Karnataka Information Technology Venture Capital Fund (Kitven) has infused Rs 2.5 crore into Mitra Biotech which is a start-up translational biology research company.

The company, which is located in the Narayana Hrudayalaya campus in Bangalore, was started by a team of researchers from MIT and Harvard Medical School was granted an early stage funding from Kitven Fund 2.

In fact, Kitven has funded the Bangalore-based Mitra Biotech, along with US$ 6 billion global venture capital fund Accel Partners, which too has invested identical amount of Rs 2.5 crore.

According to A R Jayakumar, CEO, Kitven, Mitra Biotech is the maiden investment in the field of biotechnology and life sciences for us. Earlier Kitven had funded Indegene. But the Fund has fully divested its investment after the company received VC investment.

The Kitven Fund 2 which was recently introduced has invested Rs 2.5 core from its corpus of Rs 26.25 crore into Mitra Biotech. The Sebi registered VC fund has also been supported by the Karnataka State Industrial Investment & Development Corporation Limited to the tune of Rs 6.25 crore, Karnataka State Financial Corporation with Rs 7.50 crore, Small Industries Development Bank of India with Rs 7.50 crore and Karnataka Bio-technology & Information Technology Services with Rs 5 crore.

The fund launched in 1999 with a corpus of Rs 15 crore is designed to invest into information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology apart from other knowledge-based sectors in the state. The company which has sought investment from Kitven should focus on the development of competitive products and cutting-edge technology, or be at a phase of product commercialization or for expansion /upgrade capabilities to cater to a wider customer base. It will support not just large companies but primarily small and medium scale enterprises and start-up initiatives. Further, Kitven Fund 2 will support growth of an established company including product diversification and forward / backward integration or turnaround financing, he added.

The key objective of Mitra Biotech is to conduct research in cancer drugs to develop personalized medicines.

According to Dr Mallikarjun Sundaram, president & CEO, Mitra Biotech Private Limited, "We collaborate with some of the top hospitals and Universities in India and the US to bring advanced technology for cancer diagnostics and drug development."

Early this year, the company had inked a collaboration pact with Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Centre at Narayana Hrudaylaya Multi-Specialty Hospital. It is developing an analytical diagnostic platform that will enable personalized cancer treatment. Presently the company has 10 people and research is being carried out on throat and neck cancer as MSCC is also focused on the same.