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Welcome to the 31st Annual Enterprise Awards.
Our region's most prestigious celebration of achievement, innovation, and success for leaders in life sciences and technology will take place on May 21, 2024.
NAVIGATION
CELEBRATE OUR INNOVATORS!
See the photos from 2023’s awards ceremony and reception.
LEGEND ENTERPRISE AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
The Legend Award for Lifetime Achievement is presented to individuals who have forwarded technology and sciences in the region through leadership and exemplary work. The Legend recipient must have a strong connection to the community, a history of personal accomplishments, and a track record of success.
2024 Winner: Mike Forman
Michael Forman
Chairman & CEO
FS Investments
Michael Forman is Chairman and CEO of FS Investments, a Philadelphia-based alternative investments asset manager. Michael founded FS Investments in 2007 after a successful career as both a corporate and securities lawyer and a serial entrepreneur. The firm is an outgrowth of Michael’s simple vision: help investors access alternative investments historically available only to large institutions and the wealthiest individuals.
Since its founding, FS Investments has grown from a small, innovative start-up to an organization that manages over $75 billion in assets across a broad suite of alternative asset classes and strategies for institutional investors, financial professionals and individual investors. With ten offices and over 500 employees, the firm has been recognized as an industry leader. FS Investments was named one of “Philly’s Coolest Companies” by Philadelphia Magazine in 2015 and one of Greater Philadelphia’s Healthiest Employers by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2019.
A native of northern New Jersey, Michael attended the University of Rhode Island. He graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Political Science, and he went on to earn a JD from Rutgers Law School. In 2013, Michael was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Greater Philadelphia.
Michael lives in the Society Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia with his wife and three daughters who, as a family, created a foundation that devotes resources to civic and charitable organizations supporting education, the arts, childhood nutrition, women’s rights and animal welfare. In 2021, Michael co-founded the Forman Arts Initiative (FAI) with his wife, Jennifer Rice. FAI is a platform to connect and support artists and cultural organizations in Philadelphia through programming, exhibition commissions, financial support and advocacy. In 2023, Michael and Jennifer were recognized by University of the Arts as Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts recipients in acknowledgment of their contribution to the arts and cultural spaces.
Michael’s commitment to the Philadelphia region extends to board service at several institutions, including Drexel University and The Center City District Foundation. He also serves as the Founding Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Equity Alliance. His civic leadership has garnered recognition by the community and his peers, including the 2022 Corporate Leadership Award from the Community College of Philadelphia, the 2019 Americanism Award from the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia as well as a special honor from Mural Arts Philadelphia in 2017 for his dedication to the city’s public art initiatives. In 2019, Mr. Forman co-founded Fitler Club, a diverse and civically engaged private lifestyle club located in Center City, Philadelphia.
Sponsors
Title Sponsor
Judging Partner
Judges
LEAD JUDGE
Rick Riegel
Chairman
ActiGraph and Deerfield
Technology Judging Panel Oversight
Andrew Cherry
Partner
KPMG
Life Sciences & Healthcare Judging Panel Oversight
Jennifer Strong
Partner
KPMG
Tom Koncsics
Partner
KPMG
Technology Judges
Mike Bachman
Global Architect & Principal Technologist
Boomi
Joseph Biancaniello
VP, Commercial and Technology Banking
JP Morgan
Walter (Buck) Buckley
Managing Partner
Seminal Capital
Sean Dowling
Partner
Osage Partners
Alex King
Co-Managing Partner
Plain Sight Capital
Bharat Santhanam
Vice President
NewSpring Capital
Sneha Shah
EVP New Business Ventures
SEI
Kweli Washington
COO
Piano Software
Life Sciences & Healthcare Judges
Tom Anderson
CEO
SwanBio
Carol Burnes
CEO
Cagent Vascular
Victor Caraballo
Vice President Quality Management
Independence Blue Cross
Gerianne (Gerie) DiPiano
Chief Executive Officer
FemmePharma
Audrey Greenberg
Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer
Center for Breakthrough Medicines
Eric Heil
Managing Partner
Medical Excellence Capital
Lisa Jordan, MBA, MSE
Vice President Entrepreneurship & Innovation
CHOP
Joan Lau
CEO
Spirovant Sciences
Matthew Reber
Partner
1315 Capital
Award Criteria
To view the Enterprise Awards applications, please click on each award heading below.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, November 17th.
Healthcare Innovator
Sponsor: Independence Blue Cross
Criteria:
- The nominee can be a company, researcher, or investor providing an innovative solution that has the potential to make a large and positive impact on cost, quality, and/or access in health care.
- Company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees, and consultants must be based in the region.
Key Considerations:
- The Nominee must demonstrate creativity and passion to re-thinking healthcare in the region and to driving exceptional health outcomes or dramatically lowing costs.
- The Nominee should have a demonstrated business model for its solution and demonstrate the ability to generate rapid growth or adoption.
- The nominee should be able to demonstrate return on investment or clinical impact of its solution.
- The nominee can be in any sector (technology, life sciences, investment, health care delivery, etc.), but must be serving the healthcare industry in Greater Philadelphia.
Life Sciences & Healthcare Startup
Sponsors: Blank Rome
Criteria:
- Company must have been founded, launched meaningful operations, or pivoted to current strategic focus at some point in the period between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2023.
- Company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees, and consultants must be based in the region.
Key Considerations:
- Discuss product innovation including unmet market need and how that is uniquely addressed by your product/service.
- Discuss the management team and its record of achieving success.
- Provide demonstration of success (e.g., significant milestones, raising capital, revenue, etc.).
- Describe the R&D investment strategy.
- What did the company do to overcome challenges in financing, development, or commercialization?
Life Sciences & Healthcare CEO
Sponsors: EY and Morgan Lewis
Criteria: Individual’s background and the company’s success to date.
- Company must be based in the region and their company must have their HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees, and consultants must be based in the region.
- CEO must be in her/his position for at least 2 years.
Key Considerations:
- CEO’s management accomplishments and philosophy, including the communication of a vision and goals as achieved by the company.
- Leadership and impact in industry and/or market.
- Ability to attract and retain talented resources.
- Company milestones including financial accomplishments and a strategy for continued company success.
- Community/industry involvement.
- Extra consideration is given to leaders who have contributed more broadly to the strengthening and promotion of the life sciences/healthcare industry in the region.
- Ability to attract and retain talented resources.
Life Sciences & Healthcare Emerging
Sponsors: RSM
Criteria:
- Company must have been in operation beginning on January 1, 2020. The Company should have no more than 8 years of operating results since its founding.
- Must have sales, grants, or licensing fees.
- Company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees, and consultants must be based in the region.
Key Considerations:
- Describe product or service, including proprietary applications or other competitive advantage.
- The impact on the clinical problem this product or innovation is trying to solve (e.g. saving a hospital money on a procedure, making a clinician more productive, etc.).
- Company milestones including strategic decisions made by the management team that led to growth in revenues and/or earnings, corporate collaborations, or license deals (e.g. ability to raise capital, strategy to achieve break even, ability to realize high gross margins, etc.).
Life Sciences & Healthcare Investment Deal
Sponsor: TBA
Criteria:
- Deal must have been fully executed between November 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023.
- Company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees and consultants must be based in the region.
- Events that qualify for this category include: IPO, Capital Raise, Buy-side or Sell-side of a Merger & Acquisition Transaction.
Key Considerations:
- Realized returns for the investors and management.
- EBITDA margin and revenue growth.
- Strategic considerations of the deal (e.g. commercial strategy, innovation, and contribution to market development.
- Company performance prior to transaction.
- How the sale or purchase impacted the broader industry(s) of the buyer and/or seller.
Technology Startup
A technology company must either provide proprietary technology or intellectual property or services that leverage proprietary technology or IP.
Sponsors: Troutman Pepper
Criteria:
- Company should have been founded, launched meaningful operations, or pivoted to current strategic focus at some point in the period between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2023.
- Company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees, and consultants must be based in the region.
Key Considerations:
- Product or service innovation including market need or assessment.
- Potential for significant growth.
- The management team and its record of achieving success.
- A demonstration of success such as significant milestones, raising capital, and revenue.
Technology CEO
A technology company must either provide proprietary technology or intellectual property or services that leverage proprietary technology or IP.
Sponsor: TBA
Criteria:
- Individual’s background and the company’s success to date.
- CEO must be based in the region and their company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees, and consultants must be based in the region.
- CEO must be in her/his position for at least 2 years.
Key Considerations:
- CEO’s management accomplishments and philosophy, including the communication of a vision and goals as achieved by the company.
- Leadership and impact in industry and/or market.
- Ability to attract and retain talented resources.
- Company milestones including financial accomplishments and a strategy for continued company success.
- Community/industry involvement.
- Extra consideration is given to leaders who have contributed more broadly to the strengthening and promotion of the technology industry in the region.
Technology Investment Deal
Sponsor: JPMorgan
Criteria:
- Deal must have been fully executed between November 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023.
- Company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees and consultants must be based in the region.
- Events that qualify for this category include: IPO, Capital Raise, Buy-side or Sell-side of a Merger & Acquisition Transaction.
Key Considerations:
- Realized returns for the investors and management.
- EBITDA margin and revenue growth.
- Strategic considerations of the deal (e.g. commercial strategy, innovation, and contribution to market development.
- Company performance prior to transaction.
- How the sale or purchase impacted the broader industry(s) of the buyer and/or seller.
Technology Emerging
A technology company must either provide proprietary technology or intellectual property or services that leverage proprietary technology or IP.
Sponsors: TBA
Criteria:
- Company must have been in operation before January 1, 2020. Revenues must be less than $50 million. If revenues are projected to exceed $50 million in 2023, please complete the Technology Company application.
- Company must have its HQ or significant operations in the region and a significant portion of its leadership, employees, and consultants must be based in the region.
Key Considerations:
- Product or service innovation, including proprietary technology or other advantage.
- Company milestones including strategic decisions made by management that led to growth in revenues and/or earnings.
- Strength of management team including ability to raise capital.
- Demonstration of a sustainable and scalable business model.