T
he Association of
Biotechnology Led
Enterprises (ABLE) organised
a one-day conference BIOINVEST
at Shangri-La Hotel, Bengaluru
on April 4. It was an annual
event conducted to encourage
entrepreneurship and investment in
the biotechnology sector in India.
The conference began with
the top five winning teams (from
Institute of Chemical Technology
(ICT), Mumbai and Rajalakshmi
Engineering College, Chennai) from
the Biotechnology Entrepreneurship
Student Teams (BEST) 2016 edition
pitching their novel ideas with
vibrant energy and excitement. The
top honour was given to the Nano
Medicine Research Group team
from ICT. The winning teams were
selected by an eminent jury chaired
by Dr PM Murali, President of
ABLE.
Later, young and aspiring
entrepreneurs shared their ideas
and enthusiasm on key research
areas to drive the interest of
investors and offer solutions for the
growth of biotechnology sector at
the two sessions.
Vijaygopal R, a serial innovator
and entrepreneur, put forward his
thoughts on building a technology
agnostic start-up focusing on
drastically improving clinical
outcomes in fertility care through
his new venture Innov4Sight.
Milind Choudhari, Founder and
CEO at WeInnovate Biosolutions Pvt.
Ltd., shared his ideas on developing
innovative nanoformulation for
wound care, involving the use of
traditional Indian medicine and
cutting-edge nanotechnology
through his start-up.
J Fathima Benazir, co-founderand CEO, Azooka Life Sciences,
gave a brief introduction on an
innovative food-grade nucleic acid
gel stain called tinto rang started by
the company. Benazir believes that
easy availability of a safe nucleic
acid stain in India will have a direct
impact on the cost of molecular
diagnostics, by eliminating import
and excise duties.
A team from Aspartika Biotech
Pvt. Ltd spoke about their intention
of focusing on the development of
products from Agro-waste in the
vicinity of Karnataka through their
new start-up venture. Aspartika was
incorporated through grant in aid
project under the BIG-scheme of the
Biotechnology Industry Research
Assistance Council (BIRAC).
Many other inspiring ideas
were shared by participants from
Bugworks, Shanmukha Innovations,
and Shree Biocare.
Shrikumar Suryanarayan,
Chairman of Sea6 Energy, shared
his journey of getting involved in a
new start-up project with few energy
driven students some years ago.
Today, Sea6 Energy is developing
technologies to convert biomass intobiofuel, and other bio-renewable
products to replace chemicals and
plastics.
Jagdish Mittur, Head of
Biotechnology Facilitation Cell,
Karnataka Biotechnology and
Information Technology Services,
highlighted the key problems
encountered by many start-up
organisations due to the absence
of a regulatory head or a financial
officer in their teams for providing
the required guidance related to
investment.
Discussions were conducted
to address the difficulties faced
by biotechnology start-ups in
the country in getting adequate
funding. Majority of the start-ups
are dependent on funding from
the government but usually after
receiving an early stage funding,
moving on to the next level becomes
challenging. Interactions are
required to be promoted between
these start-ups and investors.
Dr Murali highlighted the fact
that out of the 1,022 start-ups in
the biotechnology sector, one-
third are being run by women
entrepreneurs.(L-R) Dr PM Murali (President ABLE), Dr Jagadish Mittur (Head - Biotechnology Facilitation Cell
at KBITS, Department of IT BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka), DA Prasanna (Investor in Life
Science) and Dr KK Narayanan (MD-Metahelix Life Sciences)BioInvest
2017Convergence of
entrepreneurial ideas
http://www.biospectrumindia.com | May 2017 | BioSpectrum BIOEvent^49