Application Guideline

Application Guideline

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Medical Devices

Medical Devices

  • Medical Devices
  • Physiological and pathological imaging and detection

    -Optical imaging and spectroscopy

    -Ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging

    -In vitro diagnostic (and reagents)


    Implantable/Interventional and treatment devices

    -Cardiology

    -Ophthalmology

 Biomedicine

Biomedicine

  • Biomedicine
  • Antiviral and cancer drugs

    -Small-molecule targeted drugs

    -High-end preparation


 Intelligent Manufacturing

Intelligent Manufacturing

  • Intelligent Manufacturing
  • Industrial software 

    -Design, Research and development

    -Process management

    -IIoT


    Intelligent Equipment

    -3D printing

    -Industrial robotics
    -Scientific equipment
    -Key component and control system


    Digital Manufacturing

    -Virtual design, manufacturing, and process control

 Optoelectronics

Optoelectronics

  • Optoelectronics
  • Laser sources

    -On-chip integrated laser sources

    -Other novel laser sources (not high power)


    Optical sensors

    -On-chip integrated optical sensors

    -Fiber optic sensors
    -Spectroscopy-based sensors
    -Other novel optical sensors


    Flexible electronics

    -Flexible display

    -Flexible sensing

Materials

Materials

  • Materials
  • Structural Material

    -Composite and processing technologies

    Functional Material

    -Structural materials with function integration


    Energy materials

    -Energy conversion materials

    -Energy storage materials


    Organic electronics 

    -Semi-conductors/Conductors
    -Display materials
    -Biomaterials
Environmental Engineering

Environmental Engineering

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Water treatment technology

    -Intelligent system, materials and microorganism


    Detection and monitoring technology

    -Trace pollutant detection

    -Harmful microbes detection



Why collaborate with BICI?

As a global leading innovation hub, BICI has
• access to a large pool of funds for research teams and startups
• well-established collaboration with many universities and research institutes globally
• strong connections with many industrial partners especially in the Chinese market

BICI can
• fund for your research
• provide you with extensive market analysis
• commercialize your technology by forming a startup company or joint venture
• help you find research/business partners in both academia and industry
• provide resources for technology validation, product prototyping, pilot test, and getting user feedback
• help you find supply chain and customers
• provide support in securing further investments for your company

Ways for collaboration

BICI can collaborate with you in different ways depending on the readiness level of your technology.
• If you need more resources to bring your technology to market --> BICI can fund your research
• If your technology is ready for market --> BICI can help you form a startup company to commercialize your technology
• If you are already a startup company --> BICI can form a joint venture in China with you to expand your market coverage

Project selection criteria

Research area

• In compliance with focus areas of BICI

Strength of innovation
• Strong technical advantage over current industry standards and competitors (supported by solid preliminary data or prototype)
• High technology barrier
• Patentable

Commercial potential
• Feasibility to translate invention into a product or service
• Addressing an unmet market need
• Clear market, large customer base
• No foreseeable obstacle in scale-up production

Project team

• Strong expertise and track record in proposed field of research

• Clear project goal with realistic approaches for translation




Case Study

Click to view the case study in a new tab


Background 

BICI and one top public research university in the U.S. signed a partnership agreement on translational program. The goal is to develop lab inventions into commercial relevant prototypes, create spin-off companies or license technologies to industry. 


Project selection phase 

Prof G is a prolific inventor in his late 40s. After decades of high-quality publications, he is quite interested in advancing his innovations to products. When Prof. G and BICI staff met under the partnership framework, he presented four interesting technologies. Using previous industry experience, BICI staff was able to narrow the four proposals down to one based on application, market trend, maturity level, competition and mass production capability. After more in-depth analysis, BICI organized a meeting between Prof. G’s team and a technical team of a publicly traded company within BICI’s industrial network to further confirm the feasibility of the project as well as to set a list of targets. Eventually, BICI decided to fund the project with a one-year duration. 


Project execution phase 

During the first few months, not only did Prof G and his talented team further improve the technology, they were also able to come up with a set of performance data measured during tests. It was time to start the next step. 


With its vast collaborator resource and friend network, BICI was able to send Prof G’s materials to a fortune 100 company and a startup in Silicon Valley for testing. The test result from the large company confirmed what had been observed in lab and showed advantage of our material over other existing ones. The startup, which then had been troubled by high raw material cost for a long time, was happy to see a low-cost solution with much better performance. In the meanwhile, Prof. G and BICI also paid visits to potential customers in China. 


The next step is to form a company. Since Prof. G wants to keep doing research and teaching, both sides went out to look for an operation team. Together they screened many seasoned executives and young entrepreneurs. Eventually, a team out of Peking University (BICI was co-founded by PKU), stood out with their commitment and excellent execution. Besides an out-of-pocket investment of 10M RMB, this team also has established relationships with a long list of potential customers. 


Through BICI’s network, the team made pitches to numerous VC firms and decided to accept a >25M RMB investment from a VC backed by 6 fortune 500 companies. 


Company 

Now the company is busy with delivering customer orders on a rented production facility in Guangdong province, China. BICI is helping to recruit high caliber engineers for the company and will help them to establish a R&D branch in the US. We couldn’t wait to see more success coming out of this wonderful collocation across countries, sectors and cultures. 


Phase 1

Pre-evaluation (2-4 weeks)

Applicant

• Initial meeting with BICI to introduce the technology and discuss project scope

BICI

• Conduct preliminary technology assessment and market analysis

• Present findings to applicant in a secondary meeting

• Sign NDA

Phase 2

Due Diligence (2-3 months)

Applicant

• 2-3 rounds of meetings with BICI to refine proposal and address concerns

BICI

• Conduct extensive technology assessment and market analysis

• Work with applicant to draft a collaboration plan and project proposal

Phase 3

Contract/IP Agreement (in parallel with due diligence)

BICI

• Discuss with applicant or affiliated organization on collaboration and IP terms

Phase 4

BICI Board Meeting

Applicant

• Provide supplementary information if necessary

BICI

• Present the project to BICI committee and investment board

Phase 5

Signing Contract / Project Kick Start

Applicant

• Receive funding and collaborative resources

BICI

• Direct funding to applicant 

• Involve resources

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What's the typical BICI models of commercializing a completed project?

The startup company of a completed project can be formed in at least one of the following three ways after mutual agreement between PI(s) and BICI:
• BICI + PI(s) form a start-up together, which licenses the technology from University;
• BICI licenses the technology from University and forms a startup on its own, if PI(s) are not interested (ideally, related researchers such as PhDs or post-docs from research group join as co-founder and consultant of the company);
• PI(s) forms a startup outside China, and BICI forms a startup in China, by licensing from University respectively.

What's the typical project size and duration?

The typical funding for each project ranges from 100k to 2M USD. The duration of the project usually ranges between 1-2 year, depending on the maturity of the technology. 

Does the proposed project require a specific market application?

We require a clear and targeted market application for the proposed technology. If the specific application is not readily known, BICI will conduct market due diligence to identify the market need. 

Where can pilot testing and scaling-up take place over the course of the project?

The pilot test and scaling-up can be carried out anywhere, whichever represents the most efficient route that benefits the technology transfer process. The BICI headquarters located in Beijing, China, has a site currently under construction for product prototyping and scaling-up, which can facilitate the final stage development and deployment of technologies funded by BICI.

How long does the application process take?

The application process usually takes about 3-6 months. The aim of BICI projects is to commercialize your technology. Therefore, besides evaluating technical strengths and feasibility of proposed work, BICI conducts extensive market research to identify user cases, key product features, challenges towards scaling as well as possible solutions, and connects with industrial leaders for potential partnership. During the review process, BICI team will communicate with you to refine the project proposal. The goal of the review process is to ensure optimal valuation of the technology/invention by strategic market positioning once the project has come to completion.

Where can pilot testing and scaling-up take place over the course of the project?

The pilot test and scaling-up can be carried out anywhere, whichever represents the most efficient route that benefits the technology transfer process. The BICI headquarters located in Beijing, China, has a site currently under construction for product prototyping and scaling-up, which can facilitate the final stage development and deployment of technologies funded by BICI.

Is collaboration encouraged?

Collaboration is highly encouraged, but not mandatory. Single PI proposals are welcomed. BICI may discuss with PI about collaboration with other institutes or industry partners. In collaborative projects, BICI will connect expertise from various fields, from suppliers, manufacturers, to customers and end users, and can coordinate tasks among partners. 

Will BICI have continuous investments on spin-off companies formed out of the funded projects?

For continuous growth of the spin-offs, BICI will support the next round of funding. BICI have subsidiary funds and connected resources (such as VC networks) which can potentially invest in the spin-offs from the funded projects.

What is BICI's risk preference?

Compared to conventional VCs, BICI invests technology at an earlier stage, and is willing to take more risk and allow longer time-to-market.