AIC-CCMB to offer virtual incubation facility for lifesciences startups

Hyderabad: The Atal Incubation Centre at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (AIC-CCMB), that has incubated 13 startups in the life sciences space since its launch in August 2017, is now set to open a virtual incubation facility next quarter to allow more startups to get access to its infrastructure,

AIC-CCMB

chief executive officer N Madhusudhana Rao told TOI.

Rao pointed out that in the case of virtual incubations, startups working in areas such as bio-informatics and genomics, among others, that do not require full-time access to wet laboratories, will be encouraged to work at the facility.

Spread over of 10,000 sft, AIC-CCMB has one of the largest facilities for shared wet research facilities and equipment and has a capacity to incubate 25 startups. “We have incubated 13 so far, of which two have moved out, so we have 11 with us now. Last week we received 10 applications, of which we will take around five. We are also being selective in ensuring that only startups that are working in deep sciences and are innovative come here. By the year-end, we hope our capacity will be full,” he said. The AIC-CCMB incubatees have been working in the area of biosimilars, biomedical devices, animal health and industrial biotechnology, among others.

Rao said that AIC-CCMB is also mulling setting up a seed fund to be able to invest in startups and offer financial support.

Even as AIC-CCMB works with startups steered by scientists and helps them become successful entrepreneurs, it plans to partner with other ecosystem players such as incubators, mentors, investors and academic institutions to bring more value for incubatees. In fact, it has been holding a monthly event — Café Mandala — for networking, knowledge sharing and funding opportunities for its incubatees.


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