When Nate Novy joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a graduate student in 2021, he hoped to find his niche in the biochemical sciences and learn more about the diversity of possible careers, from academic research to industry and entrepreneurship.
Through his participation in the NIH-funded Biotechnology Training Program (BTP), graduate school has done just that for Novy. BTP trainees gain experience in biotechnology-related fields through coursework and an internship. Novy’s doctoral thesis research combined with BTP’s required internship has led him down an unexpected career path: founding a biotechnology company.
Novy’s advisor, Vatsan Raman, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry, and other researchers in the Raman Lab developed a biosensor that can quickly and efficiently detect small molecules such as narcotics. Novy, along with Raman and labmates, have brainstormed many real world applications for the technology, such as supporting first responders in identifying overdose patients, testing for environmental toxins, and at-home testing of health-relevant molecules in our bodies.
Developing innovative and applicable science, however, is just the beginning for Novy and other enterprising researchers at UW–Madison.
“Developing technology that people can actually use outside of a laboratory setting involves a lot more than just the technical science,” says Novy. “There’s also customer discovery, marketing, networking — things that are really outside of what we typically think of doing in a lab.”
With an eye toward turning the biosensor technology developed in the Raman Lab into a viable product, Novy was accepted into the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program in 2024. I-Corps™ supports scientists looking to commercialize the fruits of basic science research projects. Program participants focus on customer discovery through market research, including identifying and interviewing potential stakeholders and industry specialists outside of academia.
“A lot of time, biotech startups fail not because the science doesn’t work, but because people have made something really innovative that there just isn’t a real market for,” explains Novy. “You can spend years developing and perfecting a product, but if there’s no buyer then it doesn’t matter how interesting the science is — you won’t have a product that sells.” I-Corps™ helps scientists overcome this barrier by guiding them through the process of exploring different markets and determining whether a product has a viable market in the early stages of development.
The program requires that participants have prior experience with a previous NSF entrepreneurship program or a similar regional program so they can join I-Corps™ with preliminary goals and stakeholders in mind. Novy met these criteria through the UW–Madison Technology Entrepreneurship Office, which offers a condensed program with a structure similar to I-Corps™. The Technology and Entrepreneurship Office is just one of several programs and offices on campus supporting scientists’ entrepreneurial pursuits (others include Discovery to Product (D2P), Morgridge Entrepreneurial Bootcamp, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Accelerator).
As an I-Corps™ participant, Novy (serving as the project’s entrepreneurial lead) completed coursework and customer discovery interviews. His project team included Raman (technical lead) and Jennifer Gagne, an entrepreneur and I-Corps™ instructor from the Technology Entrepreneurship Office (industry mentor).
Novy attended tradeshows, networked with peers, met with hundreds of stakeholders, and learned techniques for pivoting to new markets. Over eight weeks, he conducted more than 130 interviews with physicians, paramedics, police officers, and drug testing companies. Novy also identified key regulatory barriers that the team needs to address before the technology can be adopted by the medical field. He’s now in the process of continuing to identify the technology’s potential uses and new customers. After he graduates in 2026, Novy plans to continue applying the marketing research techniques he developed as he explores possibilities in the burgeoning biosensor industry.
“I was always interested in entrepreneurship, but you never know if your research will align with that interest,” reflects Novy. “Once I started working on this biosensor project, I saw the potential for it to scale, and I knew that there would be a lot of different applications for the technology. My goal remains starting a company based on this research, so now it’s just about finding the right markets.”
Written by Renata Solan.