Student Hackathon Hub & Programme Blueprint.
Registration is closed. 50 shortlisted student teams across India are currently in the 4-week build sprint preparing for the Grand Finale at the BioBridge Startup Summit on Oct 30 at KSRCT.
One-Pager Template
Official one-page idea proposal format required for all applicant teams.
Problem Statements (PDF)
Complete directory with all 36 challenges across all 7 biotechnology tracks.
Registration is closed. 50 shortlisted student teams are actively building prototypes with mentorship. Mandatory attendance at all 4 weekend sessions is required for team qualification.
The BioBridge Sprint Anatomy
Six interconnected biological checkpoints engineered to incubate collegiate biotechnology from student research into validated market ventures.
Four-week build, then finals
Venture sprint + 1-day Oct 30 pitch
Any student in India
UG, PG, & research scholars
2 to 4 members
Cross-disciplinary encouraged
None (100% Free)
No fee at any stage
Top 50 teams build
Intimated within 2 days of close
Oct 30 · 1-Day Event
Top 25 in person at KSRCT
How the event runs, stage by stage.
Your participant roadmap: from launch and rolling selection through the 4-week build phase to in-person finals.
Launch & Track Selection
Launched by Singai G. Ramachandran, Chairperson, StartupTN. Explore the full set of 36 problem statements across the six biotech categories and the open bio track on this website. Review all challenges and select your problem statement with your team before you apply rather than after.
Application Window
Form your team of two to four students and apply through the official online form. Submit a one-pager outlining your biotech idea using our supplied template so your application can be evaluated quickly and fairly. There is no registration fee at any stage.
Rolling Selection
Submit early — applications are reviewed as they arrive on a rolling basis. Look out for your selection intimation; the top 50 shortlisted teams will be officially notified within two days of the application window closing.
Build Phase
If shortlisted among the top 50, build and validate your working biotech product over 4 focused sprint weeks. Attend the four online weekend masterclass sessions — attendance is strictly mandatory for every member of your team, not just the team lead.
Submission and Second Cut
Submit your final pitch deck built using our supplied template, accompanied by your working product demo or video. From these submissions, the top 25 teams will be shortlisted and invited to the in-person Grand Finale.
Finals Day (Oct 30)
Present your solution in person before the Grand Jury during the one-day Grand Finale on October 30 at KSRCT. Compete for top prizes and secure an exclusive six-month venture-building incubation engagement with MARABANU.
The Four Weekend Sessions
Four online masterclasses run across the weekends of the 4-week build sprint.
IPR
What is protectable in a biotech idea and what is not, and when to act on it.
Building a pitch deck
Run against the deck template teams are required to submit for finals.
Financial modelling
Costing a bio product and building sustainable numbers an investor panel accepts.
Research and development
Taking a lab-stage idea into a tangible, demonstrable prototype.
Win Cash Grants. Build a Real Venture.
Three non-dilutive cash prizes awarded on the Oct 30 one-day Grand Finale at KSRCT, coupled with six months of venture-building partnership alongside MARABANU and StartupTN.
₹18,000
Non-dilutive awards6 Months
With MARABANUStartupTN
Ecosystem support100% Free
Open to all studentsFirst Runner-Up
Non-dilutive cash grant awarded live on finals day at KSRCT.
- Runner-up trophy & official citations
- MARABANU ecosystem mentorship access
- StartupTN ecosystem interaction & guidance
- University partner recognition
Champion Team
Highest tournament honors awarded live on finals day at KSRCT.
- 6 Months Venture Building alongside MARABANU
- Mentorship guidance & StartupTN ecosystem support
- First place champion trophy & official citations
- Dedicated biotech mentor & clinical advisor
- KSRCT advanced biotechnology laboratory trial access
Second Runner-Up
Non-dilutive cash grant awarded live on finals day at KSRCT.
- Second runner-up trophy & official citations
- Venture mentorship & project review
- Partner & university recognition
- Biotech network access
Six Months of Venture Building alongside MARABANU
Beyond the cash, the substantive prize is six months of venture building alongside the MARABANU team — the winning teams are taken forward as real-world ventures rather than sent home with a cheque.
* Terms of that engagement are discussed directly with the selected teams and are not published in the event material.
Packaging academic research into viable, demonstrable biotech products.
Mentorship, networking, and guidance through the StartupTN startup ecosystem.
Patent attorneys and financial modelers to construct defensible moats.
Continued access to KSRCT biotechnology labs and equipment for trials.
Built for Builders, Not Just Pitchers.
The priority applicant: The student team already working on a problem in this space — a project that has been running in a lab, a final-year build, or an idea a team has been circling for months.
Four weeks is enough time to sharpen and package existing work; it is short for starting from zero. The problem statements give those teams a frame to apply through, and give genuinely new teams somewhere to start.
Dropping the registration fee is deliberate. It removes the main reason a serious team from a smaller college self-selects out, and it widens the funnel at the top — which matters when only 50 of the applications carry through to the build phase.
Choose your challenge.
36 curated problem statements across 7 domain tracks. Pick before you apply.
Precision Biotherapeutics & Drug Discovery
Targeted molecules, delivery systems, screening pipelines, and counter-AMR therapies.
Diagnostics & Medical Devices
Point-of-care detection, frugal biosensors, maternal-fetal monitors, and rural clinical tools.
Bioinformatics, Genomics & Bio-AI
Sequence analysis, population variant interpretation, orphan target modeling, and LLM wet-lab aids.
Agri-Biotech & Sustainable Agriculture
Drought tolerance, field disease detection, microbial consortia, and aquaculture health management.
Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals
Alternative proteins, thermal-resistant micronutrient fortification, microbiome-informed meals, and clean preservation.
Environmental Biotech & Waste-to-Value
Bioremediation, enzymatic plastic depolymerization, biomass conversion, and water biosensing.
Open Innovation, Hardware & Wildcard Track
Assistive bio-hardware, synthetic biology, lab instrumentation, bio-materials, and wildcard student challenges.