Bajaj Auto backs social entrepreneurs with medtech cleanroom at Venture Center

Pune: Bajaj Auto’s CSR initiative has extended its CSR support for technology entrepreneurs in the CSIR-NCL hosted Venture Center’s extended innovation ecosystem. This collaboration was launched in June 2019.

Under its Corporate Social Responsibility activities, Bajaj Auto has provided funding for Developing Social Impact Technologies at Venture Centre, where 13 social entrepreneurs/startups (Bajaj CSR grantees) have been supported.

This collaboration also includes development of the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) Cleanroom class 8 facility to facilitate and accelerate the building of technologies in the MedTech, Biomed, Biotech domain. The formal launch of this facility took place on 18th November, 2019.

This cleanroom facility is built for environmentally controlled technologies & processes to meet biocompatibility requirements; such as Assembly, Machining, Moulding & 3D Printing, Sealing, Filling, Dry& Liquid Reagent Preparation, Powder Preparation, Granulation and Drying, Weaving, Power Checking and Final Cleaning, Wrapping, Primary & Secondary packaging. Potential Beneficiary Startup Segments who can utilize this facility includes Orthopedics, Surgical Instruments & Technologies, Diagnostic Apparatus, Cardiovascular Devices, Diabetes Devices, Dental Instruments & Technologies, Spinal devices, catheters, Internal fixation devices, neuromodulation devices and urology devices.

Speaking at the inaugural event, Mr Pankaj Ballabh, Vice-President (CSR), Bajaj Auto Limited emphasized the organization’s initiative to reiterate their commitment to science‐based technology incubation and innovation as a vehicle for delivering social and economic impact for the Western India region. He also hoped that this CSR initiative is a new beginning of a longstanding bond between Bajaj Auto and Venture Center for many more such projects, to benefit the Science Tech entrepreneurial community with the intention of creating large scale social impact.

Dr V. Premnath, Director, Venture Center, said “Both Venture Center and Bajaj Auto Ltd via the CSR initiatives are keen on creating assets related to innovation for Science-Tech start-ups and also support such start-ups via making available various funding opportunities, and this partnership between the two institutions will help realize this objective”. He also pointed out to the initial startup users from the Venture Center ecosystem and shared their brief product details.

Venture Center is India’s top Inventive Enterprises Incubator that has worked with 450+ entrepreneurs to date. In 2015, the Venture Center was awarded the National Award for Technology Business Incubation by the Honorable President of India, Mr Pranab Mukherjee. Venture Center is also the only technology business incubator in the country to have been accredited under Desirable Norms – the highest level of accreditation offered by Credibility Alliance. Venture Center was also awarded the Asian Association of Business Incubation Award in 2018 and recently, the National Entrepreneurship Award 2019 in the category of Incubation Centres given by the Union Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India in 2019.