About Us
Empowering innovators, advancing life sciences.
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Our Vision
“To become the premier force driving biotech innovation in underserved regions—empowering visionary entrepreneurs, accelerating transformative breakthroughs, and delivering scalable solutions that reshape the future of global health and regional economies.”
Our Mission
“We empower the next generation of biotech leaders in untapped regions by delivering strategic acceleration, operational infrastructure, expert guidance, and access to capital. Through our network of academic, public, and private partners, we're building sustainable innovation hubs that drive breakthroughs from concept to commercialization—fueling regional growth and global impact.”
Our Story
PlanetBio was founded with a clear mission: to connect world-class talent in life sciences with the resources, infrastructure, and capital needed to build breakthrough biotech ventures. Co-founders Peter Yassopoulos and Laura Prendergast launched PlanetBio as a grassroots initiative to support biotech professionals—an effort that has since evolved into a national accelerator and innovation network.
With a background in biotech recruiting and entrepreneurship, Peter previously founded Bio(Tech) Talent Advisors, building bridges between scientific talent and industry opportunity. Laura, an Ivy League-trained biologist with expertise in recombinant DNA technology and gene delivery systems for HIV cure genetics, brings deep scientific credibility and commercialization insight. Together, they form a visionary leadership team dedicated to shaping the future of life sciences.
Directors Callan Hercules and Nicklas di Pietro lead PlanetBio’s technology and operations. Callan is an engineering leader focused on scalable infrastructure and digital innovation, while Nicklas leverages his operational expertise to streamline internal systems and drive accelerator performance. Their work enables PlanetBio to serve founders more efficiently and power our expanding platform.
Today, PlanetBio is building a national ecosystem of life sciences innovation—starting with underserved and under-resourced regions. With four affiliate companies and a growing network of academic, public, and private partners, our model is designed to unlock regional potential and create investable, fundable biotech ventures. We accelerate scientific breakthroughs from concept to commercialization, delivering economic growth and global health impact.
We envision a world where biotech entrepreneurs can turn their breakthroughs into thriving businesses. From our roots in job placement to becoming a premier platform for launching life science startups, our story is just beginning—and we invite you to be part of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
To serve as a high-impact accelerator for early-stage biotech, connecting science-driven founders with strategic resources, capital, and operational support to turn breakthrough research into scalable ventures.
To accelerate innovation in life sciences by bridging the gap between academic research and commercial success—empowering founders, de-risking investments, and advancing global health outcomes.
We provide strategic acceleration, including funding readiness, investor matchmaking, technical consulting, operational scaling, and access to a national network of advisors, experts, and affiliate organizations.
Our model is founder-focused, clinically-aware, and investment-minded—merging scientific credibility with business acumen. We support companies from concept to commercialization, with a hands-on, tailored approach built for the biotech timeline.
We engage academic institutions as strategic partners—connecting researchers with commercialization pathways, facilitating translational R&D opportunities, and creating pipelines for talent, startups, and innovation.
Our approach emphasizes early-stage validation and data-driven strategy. We provide critical support in preclinical planning, regulatory strategy, and fundraising to reduce risk and improve translational outcomes.
We work alongside VCs to identify high-potential early-stage assets, improve diligence processes, and increase confidence by supporting foundational science with operational infrastructure and expert guidance.
Our focus is on scaling the accelerator model, onboarding high-quality biotech ventures, expanding our affiliate network, and formalizing partnerships with research institutions and capital providers.