Indian Angel Network, India’s largest business angel group , has signed a MOU with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC). The partnership aims to bring the biotechnology startups closer to angel investors, who will benefit from investments as well as mentoring and global market access.
BIRAC is a Public Sector Undertaking set up by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India with the aim to strengthen and empower the emerging Biotech enterprises in India. It enables enterprises and startups to undertake strategic research and innovation, addressing nationally relevant product development needs. To provide launchpads for startups, BIRAC has supported 24 Bioincubators across India.
“BIRAC has catalyzed a significant transition in the Indian bio entrepreneurial ecosystem. We are very pleased with our partnership with IAN. We hope that the 500 startups that BIRAC has supported can leverage this partnership especially IAN’s expansive network to move to the next level & bring cutting edge products & solutions for national & global challenges”, said Renu Swarup, Senior Adviser, Department of Biotechnology and MD, BIRAC.
Despite challenges like intense capital and high end infrastructure requirement for startups, the duo believe that the biotech market has a lot of potential. According to the latest research data brought out by IBEF, India is among the top 12 biotech destinations in the world and ranks third in the Asia-Pacific region. The Indian biotech industry holds about 2 per cent share of the global biotech industry and is expected to be valued at US$ 11.6 billion in 2017.
“The Indian Biotechnology industry breeds very innovative technologies with the potential to have a high impact on our citizens. However, these are usually long gestation investments. Over the years, IAN has promoted and nurtured ground-breaking technology startups in India bringing in patient money. We are delighted to partner with BIRAC. Indian biotech companies surely have the potential to go global and IAN could well bring a catalytic effect to these ventures,” noted Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder, IAN.
Established in 2006, Indian Angel Network consists of over 450 members across the world. It aims to foster entrepreneurship with prime focus on nurturing and mentoring new generation entrepreneurs. IAN has already invested in several biotech startups like Vitas Pharma, Transcell which are also BIRAC supported companies.