At Freeway, we are committed to championing the acceleration of startup technology innovation and collaboration in the Phoenix region. We’ve long recognized the rapid growth and continued potential of our bioscience and healthcare sector. We are thrilled to celebrate the Mayo Clinic’s selection of Phoenix as its next biotechnology innovation hub.
The Mayo Clinic’s new biotechnology innovation hub will be located on the Discovery Oasis campus, a sanctuary for scientific research and medical health innovation among leading established biotechnology companies and promising startups. Set to open in 2027, phase one of Mayo’s Discovery Oasis development will establish a cutting-edge ecosystem where biotechnology companies, researchers, educators, and healthcare providers converge to solve some of the world’s most complex medical challenges.
The campus, which will collaborate with the Mayo Clinic, Arizona State University (ASU), and other companies and developers, is expected to create hundreds or thousands of new jobs. It will be designed to be inclusive and accessible and to promote a focus on occupants.
The Mayo Clinic’s Discovery Oasis campus will further include:
“At Mayo Clinic, we see Discovery Oasis as an opportunity to invite other healthcare innovation companies and technology leaders to come to collaborate with us, to have access to our doctors, our nurses, our researchers, our patients, and our expansive clinical data so together we can expedite the delivery of new healthcare solutions,” said Aric Bopp, executive director of Discovery Oasis in an article published by Biopharma Dive. “And our location is a strong advantage. Phoenix is strategically positioned to dominate the West Coast of the U.S.”
The Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University will host a MedTech Accelerator 2025 Public Pitch Competition on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 at the ASU Health Futures Center in Phoenix. Founders and CEOs from cohort companies will share their MedTech venture in a pitch-style competition. After a Q&A session, a panel of judges will convene to decide on our competition winners. A networking happy hour will immediately follow. Click here for more information.
When the Mayo Clinic was evaluating where to invest in its next biotechnology innovation hub, its leaders saw the opportunities and advantages that Phoenix offers:
Greater Phoenix is no newcomer to leading the health innovation sector. It is already home to:
The PBC also recently announced the opening of applications for XLR8 PBC, an eight-day intensive eight-day in-person program tailored for scale-ready health tech companies. The program emphasizes finding the right capital at the right time, growth-stage executive matchmaking, and corporate partnerships to validate market fit. Click here to learn more about the application window and to stay informed.
Greater Phoenix is the largest metropolitan region in the Southwestern United States, with nearly 5 million residents. Spreading across Maricopa and Pinal counties with a combined 14,600 square miles, here is Phoenix by the numbers:
Phoenix is also home to more than a half-dozen colleges and universities, including:
The presence of these prestigious institutions has resulted in Scottdale's recognition as the sixth-best college city in the nation, while Tempe ranked eighth and Phoenix ranked eleventh.
Not only is Greater Phoenix home to titans of innovation, research, and education, but Arizona is a leading state for clinical trials, ranking ninth in the U.S. and third in the West. In recent years, the region has made more than $3 billion in strategic investments in its emerging bioscience and healthcare enterprise and research capabilities.
We are grateful to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) and the Flinn Foundation, our partners and regional collaborators in biotech and healthcare, for their contributions to the sector.
GPEC has been instrumental in positioning Greater Phoenix as a national leader in bioscience and healthcare innovation. Some of its key contributions include:
The Flinn Foundation has also been a driving force behind the growth of Arizona's bioscience sector through various initiatives and funding programs:
GPEC and the Flinn Foundation have played pivotal roles in fostering a thriving bioscience and healthcare ecosystem in Greater Phoenix, driving economic growth and improving the community's health outcomes.
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