ASPIRE-BioNEST has been selected as best emerging Bioincubator in the country, announced in the valedictory function of Global BioIndia 2021, a biannual conference conducted by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), DBT, Govt. of India, in the presence of Hon. Vice President Sri M. Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. ASPIRE BioNEST is a Life Sciences incubator, set-up with the support of BIRAC in 2018, and is located on the 3rd floor of the School of Life Sciences at the University of Hyderabad. On his remarks, the Vice Chancellor Prof. Appa Rao Podile, expressed his happiness and mentioned that this recognition is the result of collective efforts made by the team members of BioNEST and the mentors Prof. P. Reddanna, Dr. D. Yogeswara Rao, Prof. GS Prasad. Prof. Podile, also added that this would have not been possible without the contribution from the incubating start-ups and generous funding support from the BIRAC. The incubator is currently headed by Prof. S. Rajagopal, who is also a full time Professor at University of Hyderabad.
ASPIRE BioNEST, formed as a knowledge-based incubator, nurtures innovation and entrepreneurship in scaling technologies of Agriculture, Biotechnology, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, and allied areas. ASPIRE BioNEST is a deep science incubator with 20000 sft dedicated plug-and-play laboratory space equipped with modern instrumentation to perform any research in Life Sciences. Presently, there are 25 incubates and ASPIRE BioNEST offers incubation services mainly to the start-ups who are actively working to address the pressing needs like medical requirements, environment protection, agricultural innovations, human wellness, animal ethics etc. ASPIRE BioNEST also encourages and supports young budding individual entrepreneurs through bench space incubation. The facility has been recognized by Department of Scientific & Industrial Research and at least 10 competitive grants have been bagged by its start-ups. Incidentally, ASPIRE BioNEST has celebrated its third foundation day on 2nd March 2021. BioNEST is managed by a Section 8 not for profit organization; Association for Scientific Pursuits for Innovative Research Enterprises (ASPIRE), that manages all incubation and innovation activities in the campus.