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The journey of Dr. Visu from academia to innovation

During an interview with Merck, Dr. Viswanadham Duppatla discusses his startup journey and sends a message to young people. Check out our website for the full interview

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The journey of Dr. Visu from academia to innovation

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  1. The journey of Dr. Visu from academia to celebrating & promoting innovation Dr. Viswanadham Duppatla : AVP and Head - Life Science Incubation IKP Knowledge Park

  2. Could you let us know about your background and transition from pure academics to Innovation and Incubation Management? DBT sponsored M.Sc. program at the University of Calicut enabled me to do a summer project at CDFD, Hyderabad and also equipped me for my Ph.D. at the Dept. of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Thanks to my PhD supervisor’s support, I could explore opportunities like the DAAD short-term visiting fellow and European Union Scientist exchange programs during my PhD. Learning from my peers and the European exposure played a major role for my selection in the Marie – Curie Industrial Network Program (Foldamer Applications in Protein-Protein Interactions) at the Biozentrum, University of Würzburg, Germany. Thanks to the rigorous training during my PhD, I enjoyed handling an independent lab during my first postdoctoral stint in a foreign country. Indebted to my learnings at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, that have guided my career path direction and influenced my return to India in 2016. I established MNR Foundation for Research and Innovations as COO, I could enable connecting researchers with clinicians of the Medical and Dental colleges. The Executive Certificate Program in Strategic Management course at IIM Kashipur helped me closely watch the entrepreneurial journey of my batchmates from diverse industry backgrounds and this exposure has immensely helped me in training and mentoring innovators and entrepreneurs at IKP Knowledge Park.

  3. Could you explain your role at IKP Knowledge Park in providing the support for innovators? IKP Knowledge Park is a premier science park and Incubator headquartered in Hyderabad and having offices in Bangalore and 5 other cities, with a cumulative incubation space of 400,000 sq. ft. IKP was instrumental in supporting 700+ innovators, entrepreneurs, startups, small and large companies with infrastructure, grant funding, incubation and mentoring. My job is to handhold researchers who are transitioning into entrepreneurship. I lead the IKP Life Science Incubator in the genome valley campus which is supported by several initiatives of IKP like A-LABS, IKP Growth Labs and DEEP. A-LABS – an Initiative to run NABL accredited national analytical and Instrumentation facility with state-of-the-art equipment. IKP Growth Labs – to provide entrepreneurs funding support and access the distributed pilot manufacturing facilities. Growth Labs provides immersion at the manufacturing site for innovative products and makes Design for Manufacturing integrate with the project execution. IKP financially supported startups through several SEED Fund programs and equity investments.

  4. How can the government and industry partner with startups and support them to accelerate their research? Startups, being lean and agile, have the ability to execute complex projects with minimal costs in a timely manner, hence they could be extremely valuable partners for government and industry players to deploy solutions during times like this. Policy changes for liberal and flexible financing solutions are required. Due to lack of experience and resources, several startups fail to integrate themselves in the larger scheme of things in providing their competitive solutions. Industry and bureaucrats should come together to hand hold startups for inclusive growth.

  5. Any message that you would like to share with aspiring entrepreneurs in the startup space? Firstly, huge congratulations for believing in yourself and your skills. Fail fast, learn faster and be ready to face success with humility. Discipline and perseverance will help you in this long journey. Always keep your health and family in sight and if things don’t go as planned within a defined period with the things you can control – Do not hesitate to explore avenues where you can deploy your skills. As a science student, my advice is to spend a good amount of time on defining the problem statement and collect feedback from the real market. Always record the data, analyze it to plan future courses of action/correction. Accept reality, adapt to the changing circumstances, choose your partners wisely and always pay attention to finances. To read complete interview click here

  6. Thank You

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