New Delhi: The National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition NBEC 2022 declares 19 Startups/Innovators and 5 student teams as winners after an intensely contested four months that attracted ~3000 applications from 35 states and UTs including metros, Tier I, II and III cities.
Now in its 6th year, NBEC is a nationwide annual showcase of India’s most promising business ideas with significant commercial, innovation and impact potentials in the Life Sciences and biotech domain. The winners this year addressed challenges in antimicrobial resistance, digital health, therapeutics, medical devices, animal health, agriculture, water and sanitation, food and nutraceuticals, industrial biotechnology, maternal and child nutrition, green chemistry and clean technology.
NBEC is organized every year by Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India supported organization, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms under the BIRAC Regional Entrepreneurship Centre (BREC), a C-CAMP – BIRAC joint initiative, to attract, identify and nurture year game-changing deep science ideas with business potential. This year it has received support from 30 partners with some of the biggest names in the biotech industry from India.
Winning startups stand to receive a cumulative of 16 Cr INR in cash prizes and investment opportunities while student-led teams swooped up 9 lakhs in cash prizes over a total of 26 awards declared today at the Grand Finale. The competition will provide access to industry mentorship in tie-ups with key industry leaders to selected winners.
The Grand Jury for NBEC 2022 counted 22 eminent names drawn from Indian biotech industry, partners and funders. The Startup Panel was chaired by Dr Vijay Chandru, Co-Founder & Director Strand Lifesciences. 26 Finalist pitches were judged for novelty, scalability and business potential parameters to identify India’s top bio entrepreneurial talent. These 26 were culled from 240 in a regional qualifying round that could be one of India’s most diverse and representative bio-innovation competitions yet, in terms of geographical and domain footprints.
Winners of NBEC #6 join an illustrious cohort of 63 NBEC winners since NBEC launch in 2017 many of whom are already in the market with globally acclaimed and investor-backed healthcare, agriculture or environment technologies. These globally relevant innovations can potentially change lives, improve access and drive both economic growth and social equity in India and beyond.
Dr. Alka Sharma, Senior Advisor DBT and MD BIRAC, said, “Happy to note that NBEC 2022 has received applications from all over India, especially from tier 2 & 3 cities! NBEC is an extremely encouraging scenario for entrepreneurship and for it also provides opportunities to young minds to find country-specific solutions! Post-finale, innovators will be handheld further!”
Dr Manish Diwan, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Entrepreneurship Development, at BIRAC, said “NBEC recognizes the unrecognized innovations from across India! Happy to see that applications for NBEC 2022 have progressed from mature bio-innovation clusters to other parts of the country. This year, the competition was immense & I congratulate all the innovators!”
Dr. Vijay Chandru, Co-Founder and Director, Strand Life Sciences, said, “What started out in 2017 as only ₹20L worth of pot of gold has reached ₹16Cr in the 6th edition of NBEC! This growth is amazing! Also, now we should aim for that 500Million bioeconomy for the biotech industry to take the lead!”
Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO & Director, C-CAMP said “NBEC is such a platform where anyone from anywhere can apply & stand an equal chance to win big! The journey of this competition doesn’t end here at Grand Finale but it rather begins now where CCAMP will handhold you for scale-up”
Winner profiles –
Startups –
♦ Dr. Sharan Srinivasan, PRS Neurosciences & Mechatronics Research Institute- (Digital Health)- won Aurigene Mentorship & Cash prize of 8 lakhs INR & investment opportunity of upto 2 lakhs USD from C-CAMP for Rehab Operating System (ROS) software – newro logix & brain function tests to assess a person’s rehabilitation potential & functional activities post brain injury
♦ Priti Khalko, Capsber Global Agro PVT LTD (Agri-Biotech)- won Ankur Seeds Cash prize of 7 lakhs INR for Biomimetic crop specific kairomones to control female fruit fly damage in horticultural crops
♦ Radhesh Agrahari, Mudita and Radhesh Private Limited- (Clean & Renewable Energy) won Syngene Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR & Investment opportunities from Sangam Ventures upto 8 lakhs USD, Social Alpha upto 5 lakhs USD & from C-CAMP upto 2 lakhs USD for Natural Fiber from waste Chicken Feathers using eco-friendly Patented process to minimize ground-water and soil pollution
♦ Tanay Bhatt, KoshKey Sciences (Anti-Microbial Resistance)- won Most Innovative in LifeScience Loreal Cash prize of 5 lakhs INR & Investment opportunity of upto 5 lakhs USD from Social Alpha for Topical RNAi therapy for no-healing diabetic wounds and AMR infections
♦ Rizma Banu, Atom 360- (Digital Health) won Pfizer Cash prize of 5 lakhs INR & Investment opportunity of upto 2 lakhs USD from Enzia Ventures for AI- based oral cancer screening solution
♦ Rajkumar Halder, Ruhvenile Biomedical, (Antimicrobial Resistance) won Biocon Biologics Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR & Investment opportunity from Sangam Ventures of upto 8 lakhs USD for First-in-line universal medium for collection, transport, and preservation of specimen with viability of aerobic and anaerobic microbes
♦ Anjana Badrinarayanan, BioHues (Green Chemistry)- won Curadev Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR & Investment opportunities from Sangam Ventures of upto 8 lakhs USD & from C-CAMP of upto 2 lakhs USD for textile dyeing via microbe-driven solutions to make it environmentally sustainable, socially responsible and economically viable
♦ Seema Sukhani, Tellus Habitat (water & sanitation)- won WIN Foundation Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR & Investment opportunities from Enzia upto 2 lakhs USD and upto 1.5 lakhs USD from Indian Angel Network for Treating effluent water with smart automated technology for household needs
♦ Srinath GS, TAPAH Mechatronics Pvt Ltd- (Agri Biotech)- won Mahyco Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR & Investment opportunity of upto 8 lakhs USD from Sangam Ventures for Electric IR Dryer for the use in drying of various agricultural produces like paddy, corn, coffee, wheat, lintels, spices etc.
♦ Himansha Singh, Fuma Labs Pvt Ltd (Green Chemistry)- won Biocon cash prize of 3 lakhs INR and Sangam Ventures investment opportunity of upto 8 lakhs USD for Highly Durable, Formaldehyde-free, crop residue-based water resistant engineered green boards for furniture and construction applications
♦ Prasad Desai, ADIS (Animal Digital Information Systems)- (Digital Health)- won Anthem Biosciences Cash prize of 3 Lakhs INR & Investment opportunity of upto 1 lakhs USD from CIIE.CO for non-invasive tagging of animals biometrically for animal health management
♦ Gaurav Parchani, Turtle Shell technologies (Medical Devices) won Investment opportunities of upto 1.5 lakhs USD from Indian Angel Network & upto 1 lakhs USD from CIIE.CO for Contactless Continuous Blood Pressure Monitoring and Early warning system through micro-vibration sensing
♦ Sudeshna Adak, OmiX Research and Diagnostics Laboratories (Antimicrobial Resistance)- won IQVIA Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR for Rapid, Cost-effective, highly multiplexed RT-PCR testing for detection of drug resistant microorganisms in respiratory infections
♦ Anudeep Sandanamudi, Dhriti Bio Solutions- (Food & Nutraceuticals) has won WIN Foundation Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR for developing economical and sustainable composite protein from moringa for plant protein based value-added products
♦ Dr. Muyeed Ahmed. S, BioTherm Flavours and Fragrances LLP (Food & Nutraceuticals)- won Sangam Ventures investment opportunity of upto 8 lakhs USD for Novel low temperature-based extraction of secondary metabolites for fragrance and flavour industry using Vetiver Oil
♦ Vivek Gupta, GUMPRO DRILLING FLUIDS PRIVATE LIMITED, (Agri-Biotech)- won Novozymes Cash prize of 3 lakhs INR for development and production of high-quality xanthan gum biopolymer
♦ Kaushal Kothari (Digital Health)- won Social Alpha Investment opportunity of 5 lakhs USD for Hip Pro+ is an IoT-enabled smart device with protective cushions covering hip bones to prevent injuries in elderly
♦ Dr Bharathkumar Hegde, Autoyos Pvt Ltd (Digital Health)- won Mentorship by Molecular Connections for iDEA: intelligent Dry Eye Analyzer
♦ Saurya Mishra, Articulus Surgical (Medical Devices)- won Social Alpha Investment opportunity of upto 5 Lakh USD for Affordable and Portable Surgical Robotics system for Minimal Access abdominal and pelvic surgeries
Student Teams
♦ Team led by Sumit Kumar Singh, NDRI Karnal, won the BIRAC cash prize of 3 lakhs INR for their Electrochemical Impedance based Aptasensor for Semen sorting in Cattle
♦ Team led by Anakha, NIPER Mohali, won the Bugworks cash prize award of 2 lakhs INR for their LBURGINAZE – an arginine-hydrolyzing enzyme for the treatment of arginine-auxotrophic cancers with specific approach to Pancreatic Cancer
♦ Gaurav Sunil Suryawanshi, H R Patel Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research, Dhule, Maharashtra, won the Curadev cash prize award of 2 lakhs INR for their Isolation of 3-carene from turpentine oil under reduced pressure and without use of chemical reagents
♦ Team led by Katyayanee Sharma, AIIMS / IIT, Jodhpur, Rajasthan won the K & S partners cash prize worth a total of 1 lakh INR for SWASAM – a hand-held device for reshaping of the nasal septal cartilage via the technology of Electromechanical reshaping as a as a non-invasive/ surgery-less
♦ Srishti Tewari, ICT, Mumbai, Maharashtra, won the Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys cash prize worth 1 lakhs INR for Aspel – A Biodegradable alternate leather from Microbial Source
