EPIC at the All India iGEM MeetUp
July 2022 has truly reinvigorated the second half of the year for the Asia Pacific (APAC) Team at Entrepreneurship Program and Innovation Community (EPIC).
Team EPIC organized the Summer Bootcamp during the first week of July and witnessed over 100 online participants. Post that, EPIC also conducted their first in-person event in collaboration with the All India iGEM Meet-up (AIIM) 2022 which took place across over three days. On the first day, more than 120 members from 15 teams across the 2022 Indian iGEM cohort participated actively during the event.
Across the lush green Gulmohar Margh of IISC Bangalore campus, stands the Faculty Hall building, where the AIIM was held. It was amazing to see how significant the student interest is, in starting their own start-ups. With their passion resonating with EPIC’s cause, a new generation of start-up ideas came to life during EPIC’s curated events. Jatin Khaimani (Regional Head - APAC) stressed the importance of building ground-up communities who support one another in their ventures. As such, networking was key to bringing people together. With this EPIC x AIIM 2022 collaboration in mind, Team EPIC set out to inculcate the culture of entrepreneurship amongst iGEM teams through the Fireside Chats, Elevator Pitch Competition and Round Table Networking Session. The proactive participation from the participants, judges, panelists and guest speakers made it possible for this event to be one of the biggest South Asia Synbio Networking events in 2022 for collegiate students.
The EPIC segment kicked off in the second half with two fireside chats - the first on the ‘Changing Landscape of Synthetic Biology in India’, moderated by Jyoti Swami from IISER Mohali iGEM Team 2022. Tirtha Mandal, Scientific Manager at Zumutor Biologics, shared insights on how big biostart-ups are emerging, particularly in the healthcare sector. Aparna Kumaraswamy from Swissnex highlighted the importance of information exchange and how collaboration between two countries can boost entrepreneurship globally. Yilin Chen, Marketing Lead APAC-EPIC, highlighted the challenges faced by students in commercializing scientific projects from the institution-level, and how EPIC assists in this journey.
EPIC Fireside Chat - Changing Landscape of Synthetic Biology in India
The second fireside chat, 'Experience of Alumni: From an iGEMer to an EPIC Team.' which followed start-up founders on their EPIC journey, was moderated by Yilin Chen. Each year, EPIC supports the development of aspiring biofounders through the flagship programme Venture Creation Labs, a 3-week long incubation programme. Curem Biotech founders Chinmay Patwardhan, Shivani Deshpande and Synbiote founders Ismat Kabbara, Alinta Furnell elaborated on their experiences and shared tips with the aspiring bio entrepreneurs present. Through the interactions with the panel speakers, iGEMers present gained a broader perspective on how they might pivot their projects towards becoming a start-up.
EPIC Fireside Chat - Experience of Alumni: From an iGEMer to an EPIC Team
Building on the same spirit, EPIC conducted an elevator-pitch competition for iGEM teams to pitch to Mr. Sachin Karnik, Co-founder of Kofounderzz. A 3+2 minute pitching session was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience and the judge. Team EPIC witnessed ideas ranging from therapeutics and food technology to environment and healthcare. A round of questions was followed by an announcement of the winning teams for the event. The winners were IISER Pune team 2, IISER Trivandrum, and IIT Delhi.
Elevator pitch competition at the AIIM
Round Table Event hosted by EPIC
The last session of the day was an exciting one - an one of its kind round table networking event. iGEMers went through speed chat sessions with the esteemed guests from Synbio/Biotechnology startups across healthcare, food, and environment. These included CEOs, business executives, and also senior entrepreneurs. The teams interacted for about 15 minutes at each round table, developing insightful conversations about transforming ideas into a profitable business. Our guests, who were invited by Pratyusha Potharaju (Wildtype - APAC), listened intently to the teams' ideas and provided constructive feedback. Once the networking event came to an end, it was time for the annual AIIM group photo, which is seen below.
All India iGEM Meetup Group Photo
Team EPIC also hosted a dinner for the guests where free wheeling conversations flowed. The winners of the Pitching competition were felicitated during the closing ceremony on Day 3. EPIC members had worked hard for a month to accomplish a successful event. Post pandemic, having such a collective effort of iGEMers was an impressive milestone.
With the hope that this instilled the essence of scientific entrepreneurship we look forward to seeing you at the Startup Showcase during the Grand Jamboree in Paris from 26-28 October 2022.
Check out LinkedIn posts by guests at the AIIM:
This blog was authored by Jatin Khaimani, with translations provided by Apeksha Patel.
Photography credits to Apeksha Patel and Yilin Chen.
