The AIM-HI Accelerator Fund (AIM-HI) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created in 2019 by the National Foundation for Cancer Research to provide oncology and STEM startups with the resources they need to drive innovative discoveries forward, out of the lab, to the clinics, and eventually to the people battling cancer.

Therapeutic development in pre-clinical stage is both an expensive and risky investment, which is enough to scare away most traditional VCs. Dr. Ba, Mr. Salisbury and Mr. Weatherspoon co-founded AIM-HI in 2019 with the commitment to bridging this “Valley of Death” and providing the support that these entrepreneurs and researchers need.

With the initial grants from NFCR, AIM-HI has since invested in nineteen promising start-ups, fourteen of these companies have since received additional investments from other investors and one company secured a commercial licensing from a large medical device company.

The AIM-HI Venture Competition was born, a first of its kind program to specifically support scientist-entrepreneurs in the oncology arena that combines investment funding with coaching, advising, and building a continous global network.