Earlier this week Dr Nat Hastings contributed to a panel discussion on behalf of Cellestial Health. The #BioWednesday breakfast event was organised by One Nucleus and hosted in collaboration with Bidwells at Mission Street‘s The Press in Foxton, focussing on how to scale innovative businesses successfully.
💫 What does scaling mean for a virtual company like Cellestial?
It is not only the building that we move into, but also the robustness of the infrastructure and expertise of the management. Larger investment gets allocated to fewer companies, so successful companies need to differentiate themselves not only through their science but also the operational readiness to move to the next stage.
💫 Does scaling have to mean a larger space?
Whether to invest in a lab or office space may not only be determined by a stage of the company, but also by its strategy. For a technical platform-focussed business, own facility may be key, while for a drug asset-first business that is progressing rapidly through diverse stages of drug discovery a different model may be more appropriate, where key technical talent and space is outsourced.
💫 Is open co-working space always the best solution?
Co-working can promote collaboration and brainstorming, but it may also come with risks. These include:
✦ Maintaining confidentiality
✦ Protecting spaces for quiet intellectual work
✦ Enabling light-sensitive experiments like fluorescent microscopy
💫 Staying local or going global?
Local facilities at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals provide world-class, unique support and opportunities for the spin-outs. At the same time, it may be valuable to keep an eye out for global competitors and collaborations outside of the company’s immediate network from the early stages to get ready for expansion..
Have you seen examples of sustainable growth that are worth learning from?
Many thanks to the panellists Paul Hughes (BDO), Michael Murray (MetalloBio), and Kathryn Chapman (Innovate Cambridge), the facilitator Sue Foxley (Bidwells), as well as Alicia Gailliez and the One Nucleus team for enabling the discussion.
Photo credit: Damjana Nurković, Shelly MacDermott