Virtual Forum

Early-Stage Investor Conference

June 21-23, 2022

Grow. Connect. Expand.

McKinsey’s Early-Stage Investor Conference (ESIC) is an annual virtual event designed to inspire and advance innovation among a global community of start-ups, investors, researchers, and leading-edge organizations.

ESIC 2020 attracted more than 1,000 attendees and over 200 start-ups gave presentations. Looking ahead to 2022, we’ll continue to grow, adding new investor tracks including: biotechnology, cybersecurity, fintech, healthtech, logistics, medtech, travel, social impact, and sustainability. ESIC will continue to be a global virtual conference welcoming attendees from around the world.

Whether you’re leading an innovative start-up and are in search of a global audience, or you’re an early-stage investor and are looking for the next promising prospect, ESIC offers a unique platform for learning, sharing, and connecting.

Join us at ESIC 2022

Already registered / applied?

Go to the latest email received from Early Stage Investor Conference esic@mckinsey.com to click on your personalized access code – Early Access is available now and the event will open at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, June 21.

Agenda

Day 1 - ESG

Tuesday, June 21

9:00 am ET: Global Kick-off
11:00 am ET: Social Impact Track Event
1:30 pm ET: Sustainability Track Event
4:30 pm ET: Start-up fair—Session 1 - ESG

Day 2 - Healthcare

Wednesday, June 22

9:00 am ET: HealthTech Track Event
11:30 am ET: Start-up fair—Session 2 - Healthcare
1:30 pm ET: Medtech Track Event
4 pm ET: Biotech Track Event

Day 3 - Connectivity

Thursday, June 23

9 am ET: Start-up-fair—Session 3 - Connectivity
12 pm ET: Travel Track Event
12:15 pm ET: Fintech Track Event
1:30 pm ET: Cybersecurity Track Event
3 pm ET: Logistics Track Event
3 pm ET: Consumer Innovation Award Competition

The ESIC start-up fair offers a gathering space for the many conference attendees interested in each of our track areas to meet and interact with start-up leaders.

This includes a free virtual “booth” space for selected start-ups to share materials, information, and meet up in real-time. The deadline to apply is June 3.

Tracks covered

Biotechnology

The biotechnology track explores the innovation engine for the biopharmaceutical industry. We will focus on start-ups that fuse biology and technology to develop transformative therapies and related products to address unmet patient needs. This includes a wide range of topics such as cell and gene therapeutics, precision medicine, new delivery, and AI- and machine-learning-based drug discovery.

Cybersecurity

The cybersecurity track covers technologies designed to protect networks, devices, programs, and data, from attack, damage, or unauthorized access. It features start-ups with cutting-edge technologies and processes designed to improve identity management, cloud security, data security, risk and compliance, and endpoint security.

Fintech

The fintech track explores the use of technology to improve the use and delivery of financial services, from retail to small and medium-sized enterprises to corporate and investment banking. It will feature entrepreneurs who focus on cryptocurrency, consumer banking, payments, insurance, regulatory technology, and more.

Healthtech

The healthtech track covers digital health companies that are transforming patient care, with a focus on start-ups looking to improve health equity, leverage data in new ways, and expand AI-facilitated diagnostics. The healthtech panel offers a preview of McKinsey’s annual Digital Health Conference, which builds on ESIC with its theme of scaling new businesses.

Logistics

The logistics track covers start-ups using technology to innovate within the logistics and supply-chain ecosystem. It features start-ups within the areas of last-mile delivery, freight brokerage, contract logistics, and “enabler” categories such as sustainability, freight intelligence, supply-chain technology, and autonomous delivery.

Medtech

The medtech track focuses on early-stage medical-product companies and how new technologies can fundamentally change the way we live, deliver life-saving treatments for patients, and improve individual care. It features start-ups that are pushing the boundaries of diagnosis, therapeutics, and drug delivery, with topics including wearables, implants, robotics, and more.

Travel

The travel track covers innovation within the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries and how to facilitate the digital transformation of stakeholders across the travel value chain. It features start-ups working in hospitality-technology solutions, business travel, air-mobility solutions, sustainable transportation and experiences, vacation rentals, and travel retailing.

Social impact

The social impact track focuses on the theme of inclusive growth and how the benefits of a growing economy can be distributed fairly throughout society. It features start-ups operating within the areas of food security, diversity, equity, and inclusion—such as racial and gender equity as well as accessibility—education, upskilling and reskilling, mental health, ethical consumption, financial inclusion, philanthropy, and impact measurement.

Sustainability

The sustainability track will focus on three themes: clean energy, water, and food and agriculture. We will spotlight start-ups solving the planet’s most critical environmental needs, including clean fuels, carbon capture, distributed energy, water security, water conservation, new foods, food waste, and the food-supply chain.

Past events

Since we launched in 2017, ESIC has aimed to accelerate the diffusion of innovation across early-stage ventures, investors, and strategic partners.

2020 Event Highlights

Our 2020 event focused on innovations in biotechnology, FemTech, fintech, healthtech, and sustainability. Each track highlighted new, tech-enabled thinking in areas critical to the health, safety, and success of our global society and the planet.

Learn more