Palmetto InnovaSphere, Inc.

Meeting Objectives

InnovaSphere’s objective is to strategically position Spartanburg and South Carolina as an emerging life sciences and innovation ecosystem while building cross-border partnerships that accelerate commercialization, investment, research collaboration, and market expansion opportunities for the region’s startups and innovation stakeholders.
The conference provides a unique platform to:

– Establish relationships with U.S. and Canadian industry leaders, procurement partners, research institutions, and government representatives within the life sciences sector.
Showcase InnovaSphere’s role as a hands-on institute supporting life science commercialization, digital health, medical devices, biotech, workforce development, and innovation infrastructure in South Carolina.

– Advance opportunities for strategic collaborations involving clinical research, translational science, federal funding initiatives, and innovation-driven economic development.
Identify potential partnerships and procurement pathways for InnovaSphere supported companies and affiliated innovators.

– Strengthen regional visibility for Spartanburg as a growing destination for life sciences, advanced technology, and research-driven entrepreneurship.

– Support long-term efforts to attract investment, anchor companies, research collaborations, and innovation infrastructure to South Carolina through intentional ecosystem building and international engagement.

Organization Profile

Cecilia Zapata-Harms is CEO of Palmetto InnovaSphere (InnovaSphereSC.org), a nonprofit life sciences institute headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, with satellite offices in Greenville and Charleston. InnovaSphere is actively engaged in advancing innovation, commercialization, workforce development, and ecosystem growth across the Southeast, broader US, Canada and Europe.

InnovaSphere works closely with startups, academic institutions, healthcare systems, industry leaders, and community stakeholders to help scale emerging technologies and support the growth of the life sciences and health innovation economy in South Carolina. Their portfolio and collaborations span areas including medical devices, digital health technologies, virtual reality, AI in research and healthcare, biotechnology, agtech, and other emerging innovation sectors. Their work includes strategic partnerships, translational innovation, infrastructure development, entrepreneur support, and building collaborative pathways between research and commercialization.