ET Startup Awards 2022: Eyestem bags the Top Innovator award

Eyestem’s aim to treat “incurable” eye diseases helped it pip Haber, an artificial intelligence powered startup that simplifies manufacturing processes, which came in as a close second. Its lead product Eyecyte-RPE is aimed at treating people with age-related macular degeneration, which causes blindness in people above 60 years of age. Its proprietary iCelldiff protocol allows Eyestem to create any cell of the body through a process that is repeatable, scalable and hence affordable. EyeCyte-RPE executes the cure through replacement of retinal pigment epithelium cells.

A remark from a jury member on the core of the category being innovation swung the vote in Eyestem’s favour. “It’s a powerful thing if it comes true,” said a jury member on Eyestem and its potential.

“We are excited, honoured and humbled that we received this award,” said Jogin Desai, cofounder and chief executive at Eyestem. “We still have a long way to go but this will help us move further along. What matters most is if we can figure out how to make our patients’ lives better. The funding ecosystem for biotech startups is not as mature as tech and an award like this is a huge recognition which will certainly help. ET is doing a great service in highlighting good deep science.”

The next decade and a half will be crucial, he said.

“I think the next 10-15 years is going to be the biotech story for India as we will be creating products for currently incurable diseases with significantly less cost, but with the same quality as others globally,” Desai said. “India’s will be a product-led story. Startups here will conquer the world and at the same time a large number of Indian patients with incurable diseases will benefit.”

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Jury member Sriharsha Majety said it was the transformation potential that struck him.

“Amongst all of the nominees that we saw we had a lot of debate,” he said. “With Eyestem, I was taken by the mission statement coupled with the innovation. In stem cell research, successes have been very few. If they are successful with the trials, they can bring the cost down in a big way… It is the sheer possibility of how it can transform global healthcare is what is very inspiring to me.”

Jury member Sriharsha Majety said it was the transformation potential that struck him.

“Amongst all of the nominees that we saw we had a lot of debate,” he said. “With Eyestem, I was taken by the mission statement coupled with the innovation. In stem cell research, successes have been very few. If they are successful with the trials, they can bring the cost down in a big way… It is the sheer possibility of how it can transform global healthcare is what is very inspiring to me.”

Jury member Hemant Taneja, MD, General Catalyst, did not vote in this category as his venture fund is an investor in Eeki Foods, which was one of the shortlisted nominees.

With investors like Kotak Private Equity, Endiya Partners, Natco Pharma, Alkem Laboratories, and Biological E, Eyestem has raised Rs 51 crore in a Series A round with a total fundraise of Rs 76 crore so far.

Other contenders

ETtech

Haber aims to provide accessible automated solutions to optimise operations in process manufacturing industries. Haber’s SaaS products leverage data to facilitate strategic production-related decision-making. Its flagship product eLIXA automates the tedious manual process of sample collection, measurement, analysis and intervention at factories on a real-time basis.

Eeki Foods

ETtech

L-R Abhay Singh, Amit Singh, Eeki Foods

Eeki Foods has set up climate-proof farms that use IoT-powered chambers to grow a variety of residue-free Indian staple vegetables without manual labour. The firm cultivates 12 different crops, including tomato and cucumber, without any growing media such as soil or coco peat.

Exponent Energy

ETtech

Arun Vinayak (R), Founder, Exponent Energy

Exponent Energy offers lithium-ion cell battery packs and chargers, which it claims can be charged in 15 minutes, for a range of 80-85 km. It offers a 3,000 cycle life warranty on battery packs charged at Exponent Energy e-pumps. The company says it is building the world’s fastest-charging, three-wheeler EV with OEM Altigreen.

Astrogate Labs

ETtech

Nitish Kumar Singh, cofounder, Astrogate

Astrogate Labs is among a dozen companies worldwide building satellite laser communication systems. The company started out offering end-to-end laser communication services to satellite operators. It has built the system indigenously, including the microrad-level precision pointing and tracking system required for laser communications.