • Take-home tookit: Regulatory roadmap template, FDA pathway quick-reference chart

  • Navigating the Clinical Trial landscape

    • Understand the purpose, phases, and structure of clinical trials across drugs, biologics, and devices

    • Learn how to design a clinical trial strategy that aligns with regulatory, business, and investor requirements

    • Identify the different types of clinical studies (e.g., interventional vs. observational) and when to use them

    • Gain practical knowledge of trial planning, including IRB submissions, site selection, recruitment, and budgeting

    • Discover common obstacles startups face in clinical research and how to overcome them with limited resources

    • Learn when and how to engage Contract Research Organizations (CROs), clinical advisors, and academic partners

    • Explore tools, platforms, and techniques to accelerate trial execution and data collection

    • Take-home Toolkit: Clinical trial design checklist, regulatory/IRB prepareation check list

  • How to Declare your Market Space

    • Understand how investors look at market size and fit

    • Learn how to analyze competitors, incumbents, and adjacent markets to avoid being boxed into legacy positioning

    • Learn how to create competative fencing and positioning

    • Build compelling positioning and messaging that declares a bold new market vision

    • Develop a category narrative that aligns product, brand, and investor story into a unified go-to-market strategy

    • Gain tools to establish thought leadership, educate stakeholders, and claim space in crowded or emerging markets

    • Develop a product differientation checklist

    • Learn how to use “declaring your market” as a growth lever for capital, recruitment, and partnerships

    • Take-home toolkit: Market declaration worksheet and competative fencing do's and dont's template

  • How to Develop a Commercialization Playbook

    • Understand the key phases of commercialization in healthcare and life sciences — from validation to scaling

    • Learn how to translate clinical and technical value into compelling market and customer value

    • Learn how to identify and prioritize target customers, early adopters, and champions within complex healthcare ecosystems

    • Explore different sales channels, pricing models, and partnerships appropriate for their product type and market stage

    • Understand how to de-risk commercial execution by building the right team and how to acquire the best talent

    • Discuss customer segments and acquisition strategies

    • Create a clear, actionable commercialization roadmap or “playbook” tailored to their product and business goals

    • Take-home tool kit: Commercialization playbook framework

  • Penetrating Markets with an Adaptable Business Model

    • Understand how to design a business model that evolves with market feedback, regulatory shifts, and customer demands

    • Explore how to localize or tailor business models across geographies, care settings, or stakeholder groups

    • Review real-world case studies of healthcare startups that successfully adapted their model to unlock scale or avoid failure

    • Develop strategies to align pricing, partnerships, and distribution with shifting buyer incentives

    • Review frameworks to establish a customer success and operations organization

    • Understand what launch metrics shoud be tracked to monitoir customer success

    • Create a roadmap for iterating and refining their business model during clinical, regulatory, or funding milestones

    • Take-home tool kit: Day 1 Launch playbook framework

  • Transitioning from Expert to CEO for Scale

    • Understand the mindset and role shift required to move from subject matter expert (SME) to effective growth-stage CEO

    • Learn how to build and lead an organization beyond the early product and prototype phase

    • Identify leadership blind spots common to technical and clinical founders and how to overcome them

    • Develop skills in strategic communication, delegation, and team building for scale

    • Learn how to prioritize fundraising, go-to-market strategy, and execution over daily problem-solving

    • Understand how to attract, retain, and manage talent and advisors while shaping company culture

    • Build a personal leadership development roadmap aligned with company growth milestones

    • Take-home Toolkit: Delegation planner, What type of CEO am I template, founder-CEO reading list

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