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    Leonardo Biondi

    I build the commercial architecture that turns scientific assets into fundable companies.

    I am not a scientist, not a banker, and not a typical consultant. I am an economist who spent twenty years building bridges between worlds that do not naturally speak to each other — science and capital, academia and industry, Italy and everywhere else. Non-linear paths are where I tend to be most useful.

    Leonardo Biondi
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    The background

    Not a straight line. Deliberately.

    I started by mapping the Italian biotech industry from the outside — building a national reference publication and the online portal that became the sector's primary reference point, co-developing both with a technical team from scratch. The work meant spending years in direct conversation with every significant player in the ecosystem, and presenting the annual report at BIO Annual Convention and BioEurope Spring — where I also participated as a panelist.

    Then I moved inside a leading cancer research institute, where I spent over a decade working across international strategy, technology transfer, and innovation management: building joint labs in Singapore, Japan, and India, sitting on the board of the institute's technology transfer company, managing European research programmes, and working directly with researchers to translate their discoveries into terms that investors and pharma partners actually respond to.

    More recently I have taken that same work outside institutional walls — advising founders, supporting TTOs, helping foreign companies navigate the Italian market, and teaching equity story architecture at the postgraduate level.

    The roles changed. The work did not.

    What this means for you

    I have seen your problem from the other side of the table.

    If you are a researcher trying to understand whether your discovery has commercial legs — I have had that conversation hundreds of times, with the researchers, not about them.

    If you are a foreign company trying to enter Italy — I know the market not from reports, but from two decades of relationships with the people who run it.

    If you are raising capital and the standard pitch is not working — I have managed the institutional side of those conversations: I know what a pharma BD team or a VC fund actually needs to see before they engage.

    None of this makes me the right person for every situation. But for situations that do not fit the standard playbook, it tends to help.

    Not sure what a venture architect actually does? What is a venture architect in biotech →

    Teaching

    Faculty, Master in Biotech Innovation and Industrial Development, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele. Module: equity story architecture for life sciences founders.

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    Mentorship

    Mentor, Seed4Innovation, Università degli Studi di Milano. Board Network Consultant, BioInnovation Institute, Copenhagen.

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    Education

    Economics degree with a thesis in game theory, Università di Firenze. Venture Capital, Wharton Executive Education. The rest is twenty years of practice across three continents.

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    In their words

    Heard in the room.

    Bridges scientific research and practical applications. Helped establish joint labs across Asia — including labs at NCBS/inStem — a strong model for international collaboration.”

    K. VijayRaghavan

    Professor Emeritus, NCBS; former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

    “Very competent in collaboration agreements and negotiations… created a strong bridge between researchers in Japan and Italy.”

    Piero Carninci

    Head, Genomics Research Center, Human Technopole; President, HUGO (2025–2027).

    “A fantastic team player and natural leader who bridges science and business in pharma/biotech.”

    Francesco Grillo

    Start-up & Portfolio Manager, Max Planck Innovation.

    “An exceptionally capable and analytical manager with a deep understanding of the biotech and venture capital industry.”

    Jacopo Franchini

    Strategic Marketing Advisor, Recordati Rare Diseases.

    Enough about me.

    Tell me about your situation. 30 minutes is enough to understand whether I can help — and to tell you honestly if I cannot.