Technology may have the bigger share of the pie in terms of start-ups, but another area is witnessing a surge in ideas from wannabe entrepreneurs. It is some kind of a boom time in the field of biotechnology as far as the start-up dream is concerned.
Bengaluru-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), which is positioned as an ‘enabler of bioscience research and entrepreneurship’, has had ‘more requests than it can handle’, according to Ramaswamy S., former CEO and one of the founders of the incubator. C-CAMP, which was launched in 2009, now houses 15 start-ups. It also mentors around 35 companies in Bengaluru and other parts of the country.
“We saw a slow increase in demand over the last few years, but in the last two years, demand has shot up,” said Prof. Ramaswamy. This is despite the cost of renting a lab at C-CAMP being far more as compared to the alternatives.
Explaining the popularity, Prof. Ramaswamy said, “We have an active mentorship programme. We bring in successful entrepreneurs and regulatory authorities to come and talk at the centre. They are even taught how to file patents.”
“Though the returns are not immediate, unlike in other fields, 18 months is considered the ‘reasonable period’ for experiment. Going by this, biotech start-ups have a 20 per cent success rate in defending an idea and converting it into to a proof of principle
,” he added.
