Women and Entrepreneurship

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Contd...

In the late 1970s, biotechnology was unheard of. As a result, it was not easy to obtain funds for the venture. Banks and financial institutions were wary of giving her loans as biotechnology was a new field and was therefore considered "high risk". Being a woman, and one with no business qualification at that, made things even more difficult. Mazumdar also faced problems recruiting people. People were reluctant to work for women entrepreneurs as they doubted their credibility. She soon overcame these problems through dedication and hard work. In 1999, the Biocon Group was formed with the merger of all the companies under Biocon, i.e. Biocon India Ltd (founded 1978), Biochemizymes (founded 1990), Syngene (founded 1994) Biocon Quest (founded 1996) and Helix (founded 1998). Later, in 2000, Clinigene was also incorporated into the Group.

Mazumdar owned 70 percent of the stock of Biocon and 75 percent of Syngene (the contract research organisation). Clinigene was a fully family-owned company, operating in the area of clinical research. Syngene was started in the late 1990s, when Mazumdar heard from some foreign visitors about the opportunities in contract research. Clinigene was started in 2000 on the advise of a former business associate who felt that clinical research offered a lot of possibilities.

Commenting on Mazumdar's foresightedness, R.A Mashelkar, director-general of CSIR⁸ said, "Kiran Mazumdar has the ability to see an opportunity much before others."⁹ Mazumdar, however, did not take hasty decisions. She started a business slowly, first testing the waters and expanding only when she was sure of its potential.

Syngene, for example was conceived in the 1990s but took off only in 1998. In 2001, it earned Rs 140 million, and in the first half of 2002, it made Rs 130 million. When Biocon first started working in 1978, it was a small-scale industry manufacturing industrial enzymes for packaged fruit juices. Over the years it evolved into a $ 60 billion global biotherapeutics¹⁰ business. By the early 2000s Biocon had 25 percent of the global market share for pectinases¹¹ and had patents for 15 novel enzymes. Totally, the company manufactured and marketed 73 enzymes.

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8] Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. Established in 1942, it is India's largest R&D organization.

9] Business World December 2, 2002

10] Biotherapeutics, also known as probiotics, is the use of beneficial bacteria to positively influence disease outcomes. It involves the induction of healthy microbes into the body to prevent the growth of pathogens.

11] Pectinase is an enzyme catalysing the hydrolysis of Pectins. Pectins are white amorphous substances which, when combined with acid and sugar, yield a jelly-like substance that cements cells together.

Case Details

Case Code : LDEN013
Themes: Corporate Social Responsibility, Woman Entrepreneurs
Case Length : 13 Pages
Period : -
Organization : Mahila Griha Udyog, Balaji Telefilms Limited, Biocon
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : India
Industry : Varied

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