Student Startup - BoobyBiome

BoobyBiome was first developed as a hypothetical company by co-foundering LIDo students Lydia Mapstone, Sioned Jones and Tara O'Driscoll alongside their colleagues Tom Philips and Katherine Richardson at the Biotech YES competition an innovative global competition developed to raise awareness among postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers of how ideas from science and engineering can be commercialised.

Following their success at Biotech YES, they opened a discussion with three leading breastmilk microbiome researchers to discuss the feasibility of the idea and were encouraged to further develop a business plan and apply for funding.

They have been shortlisted onto the London Imagine IF Innovation Forum competition and accelerator program and received mentorship from business professionals, including pitching their idea to a panel of IP lawyers and investors. They were accepted to attend the Programme for Up and coming Life Sciences Entrepreneurs (PULSE) workshop at the Francis Crick, developed by the BIA, which they described as "an invaluable experience that broadened our network within the biotech eco-system and taught us how to build a business from the ground up".

Our inspiration to build BoobyBiome has been heavily influenced by LIDo’s interdisciplinary collaborative approach and emphasis on academia-industry relationships. Attending LIDo's weekly bioindustry masterclasses at Birkbeck has given us the groundworks to develop this idea, as well as the motivation to succeed. Nadine, Renos and the LIDo team are always keeping us up-to-date with any entrepreneurship courses or competitions to attend (BiotechYES, PULSE etc.) - the support we have received to establish this business, alongside our PhD, has been second to none. As LIDo students we’ve received first-hand exposure to the benefits of collaborative research relationships, and we are keen to implement this in our business.