Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], March 12: The 8th edition of the o2h Collaborative Innovation Conference concluded in Ahmedabad, bringing together an eclectic gathering of entrepreneurs, scientists, venture investors, policymakers and changemakers for a day of dialogue, debate and shared curiosity.
Hosted at Le Méridien Ahmedabad, the conference reflected the o2h’s vision of seeding new ideas in life sciences and technology. The gathering created a space where diverse perspectives could meet, challenge each other, and explore new possibilities at the intersection of science, technology and society.
Across a series of panel discussions and fireside conversations, participants explored themes shaping the future of innovation including investment in drug discovery and R&D, longevity science, the rise of machines and robotics, and policy approaches to mitigating air pollution.
Among the speakers were Hitesh Sanganee, Venture Partner at Octopus Ventures, former Executive Director at AstraZeneca UK, and board member across a range of pioneering biotech companies including Apheris, LabGenius Therapeutics, NanoSyrinx, Tailor Bio and Infinitopes, and Suril Desai, Disruptor at Nishith Desai Associates and Founder of Yugen Media LLP. They shared perspectives on venture investment, AI-enabled innovation and the evolving landscape of scientific entrepreneurship.
The conference also featured fireside conversations with Prof. Shailendra Saraf, Director at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Ahmedabad, and Suril Desai, exploring the role of academic institutions, policy and interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing science and innovation.
Discussions throughout the day reflected on major advances in longevity science, highlighting emerging therapies and preventive approaches that aim to extend healthy lifespan and reshape how societies think about ageing.
In a session titled “The Rise of the Machines: Robotics and Research,” speakers examined how robotics, automation and AI-enabled systems are transforming modern laboratories. These technologies are increasingly enabling faster experimentation, improving reproducibility and accelerating the timelines of drug discovery and development.
Reflecting on the conference, Prashant Shah, CEO of o2h discovery and co-founder of the o2h group, said “We love seeding new ideas in o2h so we can impact human health. The process of innovation or creation is stimulating, and the outcomes can be economically and socially meaningful to the world, but we just can’t do it alone.
Innovation thrives off collaboration, debate and exchange with people coming together from diverse perspectives, neurologies, and expertise. In an increasingly polymathic world, real magic happens when opposite ideas merge, converge, diverge, challenge each other, and create something entirely new.
We seek to play our part in a model of collaborative innovation that is not locked inside the walls of our minds and brands, but a shared approach to innovation that is generous and rooted in porous communities and ecosystems.”
True to this spirit, the 8th Collaborative Innovation Conference brought together live operators and thinkers from a wide spectrum of disciplines including science, technology, academia, entrepreneurship, social enterprise, non-profits, investment, media, government, creative industries, engineering, law, architecture, finance and large industry.
The o2h group has built a track record of nurturing and investing in emerging life science and technology ventures spanning biotech and techbio. Its vision is to be the best at seeding new ideas in life sciences and technology through a model of co-investing, co-creating and co-executing across boundaries.
By bringing together capital, scientific talent and entrepreneurial execution, o2h continues to support the journey of new ideas from early insight through incubation and development, helping translate curiosity and collaboration into meaningful innovation.
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