Black biotech entrepreneurs still struggle for funding as the industry pledges to diversify

Paul Mola talked to a crowd of students and San Diego life science experts about his experience as a Black entrepreneur and creator of a local biotech company on a mid-February afternoon. “I honestly aim to have a team that is empowered, where people feel encouraged,” he addressed the audience as the CEO of Roswell Biotechnologies.

They had no idea that two days later, he’d laid off nearly half of his company due to a lack of funds.

These cuts reduced an already lean workforce of 44 to 24, eliciting hugs, tears, and a nagging inquiry from the rest of the company: How did it get to this point? Roswell had just released its first product a few months prior, and the company had recently published a paper on the technology.Read more. ➝