Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation (MSMF) on Tuesday, December 15, 2020, launched a Technology Business Incubator in collaboration with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) BIONEST at Narayana Health City in Bengaluru.
It is claimed to be India's first corporate hospital-based technology business incubator for medtech entrepreneurs .
Aimed at helping entrepreneurs address affordability, access, and other challenges in the healthcare sector, the physical incubator, with a dedicated space of around 8,000 sq ft, hopes to onboard 10 startups in 2021.
The centre plans to introduce initiatives to further identify, mentor, and handhold entrepreneurs and innovators in the medtech space.
Biocon Executive Chairperson and Founder of Mazumdar Shaw Medical Foundation, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, at a virtual press conference said that the MSMF MedTech Innovation Centre aims to fill the gap in healthcare innovation to have a single platform for entrepreneurs to co-create and identify clinical challenges in conjunction with doctors, scientists, and technology enthusiasts. The incubation space will enable a collaborative ecosystem for tech entrepreneurs with access to the clinical expertise of Narayana Health.
She also noted that one of the key focus areas for Indian medtech is to be affordable innovation, to make sure that anything which comes out of these labs is accessible to anyone who needs it and with affordability at the heart of it.
Also read: A business woman like no other, making India proud since 1970s: Kiran Mazumdar Shaw
At the press conference, Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman and Executive Director – Narayana Health said that the physical infrastructure will further strengthen its mission, as the infrastructure can support 39 startups at any given point of time, with the total seating capacity of 82.
He added that each incubatee startup will be paired with a clinician to chart the right clinical validation pathway, and prove the product usability in a hospital setup.
An extension of the existing Clinical Immersion Programme (CIP), the centre will continue to provide startups with access to the clinical expertise of Narayana Health.
(Edited by Kanishk Singh)
