The Telangana government created RICH (Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad) to bring all these parties to collaborate and speed up research to market, Jayesh said at a 'Cancer Conference and Innovation Challenge' being organised by RICH, in collaboration with CSIR-IICT (Indian Institute of Chemical Technology).

Telangana IT and Industries Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan on August 21 said Hyderabad has a vibrant ecosystem of researchers, academics and industry working to find solutions to Cancer. RICH Director General Ajit Rangnekar said “Researchers and Startups in Health sciences, especially in the more difficult areas like Cancer, do not get as much exposure to funders, industry and collaborators. 

RICH aims to accelerate the collaboration between all the players by bringing them on a common platform to share knowledge, he said. We are excited by the immense response we have received from startups across the country to our first initiative. We will continue to support innovative ideas to improve chances of early detection, treatment, and potentially prevention of cancer, he added.

The Innovation Challenge drew about 50 entries from all over the country. The entries were judged by an eminent jury which included oncologists, scientists, Incubation experts and VCs. Each applicant was rated across multiple parameters ranging from innovativeness of the idea, level of development, the economic viability. 

Six winners have been chosen from among the fifty and the top 6 startups who will each receive a cash prize of Rs 2 lakhs, are AINDRA Systems Pvt Ltd., Embryyo Technologies Private Limited, EPR Gene Technologies Pvt Ltd., Inventigen Technologies Private Limited, Onward Assist and NanoCare Health Services Pvt Ltd.

Bharat Biotech International Ltd and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. have each sponsored two awards, and Apollo Hospitals have sponsored one. The conference which was the finale to the innovation challenge was very well attended with scientists from a wide variety of organizations such as CSIR-CCMB, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), LV Prasad Eye Institute, IIT Hyderabad, BITS Pilani Hyderabad, University of Hyderabad, and DRILS presenting their research to doyens from the industry, and from Health providers. A total of about 150 people attended from over 60 organisations.