BIRAC’s annual Innovator Meet brought together funded startups, SMEs and their collaborators to create a platform of discussion amongst peers. The Government of India established BIRAC, as a not-for-profit public sector company, under the aegis of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) to enable and empower the biotech innovation ecosystem in India.
David Gill, Managing Director of St John’s Innovation Centre, commented: “It was a delight to visit India again and discuss the Cambridge Phenomenon with an international audience. I sought to explain how Silicon Fen, as it is affectionately known, established itself in the early stages, how it evolved while also being realistic about the physical challenges for a city of 124,000 people to accommodate 1,500 tech firms – more than 160 of which are in life sciences.
Cambridge remains a magnet for market-leading, high-growth technology companies and its impact on the international landscape highlights the importance of the continued success of business incubators like St John’s Innovation Centre.”
Dr. Satya Dash, Head of Strategy, Partnerships & Entrepreneurship Development at BIRAC, concluded: “It was a pleasure to have David Gill at BIRAC’s successful annual event this month. He provided a fascinating insight into the world-renowned technology cluster of Cambridge, which will undoubtedly inspire ambitious companies in India during their startup phase and build upon existing collaborative channels.”
BIRAC implements a range of strategic instruments ranging from targeted funding, technical and business mentoring and infrastructural and IP management. The funding support is designed to address and overcome inherent risks associated with the innovation pathway during product development from ideation to scale up and commercialization, helping to bring innovation excellence to the biotech firms and make them globally competitive.
St John’s Innovation Centre continues to play a pivotal role in the Greater Cambridge Technology Cluster and is now home to some 87 early stage knowledge-based companies and 370 virtual tenants.