New Delhi, December 17th 2019 : Eleven bio entrepreneurs in topics as diverse as water and sanitation and maternal and child health to digital health, medical devices and agri-biotechnology have been declared winners of the National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition (NBEC 2019) conducted by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP).
By Sunderarajan Padmanabhan
It was organised
under the BIRAC Regional Entrepreneurship Centre (BREC), which is a joint
initiative of C-CAMP and Biotechnololgy Industry Research Assistance Council
(BIRAC).
The winners have
bagged a cumulative amount of Rs. 3 crore in cash prizes and investment
opportunities, as well as an exclusive scope for mentorship from key industry
leaders.
winners of the national bio-entrepreneurship
competiton
Divanshu of Alcheme was awarded the WIN Foundation
cash prize of Rs.7.5 lakh as well as their an investment opportunity of Rs. 30
lakhs in water and sanitation category, while Mayur Shetty, Blackfrog Technologies Pvt. Ltd., received
the WIN Foundation cash prize of Rs. 7.5 lakh and also the WIN Foundation
investment opportunity of Rs. 30 lakhs in maternal and child health category.
Blackfrog also won the Social Alpha investment opportunity of US dollar 100,000
for the potential of their work in terms of social impact.
Ragul Paramasivam, Chimertech Innovations LLP, won the Ankur Seeds award
of Rs. 5 lakh in agri-biotechnology category as well as the ID capital
investment opportunity of US dollars 100,000 as agri-biotechnology, food and nutraceuticals
entrepreneur; Shomeshwar Singh, 4S Medical Research Pvt. Ltd, was awarded the
Digital Health cash prize of Rs 5 lakh sponsored by HealthVenture, USA; Prakhar
Jain, MicroX Labs, won the Applied Materials India award of Rs. 5lakh in
medtech innovation category; Rajesh Nandipati, Oncosimis Biotech Pvt. Ltd.
received the Rs. 5 lakh Excellence Prize sponsored by Biocon; Asawari Kane,
PadCare Labs was awarded the Novozymes Excellence Prize of Rs. 3 lakh.
The Pfizer Entrepreneurship Award of Rs. 3.5 lakh went to Arindam
Ghatak, Biomoneta. Halagappa Eswarappa Shashidhar, CultivaAgriTech received the
Mahyco cash prize of Rs 1 lakh in Agri-Biotechnology; and an Investment
opportunity of $75,000 USD from HealthVenture, USA in Digital Health was
announced for Rohit Hiwale, Morphle Technologies Private Limited. Finally, a
special prize from C-CAMP’s end was awarded to Shilpa Malik of Bioscan
Research.
Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, and Chairperson, BIRAC, Dr. Renu Swarup, said, “NBEC 2019 has
witnessed 3,000 applications, a number rising every year, clearly indicative of
a maturing ecosystem. The fact that applications have been received from places
like Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Daman and Diu show that we have been able
to enthuse young researchers and innovators across India to come forward with
their ideas. Together, let us aim for India to be recognised as number one bio
startup nation in the world.”
Chief
Guest and member of the Grand Jury, Dr Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, exhorted entrepreneurs to
see their innovation from idea through product stage. “I have deep gratitude to
C-CAMP for having brought a platform as unique as NBEC to Indian bio
entrepreneurship arena. NBEC is about celebrating new ideas and the potential impact
these ideas can make to society. But, an entrepreneurship is about how you
monetise an idea and take it to market. So don’t wait for the perfect idea.
Wait for that one good idea. Shape its commercialisation journey and scale it
up. Because impact and true recognition lie only in scaling.”
A cohort of 65
startups gleaned from about 3,000 registrations across 33 States and Union
Territories in the country participated in a 2 day Boot Camp and Mentoring
Sessions with mentors from CIIE – IIM Ahmedabad prior to the finals. A total of
18 of these were selected by a Jury on December 13 to pitch at the Grand Finale
gala. The Grand Jury at the Finale consisted of eminent experts representing
entire spectrum of biotech industry and investment sector.
The competition had 17 industry partners
including international partners from the USA, France and Singapore on board:
WIN Foundation, Ankur Seeds, Applied Materials India, Amazon Web Services
(AWS), Biocon, CIIE – IIM Ahmedabad, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII),
CNBC-TV18 Young Turks, GE, HealthVenture – USA, Hello Tomorrow, ID Capital,
Kotak Private Equity, Mahyco, Novozymes, Pfizer, and Social Alpha.
Dr.
Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO & Director,
C-CAMP said “CCAMP believes that through fostering deep science innovations we
have an opportunity to make a major impact in India’s growth. CCAMP is
dedicated to play this vital role and looks forward to working together with
all towards building tomorrow’s innovations from India.”
(India Science Wire)
