AzarGen is a biotechnology company focused on developing human therapeutic proteins using advanced genetic engineering and synthetic biology techniques in plants and they have recently joined the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab. They do not fit your typical “startup incubator” company profile, so we thought we would get better insight into why they would join the LaunchLab, and why LaunchLab would want to take on the task of working with a biotech company. We engaged with LaunchLab’s Operations Manager Brandon Paschal and AzarGen’s CEO Mauritz Venter.
Brandon: LaunchLab
LaunchLab was established by Innovus, the technology transfer and industry engagement arm of Stellenbosch University, to incubate the university’s spin-out companies and to build a thriving ecosystem for entrepreneurs in the Western Cape. We focus on the entrepreneur and aim to work with startup founders to help them validate their ideas, put together a feasible plan and then prove their business model. With our beginnings in university technology we’re no strangers to high-tech businesses. AzarGen joins the likes of Cubespace, SWET and Mellow Cabs in the incubator.
While we are based at Stellenbosch University and started incubating university spin-outs, the LaunchLab hosts companies from outside the university as well as student ventures. Stellenbosch university has incredible infrastructure, world class researchers and the kind of profile that attracts international attention. We get many MBA groups that come through looking to use our companies as case studies. Working with AzarGen gives us the opportunity to also support former students from Stellenbosch who have gone out and started their own company, and draws more international faucets what we are doing. AzarGen are a great example of cutting edge South African technology that has been successful with support from local universities and investors. We are about local success stories, and we believe AzarGen will be one of those, up there with the likes of Thawte and Fundamo.
Though the company has been going for several years, they are now proving their business model. They are executing their business plan, taking cognizance of the fact that in the biotech world things happen slowly. Also, AzarGen is about applying research in business.
The entrepreneurial vibe that exists in the LaunchLab is incredible and contagious. There is an extraordinary community here that AzarGen is part of where every entrepreneur contributes to the community as a whole, celebrating each others’ successes and supporting each other through difficulties, whilst being supported through the services offered by the LaunchLab.
Mauritz: AzarGen
AzarGen was started by four scientists, all of us in the process of completing our PhD’s at Stellenbosch University’s Institute for Plant Biotechnology (www.sun.ac.za/ipb). After attracting multiple rounds of investment, two of us (Dr Mauritz Venter and Dr Cobus Zwiegelaar) decided to run the business full-time.
The commercial side of cutting edge science is quite a departure from academia. We entered a high risk technology sector with long development timelines and total dependence on outside investment. During this time both of us got married with plans to start families. Needless to say, this was a tough decision. Commercial biotechnology is not for the fainthearted and from a personal perspective: we could not have started this journey without faith and the tremendous support from family and friends.
With the passion to establish a world-class biotech company and a plan to develop a product that will increase the survivability of prematurely-born infants, we attracted an experienced advisory board. This team of advisors -from Cape Venture Partners (CVP), Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Holtz Biopharma Consulting (USA) – has significantly broadened our horizons. Funding from the IDC allowed us to be taken seriously and as a business partner with the IDC, we have a realistic shot at developing a drug for the international market.
As noted earlier in the year, we raised $3,1m in SERIES-B funding from the IDC. This funding is essentially earmarked for scale-up production in the world’s largest plant-based pharmaceutical facility, functional tests in the laboratory and animal trials prior to 1st in-human clinical trials.
We wanted to join the ranks of a select group of hi-tech start-up companies, which are part of the business incubators from highly prestigious universities globally. The LaunchLab, established by Innovus at Stellenbosch University, is such an incubator. We also consider the move into the LaunchLab as part of AzarGen’s ‘next evolution’. A stepping stone to experience growth and the ‘vibe’ of an excellent entrepreneurial ecosystem.
With regular visits from companies, MBA students and representatives from universities all over the world, the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab serves as a showroom of South African technology and innovation and is in the best possible position to offer expert support for entrepreneurs. Due to this continuous international exposure, the LaunchLab truly raises the profile of South African high-tech companies from several different sectors. AzarGen is SA’s only plant-made pharmaceutical company and as part of the LaunchLab, we believe that our role in the South African and international biotech sector can significantly be elevated.
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