Thiruvananthapuram: In a big boost to the country’s fast-growing startup ecosystem, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science Technology (CSIR-NIIST) has set up a dedicated Innovation Centre on its campus here to incubate technology-driven start-ups to come out with innovative and marketable products. Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and Chairman of Research Council of CSIR-NIIST, inaugurated the facility recently, in the presence of CSIR-NIIST Director Dr. C. Anandharamakrishnan.

After executing the agreements with the selected incubatees, the keys for the co-working spaces for them were handed over by Dr Anandharamakrishnan on May 1, marking the commencement of their collaboration with the institute. The facility envisions to provide an inclusive ecosystem to develop and translate scientific and technical knowledge into innovations and converting them into commercial and technopreneurial ventures.

It will serve as a leading innovation hub in the country for translational R&D and incubation, knowledge-based entrepreneurship, and value creation in market-oriented business strategies. The facility will cater to the demand for strategic evaluation, protection, licensing and transfer of technologies in an attempt to nurture start-ups and early-stage companies.

With a global vision of ‘Concept to Commercialization’, the centre is envisioned to handhold and mentor start-up companies and nurture them to develop innovative products and find markets,” Dr Anandharamakishnan said.

“Assisted by the scientific excellence and technological pursuits of CSIR-NIIST, the centre will be a one-stop place for technology-driven innovations, by facilitating collaborative co-working space for young entrepreneurs to incubate their ideas and get access to thought-provoking scientific inventions, thinking labs, and funding opportunities,” Dr Anandharamakrishnan added.

The focus of the Innovation Centre is on catalysing commercially viable ideas, validating proof of concept, advancing technologies toward market readiness, and fostering new enterprise formation. The facility will encourages ideation, support transition from concept to market-ready solutions, and contributes to the growth of entrepreneurial endeavours at CSIR-NIIST.

The Centre will facilitate a dynamic interface with entrepreneurs, founders, scientists, technologists and technocrats, besides establishing a streamlined mechanism for speedy commercialization of in-house technological advancements.
It will also provide comprehensive value-added services including those relating to the intellectual property rights (IPR), legal, financial and technical advisory, tailored to the needs of the incubatees.

The Innovation Centre will enable startups to develop into sustainable business models by leveraging the shared use of CSIR-NIIST facilities to generate Resident incubatees and Associate incubatees. The companies selected for the programme as resident incubates are AbrinAldrich Agronic Products, Bio Vastum Solutions, Tuneup08 Automotives, Vitaliz Biosciences and Embedite. The companies selected under Associate Incubatees are Neuflow Energy, Bayesian Ways LLP, Biolaxi Enzymes, Kuruvi Spice, OceanLux CCU Tech and Athmic Biotech Solutions.