Scope of Biotechnology in India- Bioentrepreneurship

If you have an innovative idea with commercial potential and you are willing to tolerate a little risk, then setting up your own enterprise may be a good option for you. Entrepreneurship is critical to the country’s economic development as well as societal well-being as entrepreneurs create jobs and drive innovation.

As an entrepreneur, you are expected to prepare feasibility reports to assess economic potential of your idea, competitors in the field, existing and future products in pipeline, market size, etc, so that you can take well-informed decisions. 

Start-ups offer a training opportunity that can teach you how to shift your thinking from theory into practice. Learning how to impress others and explain your project in a comprehensive and detailed manner is extremely important. Team work, developing ideas, addressing an audience, executing plans are some important skills needed for this. If you value independence, creativity, and autonomy, you could be successful as an entrepreneur. To begin with, you should gather a team with complementary expertise and delegate responsibility wherever needed.

You would need strong interpersonal skills as well as knowledge of data analysis and interpretation to convince investors/ venture capitalists to invest in your idea. Time management is crucial for success, hence, you need to set time-bound targets and milestones and ensure their timely implementation. Judicious utilization of financial resources and efficient personnel management are also important for success. 

To begin with, you will have to multi-task as your team may have only a few members. It may be a good idea to outsource specialized work to professionals instead of hiring so as to reduce your liability. In addition to subject knowledge, you would need to be updated with regulatory requirements.

Many schemes to support commercialization of research and training of students to set up their own enterprises have been initiated by the Government of India, including program such as ‘Innovate in India’, ‘Make in India’ and ‘Start-up India’. 

Biotechnology offers tremendous scope for strengthening economic growth through innovative technologies with applications in agriculture, health, environment, energy, etc. Some departments involved in encouraging bioentrepreneurship are: National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and Technology Development Board (TDB) set up by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Biotechnology Industry Research Assessment Council (BIRAC) set up by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Small & Medium Scale Enterprises, and the Department of Industrial Promotion & Policy. 

BIRAC alone has supported around 500 start-ups and entrepreneurs in the last few years in diverse areas such as biomedical devices, therapeutics, specialty enzymes, plant tissue culture, biofertilizers, biopesticides, etc. 30 incubators have been set up across the country which have resulted in the development of over 100 products and technologies and generation of 150 intellectual property(IP). For those interested in bioentrepreneurship, competitions can serve as a “way-in”.

DBT has been organizing Best Entrepreneur Student Teams (BEST) competition for student teams for the last several years. Initially, it was held jointly with British Council, then, it was organized by Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises (ABLE). Student teams come up with prospective ideas and present their ideas before experts from academia, industry, financial experts from banks, investors, venture capitalists, angel investors. 

Teams get lot of mentoring and selected teams get award money as well as support to take their ideas to a logical conclusion. For the last 2 years, BIRAC has been organizing the National Entrepreneurship Competition inviting innovative, path breaking ideas. The selection process involves regional rounds and selected participants undergo intense mentoring at a residential boot camp. These programs provide much desired impetus to students and scientists willing to set up their own enterprise.

Key skills

• Passion and Motivation to succeed
• Willingness to take risk
• Confidence, Determination, Hard work, Dedication, Discipline 
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Knowledge of subject area, product, market, IPR, Regulatory requirements
• Effective Planning

Key Responsibilities 

• Selection of ideas and technologies 
• Preparation of feasibility reports 
• Presentation before investors for seeking funding 
• Communicating with stakeholders 
• Team selection, personnel management