An innovative programme, aimed at bringing together entrepreneurs interested in biotechnology with ventures that lack the human capital to operate as commercial operations, has been started by life sciences incubator, eGoli BIO.
The first phase of the venture-entrepreneur matching programme, known as VE Match, began last week with an open day at the incubator.
eGoli BIO aims to commercialise successful research and development, resulting in a viable business prospect with products or services reaching the market.
"Our contact with the biotechnology community has exposed a number of dormant technologies that have potential as major business opportunities," says Dave Walwyn, acting CEO of eGoli BIO.
"On the other hand, there are many entrepreneurs with good technical qualifications and little or no business experience, who wish to start their own businesses."
Walwyn says the VE Match initiative aims to offer training in business skills, to address the needs of the tenant pipeline for eGoli BIO and to provide a service to the local bio-economy, by providing a low risk means of transferring and commercialising technology.
The incubator has already established a database of entrepreneurs and has also been talking to research and other institutions about their 'stockpiled` research projects and ideas to which these entrepreneurs can be matched.
The resultant businesses will reside within the incubator, with business support being provided by eGoli BIO.
At the open day, six candidates were introduced to the initiative and gained practical experience of incubation through exposure to a case study of a start-up biotechnology enterprise.
According to Walwyn, the open day is only phase one. Phase two will see two candidates from the open day selected to be briefed by the owners of the intellectual property.
"They will then serve an internship of six months in the eGoli BIO incubator, working on the venture. If the project shows success in the six months, phase three will involve the incubation process of the venture," he says.
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