The road to entrepreneurship- The Challenges of Techbio

Hi! My name is Pavandeep, I am a Research Scientist turned Strategy Consultant, looking to make a difference in the world of healthcare. Join me as I chart my journey into the world of Venture Building at ZINC, a mission driven venture builder that brings together 70 individuals from diverse backgrounds to innovate and build companies in areas of high global need. Cohort seven's mission: the effect of climate change on health.

The Challenges of building a startup in Techbio

This week, I attended the kick-off event of the Bio Boost Accelerator, a program funded by the BioIndustry Association (BIA) , KQ Labs , and Grow London to support leading tech bio startups in the UK digital health space. The day was packed with insights, including a talk by Toby Basey-Fisher from Entia , who shared lessons from building a more established digital health startup.

One of the standout sessions was a panel discussion featuring Inga D. from Molten Ventures , Jackie Hunter PhD DSc CBE FBPharmacolS FMedSci from OI Pharma Partners Ltd (formerly Pharmivation Ltd) , Sean Kendall from ARCH Venture Partners , and Prashant Shah from o2h group and Cambridge Judge Business School . They discussed the core challenges of working in the tech bio sector. Here are some key takeaways from that discussion.

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What is Tech Bio?

Tech bio is the integration of digital technologies such as AI, IoT, and cloud computing with life sciences to enhance and accelerate processes like drug development and vaccine research. It focuses on leveraging data-driven approaches to improve life sciences. The success of tech bio during the COVID-19 pandemic showed its potential to revolutionize healthcare.

If you want to learn more more about the Techbio industry, you can check out this great article by Otto Birnbaum from Revent who shared his view of the industry.

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Challenges in the Space

1. Poor IT Infrastructures

The outdated and fragmented IT infrastructure in healthcare presents significant challenges for techbio companies, particularly in terms of data sharing, interoperability, and cybersecurity. Legacy systems are often siloed, making it difficult for new digital technologies like AI and cloud computing to integrate smoothly. This lack of connectivity slows data collection and analysis, essential for innovations like real-time diagnostics and clinical trials. Additionally, compliance with strict data privacy regulations and the need for secure, high-performance computing power add further complexity, making it harder for techbio companies to scale their solutions effectively across healthcare systems.

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2. Complex Organisational Requirements

Tech bio teams are composed of both biotech and tech professionals, and cross-functional leadership is key. This mix can create tension between different ways of working, requiring diverse management strategies. Teams need to bridge both the bio and tech worlds by combining best practices from each, finding a common language to support success.

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3. Investment is Hard

The tech bio sector is still in its infancy, roughly a decade behind traditional biotech. With few established leaders to benchmark against, and several high-profile failures, investors are increasingly cautious. Demonstrating value in tech bio requires a higher level of evidence than ever before, and convincing investors—especially those accustomed to traditional biotech—can be challenging.

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4. Challenges in showing commercial value to customers

Proving ROI in this sector is tricky because the industry is still young and establishing revenue models is difficult. Health economic benefits, like improved outcomes, often take years to materialize, making it harder to show value to investors and customers. Co-designing with customers from the start is crucial to ensure they see immediate value in your solution.

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Business Models in Tech Bio

Here are three potential business models that can thrive in this space:

• Asset Creation – These companies focus on building tangible assets like AI-driven drug development or quantum computing solutions, where valuation is more straightforward.
• Wraparound Services – These companies add value by providing services or platforms around existing assets, like patient platforms, wearables, or IoT devices.
• System Fixers – These startups aim to fix broken systems within healthcare, such as digital biomarkers for adverse effects or clinical trial automation tools. Collaborating with pharma to build on their existing IP can offer significant advantages.

Startups in this space need to focus on positioning and communicating their business model with a clear path to revenue. Be decisive and choose the business model that plays to your strengths and offers the best chance of success.

Overall, it was an inspiring event filled with thought-provoking discussions. Tech bio holds incredible potential, but navigating the complexities of the sector—whether organisational, infrastructural, or financial—requires a clear strategy and strong partnerships.

Thanks for reading this week! I will be back more regularly from now with updates to share!

As ever, the lovely members of my cohort have been hard at work and are documenting there own experiences. You can access their blogs and newsletters below:

• Donna Egan Zonder
• Veronika Bridgman
• Marjo Palanee
• Oliver Knight SmartShift Energy
• Louise Thomas and William Hicks who have founded Air Aware Labs with its own weekly newsletter

Thank you to:

• Barbara Domayne-Hayman of KQ Labs bs for letting me be part of this great event.
• Patrick Beldon of Cortirio , David Wright of Kuano and Chang Lu of OutSee for being such great dinner companions.
• Lisa Shu from 英国伦敦商学院 and Deep Science Ventures for leading a fantastic workshop on negotiation.
• Dr Natasha Punia from InflaMed , Nicole K., from Arthritis Foundation and Chris Wincup, from King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL for agreeing to be part of a webinar Kuma Health hosted this week on the future of autoimmune disease in the digital age.
• Nadeem Azel from 阿斯利康 for catching up with me and being an awesome source of career support.
• Federico Paoletti from Exogene for being such a great negotiation partner.