From left: Prof Niall English and Peter Doyle. Image: UCD
BioSimulytics is developing a software platform to bring greater speed, certainty and product data quality to the drug development process.
BioSimulytics has been named as the winner of the University College Dublin (UCD) VentureLaunch accelerator programme.
The start-up, which is developing a software platform to bring greater speed, certainty and product data quality to a critical part of the drug development process, was awarded a €32,000 prize.
Held at NovaUCD, VentureLaunch aims to support the creation and launch of sustainable and profitable new start-ups emerging from the university. BioSimulytics was competing against six other start-ups, listed here, for the award.
On completion of the programme, the expectation is that the participating start-ups will have developed a commercially viable business plan. The programme took place over a two-month period between October and November, with each of the start-ups participating in workshops delivered by external experts and talks from entrepreneurs.
Participants also gain expert mentoring on marketing, finance, funding, sales and pitching to investors. Overall, they are equipped with the knowledge, skills and understanding that will be required to work as part of a team leading a new commercial venture.
Tom Flanagan, director of enterprise and commercialisation at UCD, said: “University College Dublin is strongly committed to delivering impact from its research and innovation activities, a key driver of a dynamic and robust economy.
“Through the UCD VentureLaunch accelerator programme, we support the UCD community to deliver such impact by helping them accelerate the establishment of new start-up companies with global market potential.”
BioSimulytics
Speaking about the overall winner, Flanagan added: “I would like to congratulate the BioSimulytics team on winning this year’s programme and I wish them, and all the programme participants, every commercial success in the years ahead.”
The members of the BioSimulytics team, which emerged from the UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, are Prof Niall English, Dr Christian Burnham, Dr Pralok Samanta and commercial lead Peter Doyle.
English said that the team is delighted to have won the 2019 UCD Start-up of the Year award, describing it as a “testament to the hard work, dedication and progress of the entire team over the last number of years”.
“We are initially seeking to raise €400,000 in investment to build our core team to rapidly grow our business with leading pharmaceutical, biotech and contract development and manufacturing organisation companies globally,” he added.
“BioSimulytics is the result of collaborative research at UCD, which has been funded to date by an Enterprise Ireland commercialisation fund, and I would like to thank Enterprise Ireland for their funding and support.
“I would also like to acknowledge the great encouragement provided by NovaUCD, the VentureLaunch facilitators, and specifically all of the VentureLaunch participants through their invaluable feedback and support during the programme.”
The prize fund awarded to BioSimulytics consisted of a cheque for €10,000 from AIB, a professional services package to the value of €10,000 sponsored by Bryan Maguire Business Consulting and Deloitte, and incubation space at NovaUCD to the value of €12,000.
