Dr Dhiman Sarkar and Manikankana Sarkar Bandyopadhyay with one of their
research associates.
BIRAC’s partner, IKP. During this
time, Venture Center helped them
with creating a business plan and
model, and with the technology
transfer process from CSIR-NCL to
Annweshan.
However, as is common with
startups, the early days were
quite chaotic and frustrating, with
limited resources and finances.
Among the key challenges faced
by Annweshan during this initial
period was a less-than-ideal lab
space. “Our challenges were further
compounded by the lack of an easily
accessible BSL3 facility in Pune;
thus, we had to spend a whooping
sum for outsourcing and on
travelling,” she reveals. However,
after every initial struggle, there is
always a silver lining, and the good
part is that now the company has a
concrete lab-space to work from.
The founders appreciate the
support of Venture Center during
their initial struggle period in
the form of guidance on the Bill
Melinda Foundation Scheme,
framing of HR and procurement
policies, and negotiations and
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