In this episode, I spoke with Raman Sehgal, serial entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Ramarketing, a marketing agency, which is headquartered in the UK, Northeast with a presence in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now a multimillion dollar, recently private equity backed international digital design and content marketing agency with over 60 employees and growing. They support clients in the life science space across the world to raise their profile and generate leads. Raman is also an international b...
Aug 09, 2022•36 min
In this episode I spoke with Dr Deon Neveling, the co-founder and CEO of Biotikum Ltd, which is a spin-off company of the Stellenbosch university in South Africa, that researches, develops and produces microbial additives for the agricultural industry to promote sustainable farming. During his studies, Deon developed a multistrain probiotic for chicken which they realized could be commercialized because the chicken industry is very well known for the unsustainable use of antibiotics as a prevent...
Jul 05, 2022•24 min
Get to know the story behind the company Mzansi Meat Co. and its remarkable CFO Tasneem Karodia who combines a love for flying airplanes, rock climbing, and changing the world by changing our food systems. A bachelor of business science in management studies, majoring in accounting and finance from the university of Cape town, South Africa, a chartered accountant qualification, a postgraduate degree in accounting, and working at Bain and company, a global management consulting firm have equipped...
May 24, 2022•25 min
Smart biotech is a biotech startup in South Africa involved in the development of antigens and antibodies used in animal health vaccines and diagnostics as well as the commercialization of scientifically tested herbal products. The aim is to provide much more effective diagnostic and vaccine products that are specific to the strain of diseases in Africa. Dr Sibongile Gumbi, founder and CEO of Smart Biotech saw that it was important for Africa to build the capacity and the capability of manufactu...
Apr 25, 2022•26 min
Setting up a biotech lab is very costly and can be the bottleneck to start something new especially in LMICs in Africa. BioCiTi is taking that off the hands of prospective biotech entrepreneurs to make sure that businesses can transition the so-called chasms of product development and the business cycle. I interviewed Anesu Conrad Moyo (PhD.) , Laboratory Manager at BioCiTi Laboratory, and Dheepak Maharajh , BioCiTi executive cluster head on this episode of the Africa Biotech Conversations podca...
Mar 28, 2022•37 min
How do you go from a full-time academic researcher and lecturer to the CEO of a biotech company in Africa? Dr Mauritz Venter found a way of combining his passion and curiosity for both science and business by co-founding a biotech company, Azargen biotechnologies, following a successful career as an academic lecturer and researcher. His exposure to business magazines from his father who worked in the corporate sector and an internship in a business consultancy after a course for bioentrepreneurs...
Mar 07, 2022•26 min
In this episode, I spoke with Sona Mahendra who is the Associate Program Manager at Founders Factory Africa where she helps manage the Build and Scale programs. Her passion sits at the intersection of business and biology, and she is immensely excited by the growing biotechnology industry in Africa. FFA acts as investor, venture builder and an accelerator. They create concepts in-house, design and launch companies. FFA was launched in 2018 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. In t...
Feb 16, 2022•36 min
In this episode, I spoke to Atherton Mutombwera, CEO and founder of Hutano diagnostics Ltd about his journey from Zimbabwe, through a BPharm degree and a MSc in Nanomedicine in South Africa, to an MBA at the University of Oxford, UK. He told stories about how he was inspired by a sick parent and his desire to get out of the shadow of a sibling combined with his curiosity and ability to collaborate with others, to how his MSc research project formed the basis of his company. The company aims to d...
Jan 31, 2022•34 min
In the first episode of the ABC podcast for 2022, I spoke with the co-founders of the AOM group Brett Lyndall Singh and Clarisse Manishimwe, as well as David Songotu, the Administrating Manager of AOM Group's Internship program. We discuss how AOM Group aims to resuscitate African healthcare innovation and create SDG youth employment by transforming life science on the continent through research & development.
Jan 19, 2022•43 min
Power couple Busi and Neo Moloi of Sawubona mycelium, a biotech startup in Centurion, South Africa, spoke with me on: How they make their relationship work as husband and wife as well as CBO and CEO respectively Capitalizing on their knowledge of mushrooms and experience with fermentation technology to make natural products at large scale, low cost, and sustainably such as beta glucans useful in the cosmetic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. Opportunities to leverage the gap in the ...
Dec 07, 2021•30 min
What is possible from a failed experiment? A biotech company, Resyn biosciences! In the 5th episode of the Africa biotech conversations podcast, I spoke with Stoyan Stoychev about proteomics and the Resyn biosciences story. The polymer technology behind the products was a result of a failed biocatalysis experiment. The curiosity to explore what could be done with the novel polymer and support from the CSIR with funding, work space, researchers etc. led to a spin out of the company from the CSIR....
Nov 24, 2021•32 min
ONEBIO provides life science startups with funding, business support, lab facilities and office space; access to networks; mentorship; and connections to resources, international markets and large corporate partners, both in Africa and internationally. ONEBIO is led by Michael Fichardt and Nick Walker. Michael is an entrepreneur, technologist and investor, with experience working in banking, private equity, business consulting, technology startups and venture investing. Michael holds an MBA, a B...
Nov 09, 2021•33 min
Have you experienced delays in receiving reagents for your research? How did that make you feel? In Africa, it is almost a guaranteed experience. For at least one person, Dr Peter Durcan, that was enough impetus to start his biotech company Afrobodies. A great twist to the story is that his wife Benedicta Mahlangu is the CEO! Listen to this episode of the ABCs podcast with Adrienne to learn more about their origin story; why their products, nanobodies, are revolutionary; their latest innovation ...
Oct 26, 2021•26 min
In this episode of the ABCs podcast with Adrienne I talked with two of the co-founders of the startup De Novo Dairy based in Cape town, South Africa. They are out to revolutionize the dairy industry by producing nature identical dairy proteins using specially engineered yeast. The foundation of their company is a combination of friendship, lifestyle choices and how to find/scale sustainable alternatives that alleviate the pressure on agriculture. We spoke about: the story behind De Novo Dairy co...
Oct 11, 2021•22 min
"If you're curious about what goes on in biotech across the African continent, I have good news for you. Adrienne Leussa has started a podcast to give us all a look into that community. I have no doubt that this will be good. Adrienne interviewed me about podcasting and its potential to build a community while providing insights. I asked her a few questions too. What's exciting in the African biotech space right now? Are there particular areas of interest? ... And more. Give this a listen and sh...
Sep 28, 2021•29 min
