Concerto Biosciences Co-Founder and CEO Cheri Ackerman selected as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 New England finalist

Entrepreneur Of The Year celebrates ambitious entrepreneurs who are building bolder futures

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Concerto Biosciences today announced that Co-founder and CEO Cheri Ackerman has been selected by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) as an Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2023 New England Award finalist.

Now in its 37th year, EY's Entrepreneur Of The Year is recognized as one of the preeminent competitive business awards for transformative entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who are contributing to a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous world.

Entrepreneurs were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, impact, and other contributions and attributes. Ackerman and other 2023 finalists were selected by an independent panel of judges.

"I am thrilled and honored to be recognized as a finalist for the prestigious Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 New England award, and I'm thankful for all the mentors, advisors, and colleagues who have supported my professional journey and Concerto's growth," said Cheri Ackerman, Co-founder and CEO of Concerto Biosciences. "This is a great opportunity to spotlight the groundbreaking work we're doing at Concerto. We're on a mission to revolutionize the way the world thinks about microbial communities, and I'm grateful to EY for acknowledging our efforts."

Concerto Biosciences is a biotechnology company exploring the microbial world with unmatched experimental depth to find breakthrough microbe-based products. Since launching in 2020, Concerto has measured over 6 million microbial interactions with the company's patented kChip ultra-high-throughput platform, and discovered a specific combination of microbes that may correct the microbial deficiency underlying atopic dermatitis. By partnering with other microbiome, agricultural, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical companies, Concerto endeavors to become the premier catalyst for the development of a new era of microbial products.

Concerto completed a $23 million Series A fundraise last November led by Safar Partners and joined by Horizons Ventures and M Ventures. Concerto is currently diversifying its foundational discovery platform, kChip, across industries as diverse as healthcare, agriculture, and household products.

"This recognition of Cheri Ackerman is so richly deserved by such a talented and inspiring company leader," said Jared Kehe, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Concerto Biosciences. "It is also strong validation of our dream to create a healthier world where microbial ecology enables advanced medicines and environmentally conscious agricultural practices."

EY's regional Entrepreneur Of The Year award winners will be announced on June 7, 2023. Those winners will then be considered by the National judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum^®, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2024. 

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 11,000 entrepreneurs throughout the US since its inception in 1986, and it has grown to recognize business leaders across 145 cities in over 60 countries around the world.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year^®

Entrepreneur Of The Year^® is the world's most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall Award winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About Concerto Biosciences

Concerto Biosciences explores the microbial world with unmatched experimental depth to find breakthrough microbe-based products. Natural microbial communities all around us are our inspiration: They can improve human health, enhance food quality, and boost crop yield. Creating products that harness these complex capabilities requires an unprecedented understanding of how microbial communities behave. Concerto therefore invented a kChip platform that physically constructs millions of miniature, defined microbial communities simultaneously. By observing the behavior of each community, Concerto learns which microbes, prebiotics, and metabolites drive the behavior of natural communities. In partnership with a diverse array of biotech and biopharma companies, Concerto develops these as products. In our first endeavor, Concerto constructed >6 million communities of skin-dwelling microbes to discover an eczema-alleviating "ensemble" of bacteria that pacifies pathogenic S. aureus. We have since initiated discovery projects in women's health, gut health, and agriculture. With its partners, Concerto is unleashing a new era of microbial research and a treasure trove of microbe-based products.

To learn more about Concerto Biosciences, visit www.concertobio.com.

Media Contact: Cosmo Macero, [email protected]

SOURCE Concerto Biosciences