How public sector incubator AIC is helping startups turn ideas into impact in Hyderabad

Imagine enjoying a sweet treat with no calories — just protein. Or savouring your favourite meat dish without the animal fat? Or drinking milk that doesn’t come from a buffalo or a cow? What if scientists could work with stem cell-based ‘organoids’ instead of animals in the labs?

These are not pipe dreams, but innovations nurtured at the Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB), located in Uppal, Hyderabad. It was the only one from the public sector out of 10 incubators selected by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) in 2017 under the Atal Innovation Mission, with ₹6-crore seed capital to support startups in life sciences.

Starting with four budding firms, the institute now hosts 23 companies and has mentored about 160 startups over the past six years with total funding arranged, including support from angel investors, reaching upto ₹250 crore

“There are 13-14 firms that have already made a mark and are generating revenue. It is difficult to say if they will produce earth-shaking or disruptive products, but they are going to do well,” affirms Chief Executive Officer N. Madhusudhana Rao.

Among the exciting ventures are f Althion Tech Innovations which has developed a dialysis-grade water purification unit, Oncosimis which is focused on biopharmaceuticals, Sway (or Sweetway)which is creating natural sweet protein products with zero calories, and Phyx44 which is working on cultured meat and milk, to name a few.

“Access to equipment is key but real value lies in mentoring. We provided initial research support in our lab, guided them towards funding and scaling up. We have about 70 mentors drawn from CSIR labs, industry, intellectual property rights and other domains,” says the CEO.

CSIR-CCMB Director Vinay Kumar Nandicoori notes that AIC has been supporting young, aspiring scientists with bright ideas by providing key infrastructure. “Moreover, they also benefit from accessing CCMB’s facilities at nominal charges and interacting with an outstanding pool of scientists,” he adds.

The Incubation Centre was clear about its direction from the beginning. “Our primary focus is on life sciences and biotechnology. We look for original ideas and give them a platform to test their product or process in our lab at a low rate,” says Mr. Rao.

From ‘Idea to Proof of Concept’, startups are helped in developing samples in real-world settings like hospitals and are guided to understand the timelines involved. They receive help with idea validation, physical incubation, seed funding, product validation, and regulatory approvals.

Most funding comes from Central government ministries and departments such as the NIDHI-Seed Support Programme, Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS), National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Board (NSTEDB) and the likes.

The AIC conducts workshops and fellowship programmes to attract emerging entrepreneurs. “Biological sciences is a risky business. Unlike IT/ITES, turnaround times here are longer. It takes at least five years unless you import readymade products from foreign partners,” says Mr. Rao, a former CCMB scientist who has led AIC since its inception.

AIC-CCMB’s success stems from the experience of working in a top research organisation and the “frustration and disappointment” when scientists like Dr. Rao were unable to bring their own research outcomes closer to the public.

“I know what is required since I was in the game for many years and have a fairly good idea of what works. Having the backing of then CSIR-CCBM director Rakesh Mishra during inception and the CCMB’s brand value helped us, as people wanted to be associated with us,” he recalls.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to increased trust in science, and “suddenly we also had angel investors coming forward to fund. We are also helping such investors conduct due diligence. Usually, we nudge the startup after two years, once they gain traction, to look for greener pastures with six-monthly reviews”, explains the scientist.

Over the years what the CEO has realised is that “many people are not smart in their spending”. “We also help them review their balance sheets, burn rates and expected product timelines to ensure they stay on course. We also support some companies virtually,” he says.

He says technology entrepreneurship is the way forward for the country. “People have ideas; all they need is support and autonomy. We also need technology transfer offices in all universities and labs just like the IITs,” asserts Mr.Rao.

AIC-CCMB is also working on a revenue model where successful firms will be ready to pay back. The incubator has recently expanded its activities into wildlife conservation — helping in Hangul deer preservation, introducing a PCR-based method to test for authenticity of Pashmina shawls etc.

Biodimension which is into bio-fabricated human tissues as efficient alternatives for drug screening, Cellverse, intending to use 3D bioprinting to create human cancer-on-chip models, PopVax which is into mRNA modelling and a few others are among the promising startups from the AIC stable

Despite the progress, what still rankles Mr. Rao is that Magellen Life Sciences (2018), one of the first promising startups, could not get funding even after having developed a protein “1,200 times sweeter than sugar” based on an African fruit. “Fed up with the experience where he could not even get proper food labelling, the entrepreneur left for the UK and has now received generous funding. We felt bad when there were no takers then. But today, I am sure he would have got proper backing,” he says.