New medical treatments, early diagnosis, advances in the protection of endangered animals, and improvements in food production are just some of the achievements resulting from the convergence of biotechnology and entrepreneurship, which were discussed at the conference “ScienceStartups – Business Opportunities.”
Enteria, GRIDX, and CIE BIO were the featured speakers at the event, which took place on Thursday, March 12, 2020, and was organized by the Graduate School of Business at Universidad ORT Uruguay.
The talk was designed to raise awareness and foster understanding of the current connection between biotechnology and entrepreneurship through real-life success stories from the country and the region.
At the start of the event, Santiago Fork, associate professor of Business Planning in ORT’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, emphasized the importance of including individuals in research teams who can contribute their business acumen and have an entrepreneurial spirit. He noted that this is a current necessity that can create a variety of opportunities in the future.
A learning process
Pharmaceutical chemist Deborah Szwedzki opened the exhibition by sharing her experience as coordinator of the CIE BIO biotechnology incubator: “The idea is to promote the development of the biotechnology industry through various pillars.”
The CIE BIO was established through a partnership between the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Center (CBI+I), UTEC University of Technology, and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at Universidad ORT Uruguay, with the goal of fostering the generation of ideas and transforming them into innovative ventures that benefit society.
This project has by the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII) and was launched in May 2019. Since then, efforts have been focused on developing and strengthening biotechnology-based startups.
Regarding the process of consolidating projects, Szwedzki said, “This is a learning process, regardless of where you start. You may begin with a great deal of knowledge, but even so, it’s a process that requires change.”
Regarding the role of CIE BIO, Szwedzki explained that the incubator provides support at every stage: “An idea is submitted, an initial meeting is held, the idea is developed, it is validated, changes are made, and the process culminates in the creation of a compelling value proposition for funding agencies or private investors.”
“A startup of startups”
“Explore, ignite, build, and grow”—these were the phases identified by Federico Marque, an industrial engineer and partner at GRIDX, in the creation of science-based startups.
GRIDX is the first company in Latin America dedicated to supporting biotechnology projects: “We’re a startup of startups.”
From there, they focus on connecting investment opportunities with promising scientific ventures: “We aim to drive the entrepreneurial business world with smart capital.”
Marque pointed out that there is currently a great deal of knowledge that is not being put to use due to a lack of project development: “We have scientific knowledge and we have capital; what’s missing are good projects.”
At GRIDX, they nurture valuable ideas to attract investment and consolidate scientific ventures: “In three years, we have built and invested in 20 biotech startups that employ more than 100 people.”
Toward the end of his presentation, Marque highlighted the importance of the human factor in the success of each of the projects supported by GRIDX: “The most important thing is the people behind each initiative; that’s the key. Having entrepreneurs with business acumen on a team of scientists is vital for the projects to succeed.”
Enteria: “Getting to Know Our Crowds”
“There are far more diagnostic possibilities than one might imagine,” explains Pía Campot, a biotechnology engineer from ORT and co-founder of Enteria, a startup dedicated to analyzing the human gut microbiome.
This venture, which has been supported by GRIDX, originated as an idea in 2017. After several discussions with doctors and biotechnologists, this idea took shape as a company that offers the ability to detect health risks by studying variations in each person’s microbial community.
“Knowing our multitudes” is Enteria’s slogan and, in a way, explains its goal: to understand the 100 trillion bacteria in our gut microbiota to obtain valuable information regarding our health status.
Campot emphasized the importance of GRIDX’s support for Enteria’s growth: “We learn a lot about how to transform our ideas into solid and interesting pitches. We’ve pitched in two, five, or ten minutes to convince people of our project,” she said.
Finally, in response to questions from the audience about the challenges of starting a biotech company, Pía Campot noted that“you have to lose your fear and take the plunge.”