Endeavours to create a nurturing environment for innovation and encourage commercialisation of promising discoveries
The incubation cell of IIT Madras added a biotechnology incubator for biotechnology start-ups to its gamut of incubators. With the support of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Govt of India), the IITM bioincubator aims to help start-ups and SMEs develop globally competitive products and launch them into the market successfully. The inauguration of the facility at IITM’s Research Park was done by Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras.
Speakers who attended the function included, Dr Guhan Jayaraman, Coordinator, IITM Bioincubator, Dr Satya Dash, Manager, BIRAC, Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Faculty-in-Charge, IITM Research Park & Co-Chairman, IITM Incubation Cell, Srikumar Suryanarayanan, Chief Executive Officer, Sea6 Energy and Prof D Karunagaran, Head, Dept. of Biotechnology, IIT Madras.
The bioincubator endeavours to create a nurturing environment for innovation, and encourage commercialisation of promising discoveries. It offers lab and office space, with the latest, most sophisticated equipment, and centralised utilities for process and product development, to help technologies mature and attain commercialisation. Entrepreneurs can use this as a platform to gain technical advice from the expertise of IIT Madras faculty and researchers to realise business opportunities. Other support services like accounts and tax, company secretary-ship, legal, HR, audit, IP, access to funds, investors, mentors, advisers and consultants, training programmes, and networking events are also made available In collaboration with the IIT Madras Incubation Cell. The bioincubator will also provide training through workshops to develop skills.
Four companies have been identified as the incubatees for the first phase. They are Purius Nanosystems, FIB-SOL Life Technologies, Vital Bioscientific Solutions and Yaathum Biotech. Three of the companies have been started by doctoral students from the IIT Madras Biotechnology Department. This is a positive trend and provides a promising career avenue for those who want to combine research and entrepreneurship in biotechnology.
EP News Bureau – Mumbai
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