This Chennai Based Startup Develops a Technology to Help in the Identification and Design of Immune Related Peptides for Vaccine Development

We are publishing an interviewe of Dr. P Kangueane, Founder, Biomedical Informatics (P) Ltd.

Please tell us about the founders 
Dr. Kangueane holds a B. Tech in Industrial Biotechnology (Anna University) and PhD (National University of Singapore) in Bioinformatics. Uma holds a BE in Electronics and Communication. He is a scientist, professor, author, editor and farmer. Uma is a software Engineer.

Give us a brief background of what founders were doing before starting the venture. 
Kangueane was teaching and doing research in Bioinformatics and Biotechnology. Uma was working for software companies.

List all the names of the core team members, along with their skill-sets, specific domain expertise & designated roles. How do you see them evolving over time? 
Kangueane (Vaccine Design & Bioinformatics); Uma (Software development); Christina Nilofer (Bioinformatics); Muthu Meenal (Networking)

What is the problem you are trying to solve? 
We are trying to design short peptide vaccines for infectious diseases. Our technology help in the identification and design of immune related peptides called as epitopes for vaccine development.

What challenges did you face when you were starting out? 
Finance is a big problem. It is still a big problem. Big problems needs big money. Cash-flow for sustained development and growth is critical in business development.

How did you get the initial capital? 
Savings and Provident Fund. This is a private limited company solely funded by the founders. However, we are looking for funds to market the product.

Please tell us about the Product / Solution. Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process. 
This is a high end technology used in the identification of peptides as vaccine candidates. This technology was developed after years of R & D using information gleaned in biology through Bioinformatics and Biotechnology.

What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learning that you have? 
The assumptions were market accessibility. This is not simple and direct. This still remains a challenge. Marketing and Networking is key. Identification of key clients for the product is the challenge.

What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup. 
The market is wild and fast. The unique learning is the essence of market force. This remains wild and unpredictable.

What is the strength of the startup and the scale of operations? Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? 
Technology is the strength of the startup and scale of operations is estimated at 10 million USD. Epivax is a potential competitor in the market.

What is the revenue model? Explain your thought process. 
The revenue model is premium and we work with pharma and immuno industries in understanding the discovery model while searching for nuggets in vaccine development.

Who are the consumers that you are targeting? How is this going to affect them? 
Pharma industries and drug discovery companies.

How did you get your first customer? 
We are still looking for a customer for this designer product.

What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product leading to something bigger? If so, how? 
Yes. We discover vaccines and move towards personalized vaccination in future. This will be revolutionary in nature.

Since inception, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture. 
Our revenue is based on open access publication and our new venture is focussed on vaccine design platform. We are looking forward to pin our first client through this service.

What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months? *
Collaborations and networking leading to discovery

What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs? *
Hard work, Honesty and Perseverance is the key for success.

Any other information you would like to share:
Please visit http://www.bioinformation.net/ted/ to for product overview.