Mike Carnes

Vice President of Emerging Company Development (ECD) at North Carolina Biotechnology Center

Speaker

Mike Carnes is Vice President of Emerging Company Development (ECD) at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. In this role, Mike provides leadership, guidance, and oversight of the ECD unit that administers a set of programs and activities designed to catalyze the start-up and growth of innovative life science companies in North Carolina. These programs and activities include making direct investments in early-stage companies, managing relationships with angel and venture capital groups, coaching and mentoring of entrepreneurs, and providing connections to potential investors, partners, employees, service providers, and other resources.

Mike has over a decade of experience providing business mentorship and training to support emerging life science companies, focusing on raising grant and equity financing. This includes his role at the NC Small Business and Technology Development Center where he contributed to over $200M in capital raised by client companies. As Equity Funding Specialist, he maintained connectivity with the investment community and participated in regional initiatives to enhance availability and access to early-stage investment capital. He also supported several university Technology Transfer offices where he participated in intellectual property management strategy as well as assisting with new university-based startup companies.

Mike earned a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology in 2006, a Professional Science Master’s in Microbial Biotechnology in 2012, and a Master’s in Business Administration with an emphasis in technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in 2013 from North Carolina State University. Before that time, Mike worked as a bench researcher at Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc. and NCSU’s Department of Plant Pathology.