IRI Innovators Summit 2025  

May 19-21, 2025 | Chicago, IL

Join Innventure at the Innovation Research Interchange (IRI) Innovators Summit, where we'll explore how to drive growth through innovation. As an official sponsor and session leader, we'll share insights on bridging the innovation-to-market gap through our systematic approach to technology commercialization.

Engage with our team through our summit session, exclusive webinar, and thought leader podcast to learn how we transform validated innovations into market-disrupting companies. Discover how our unique model combines entrepreneurial capabilities with corporate resources to create companies that transform tomorrow.

Focus Areas:

• Innovation growth strategies

• Technology commercialization pathways

• Strategic partnerships

• Market-driven innovation approaches
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Beyond Traditional Innovation: A Market-First Framework for Technology Solutions

Pre-Conference Workshop
9 a.m. to Noon | Monday, May 19, 2025

Workshop Overview

How do you identify which technology solutions can transform markets and create significant economic value? Join innovation leaders Nicole Mignacca and Ellie Kim for an interactive workshop that reveals how beginning with quantifiable market needs – rather than technical capabilities – can transform your approach to commercialization.

Through real-world examples and collaborative discussion, participants will explore a systematic, data-driven methodology focused on economic value creation that drives market adoption. The session combines strategic insights with hands-on learning to examine how organizations evaluate and commercialize technology solutions.

Key Focus Areas

• Understanding market-driven evaluation frameworks that start with quantifiable needs

• Examining approaches for early market validation and strategic assessment

• Exploring decision points between internal development and external commercialization

• Building compelling economic value propositions that accelerate adoption

• Analyzing sustainability and circular economy opportunities that benefit from external pathways
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Who Should Attend

• R&D Leaders

• Innovation Directors

• Chief Technology Officers

• Technology Scout Teams

• Business Development Leaders
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Limited to 15-20 participants to enable meaningful discussion about real challenges in commercializing breakthrough innovation.
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Featured Speakers

Nicole Mignacca | Director, DownSelect | Innventure
Expert in systematic technology evaluation with extensive experience in life sciences and innovation strategy.
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Nicole serves as the Director for DownSelect at Innventure where she utilizes the systematic methodology of the DownSelect process to help evaluate, select, develop and launch transformative technology solutions. Prior to joining Innventure, she worked at SPRIM, a globally integrated life science consulting firm as an Engagement Manager and Project Manager. She earned her B.S. in Biology from the University of Central Florida.

Ellie Kim | Director, Economic & Financial Analysis | Innventure
Specialist in strategic commercialization across pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, and industrial sectors.
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Ellie serves as Director, Economic & Financial Analysis at Innventure. Ellie has demonstrated success in various industries, including pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, industrials, and finance. Prior to Innventure, Ellie led strategic sales and financial initiatives at a startup pharmaceutical company. Her other prior experiences include spearheading operations and expansion efforts for a Chicago-based industrial e-commerce company and evaluating and executing deals with various multinational corporations during her time in banking. She earned her MBA from Northwestern University and her B.A. in Economics from Boston College.

Pre-registration required.

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