In Greek mythology, Panacea was the goddess of universal remedy. In Bangladesh, brothers Soumikand Souvik Aswad are using their startup Panacea to remedy an ailment that has been plaguing their community: counterfeited pharmaceuticals.
After being a runner-up in last fall’s Startup Open, Panacea won two spots in the GEW Startup House, located in the heart of the Kansas City Startup Village (KCSV). Intent on bringing their entire team to Kansas City to make the most of the trip, the Aswad brothers applied for two more rooms through Homes for Hackers. The program encourages entrepreneurs to relocate to Kansas City by offering free room and board in the startup hub to those who are serious about entrepreneurship, and serious about Kansas City.
During their trip to Kansas City earlier this month, the Aswad brothers took time to discuss their experience starting their first company, living in the KCSV and what lies ahead for Panacea.
1) They stumbled upon their startup moment by accident
When someone in their family got sick as a result of bad medicine, the Aswad brothers looked into it. They quickly discovered that their family was not the only one facing this problem. In fact, they discovered that there is $130 million worth of counterfeited drugs circulating in their native Bangladesh.
2) They are applying innovation to an existing concept
The idea of tracking products to ensure authenticity and quality is not a new one. In fact, electronics have been doing it for years with international mobile equipment numbers – unique serial numbers attached to each electronic device, serving a number of purposes including allowing customers to track them while lost.
What Panacea proposes to do is take this same concept of unique identification codes and apply it to medicine. By working with pharmaceutical companies to print a unique id on medicine packaging, Panacea makes checking the legitimacy of ones medicine as easy as sending a text. Users can use an SMS service or download the Panacea app, type in their medicine’s information and find out in moments whether their medecine is authentic.
3) GEW has been part of Panacea’s journey from the very beginning
The Aswad brothers were confident in their startup idea but they wanted to know whether others cared as much as they did about solving the counterfeit drug problem in Asia. The best way they saw to do this was to put their idea to the test against other emerging startups. As it turns out, the Startup Open judges thought that Panacea was a pretty great idea too.
Seven months later, the Panacea team was rewarded with an opportunity to immerse itself in a vibrant startup ecosystem to grow and strengthen its concept. As the Aswad brothers quickly discovered this month, one of the advantages of being in the KCSV, was the access to likeminded individuals and fortuitous encounters.During a walking tour of the KCSV, the Panacea team stumbled upon investors from the Kansas Bioscience Authority. The serendipitous run-in lead to a later meeting, which laid the groundwork for future partnerships.
As part of their educational journey, the Panacea team met with Marianne Hudson of the Angel Capital Association during their trip. An experienced angel investor, Hudson was able to advise Panacea on financing best-practices and discuss their concept further.
Hudson was not the only person to hear Panacea’s story. The Panacea team pitched their startup to 1 Million Cups at the Kauffman Foundation, an event that offers startups the chance to discuss their concept and their challenges with community members interested in learning about and contributing to young startups’ growth.
4) They are creating the positive change they wish to see in their community
Before deciding to create Panacea, neither of the Aswad brothers had any entrepreneurial experience. Since Global Entrepreneurship Week last fall, they have adopted a progressive entrepreneurial mindset, immersing themselves in the market and the realm of entrepreneurship to learn as much as possible along the way. The journey from a startup idea to a successful venture is not without its ups and downs.
The Aswad brothers have faced each obstacle head-on, learning along the way and constantly moving forward towards their final goal of making taking medicine - something that many of us take for granted – safe for their family, their community and beyond. One of the biggest obstacles Panacea has faced to date is support from Pharmaceutical companies. The solution? Incentivizing their noble social venture to appeal to regulation-riddled pharma giants.
5) They are huge soccer fans
Despite the Kansas City trip being a whirlwind of meetings, learning experiences and time spent exploring entrepreneur-friendly facilities, the Panacea team made sure to leave free time for one of their favorite sports: soccer. Thanks to the entire KCSV being wired with Google Fiber, the soccer-loving Aswad brothers and the rest of their team were able to seamlessly stream the World Cup from Brazil in real time.
The Panacea Team has returned to Bangladesh, taking with them lessons learnt and new contacts made to help them reach their goal of pushing out their product by next summer. The combination of Google Fiber wired-buildings, a low cost of living, an unbeatable community of support and political enthusiasm for entrepreneurism made their trip to Kansas City a unique experience for the Bangladeshi natives. As Soumik described it, “the Kansas City Startup Village is electric.”
GEW is an idea bigger than the communities that make it up. It represents something we can all aspire to, to be part of one global community of people seeking better ways to doing things and improving the lives of their fellow citizens. With Panacea, Soumik and Souvik embody the GEW ideals. They were able to look at their home, find a problem and create a solution.