NRI
Scientist CEOs
Indian
entrepreneurship in America is old hat. But not many would risk taking their
scientific research to the next level and turning it into a successful
business. Here is the story of the bravehearts who did
Way back in
1964, Amar G Bose, professor of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), founded Bose Corp on the foundation of his own graduate
research. This led to the development of new, patented technologies with the
encouragement of his alma mater, MIT. Many years later, in 1999, his son Vanu
Bose, also an MIT graduate, followed in the same path to set up his own company
Vanu Inc based on his research at MIT’s SpectrumWare project. They may not be a
large number but there are feisty Indian scientists willing to take the
entrepreneurial plunge with their scientific inventions, and for many of them,
the risk has paid off.
“Often it is a question of getting out of one’s comfort zone in the lab, or of a prestigious and well-paying job. Besides sectors like biotech and pharma, which attract scientific startups, are often very risky,” says Mahendra G Shah, venture partner at the Silicon Valley-based Vivo Ventures, an investment firm focused on making investments, from its $375-million seventh fund, into promising private and public health-care companies in the US and greater China.
“Raising finance is the other big challenge for such scientist entrepreneurs. The questions that they are faced with are on whether their technology or scientific discovery will make it to the commercially successful product stage. And because of a very competitive environment in which such scientists usually find themselves, VCs often expect them to put together strong business teams as well,” adds Shah, who has had a very successful career as pharmaceutical entrepreneur. He was the founder, chairman and CEO of NextWave Pharmaceuticals, a speciality pharmaceutical company.
“Often it is a question of getting out of one’s comfort zone in the lab, or of a prestigious and well-paying job. Besides sectors like biotech and pharma, which attract scientific startups, are often very risky,” says Mahendra G Shah, venture partner at the Silicon Valley-based Vivo Ventures, an investment firm focused on making investments, from its $375-million seventh fund, into promising private and public health-care companies in the US and greater China.
“Raising finance is the other big challenge for such scientist entrepreneurs. The questions that they are faced with are on whether their technology or scientific discovery will make it to the commercially successful product stage. And because of a very competitive environment in which such scientists usually find themselves, VCs often expect them to put together strong business teams as well,” adds Shah, who has had a very successful career as pharmaceutical entrepreneur. He was the founder, chairman and CEO of NextWave Pharmaceuticals, a speciality pharmaceutical company.
THERE ARE MORE TO COME
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