The launch of the first cohort is a milestone for Africa’s biotech sector. It sets out to place the continent’s leading biotech startups on the same playing field as international biotechnology startups.
Nine of South Africa and Zimbabwe’s top early-stage biotech entrepreneurs are participating in an intense six-month development training programme at the Cape Innovation and Technology’s Woodstock Bandwidth Barn in Cape Town.
Biotech is a key tech cluster for the Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative. Its incubation programme, BioCiTi, is being run in partnership with OneBio and The TechVillage.
The programme is also supported by the Centre for Proteomic and Genomic Research (CPGR), the Finnish government through their Southern African Innovative Support (SAIS) initiative and the South African government’s Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA).
“CiTi sees a lot of opportunities in biotech to catalyse the sector,” says Ian Merrington, CEO of Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative. “There is a lot of nascent activity in the country and Africa, but not much of it comes to fruition in a commercial sense or from the perspective of being able to take it to market and scale.
The launch of the BioCiTi incubator continues CiTi’s increased focus on specialised incubation.”
According to Dr Nick Walker, co-founder of OneBio, biotech was previously the domain of big pharmaceutical companies: “In the early 2000s, the cost of sequencing the first human genome, which is the DNA and the ‘code of life’, was estimated at approximately $3 billion.
Today, it can be done from under $1000. Due to drastically reduced costs, for the first time in history, we are able to affordably read the ‘code of life’. This is what makes biotech so exciting.”
“While international investments in biotech startups are rising exponentially, it is limited in Africa,” adds Michael Fichardt, co-founder of OneBio. “We believe the combination of entrepreneurship training, co-working, shared lab facilities and funding will help develop the local market.”
Following an extensive search earlier this year for South African and Zimbabwean biotech entrepreneurs – who are late in the research cycle and early in the product cycle – more than 51 applications were received and nine startups selected for the programme.
“We’re ecstatic to start a journey that serves to help our team better understand the biotech ecosystem and support our vision to add to a stronger driving force behind biotech entrepreneurial development in Africa,” says Daniel Ndima of CapeBio Technologies, one of the participants in this year’s programme.
The incubation programme will run over six months and deliver various bootcamps, virtual workshops, expert coaching sessions and tailored online content. It will culminate in a showcase day where entrepreneurs will pitch their companies to a room full of key local stakeholders.
“Our hope for participating businesses is to open their eyes to the business world, help them collaborate and see the benefits of the ecosystem,” says Takunda Chingonzo, CEO of TechVillage. “Our aim is to enhance their business skills, strategies and any ideas they may have. Ultimately, it will be satisfying to see a few of the businesses successfully take their products to market.”