2027 Business Innovation Competition

Important Dates for the ORS 2027 Business Innovation Competition:

The ORS BIC program consists of three phases:

• Phase I involves the development of a team and submission of a 2-page maximum executive summary as part of your business competition pitch, please assess your market readiness as either early or developed (use this template). The ORS Innovation Committee spanning industry, academia, and clinical will review the initial submissions. The top three teams will be selected to compete in the final pitch event at the ORS 2027 Annual Meeting. The remaining teams will have the opportunity to compete in a poster pitch event (semi-finals) during the ORS 2027 Annual Meeting.
• Phase II involves the top 3 finalist teams writing a 10-page full written business plan and connecting the teams with expert mentors. Each team will be connected with mentors who have extensive experience taking new product to market. During the second phase, the finalists will be encouraged to watch the Ready, Set, Pitch: Learn How to Effectively Communicate a Great Idea webinar which teaches strategies on  how to communicate your idea for a medical product to investors, business development executives, and other decision makers in the life sciences industry.
• Phase III will be the actual pitch events held during the ORS 2027 Annual Meeting. The BIC will include two sessions (podium and poster session). The top 3 finalists (one individual from each company) will have the opportunity to pitch their companies during an oral presentation session (10 min presentation and 10 min Q&A/Feedback). The session will include a panel of expert judges who will score their oral presentations based on an established ORS BIC scoring system.  The ORS BIC scoring system is derived from the Executive Summary template.

The top semi-finalists will compete during a poster session.

Expert judges will score their 3-min elevator poster pitch followed by a 2-minute Q&A session from the judges. The ORS BIC scoring system is derived from the Executive Summary template.

Following the competition, the ORS Innovation Committee will host a networking event to provide an opportunity for participants and ORS members to network with experienced academics, clinical partners, and leading industry judges and supporters. During the networking event, the top finalists will be announced offering sponsors and attendees a unique opportunity to engage directly with the innovators and discoveries poised to transform the future of musculoskeletal health.

The Call for Applications Close on Friday, October 7, 2026.

BIC Task Force:

Abiraman Srinivasan, MPhil, PhD
Committee Member, ORS Innovation Committee
MediCarbone Inc

Blanka Sharma, PhD
Committee Member, ORS Innovation Committee
University of Florida

Zahra Eskandari, PhD, MSc, BSc
Committee Member, ORS Innovation Committee
Harvard Medical School

Giovanni Solitro, PhD
Committee Member, ORS Innovation Committee
Louisiana State University Health

Check Out A Previous Webinar

Ready, Set, Pitch: Learn How to Effectively Communicate a Great Idea

The objective of this webinar is to learn how to communicate your idea for a medical product to investors, business development executives, and other decision makers in the life sciences industry. The webinar is intended for those who submitted applications to the ORS Business Innovation Competition (BIC) and other interested entrepreneurs and academic scientists.

Speakers:

Nicholas Pachuda, DPM
General Partner
Neovate Capital

Organized by:

Evan Goldberg, PhD
Director, Scientific Affairs
Principal Research Scientist
Georgia Institute of Technology