Bridgewest Ventures welcomes a new talented graduate to the team.
When Abhinav Ramesh, known as Abhi, started his search for an internship, he knew he wanted to work with a venture capital company that invested in New Zealand and had a portfolio extending into his fields of study – biotechnology and life sciences.
After some online investigation, Bridgewest Ventures seemed to tick the right boxes. Although we're newcomers to the New Zealand ecosystem, Abhinav appreciated our commitment to join Kiwi companies with global markets and make long-term investments right here in NZ. Connecting with Kate during a University of Auckland meet and greet helped seal the deal, and a few months later we offered Abhi an internship position. We are fortunate to have Abhi join the Bridgewest Ventures intern team.
"I like that Bridgewest Ventures makes active investments into the startups they fund. Their approach is hands-on, and they have experts who want to help founders grow alongside their ventures. It's cool being part of a company with global reach that can help bring New Zealand businesses to international markets."
Abhi's background is in pharmaceuticals. "I was really interested in Chemistry during high school," he said, "When deciding my bachelors, I wanted to pursue a field that took on the industrial side of chemistry, so I chose Medicinal Chemistry."
After completing University, Abhi started work as a Quality Control Analyst, moved into an R&D team as a Chemistry Technician at a startup, and then jumped back into a Quality Control Sampler role.
"In my Quality Control Sampler role, I got to liaise with marketing and regulatory departments, which sparked my interest in the commercial side of life sciences," he explained when asked why he made the pivot from pharmaceutical quality to science enterprise.
Abhi completed his postgraduate degree in Bioscience Enterprise last year with distinction. He is now working on a Master's degree in the same subject at Auckland University. As a Project Analyst Intern, Abhi will complete his thesis with Bridgewest Ventures.
Day-to-day at Bridgewest, Abhi will help vet the new technologies applying to be part of the Bridgewest Ventures incubator. He will work with the other interns to complete due-diligence and determine if an idea is ready to present to the investment committee. Abhi is only in week one of his internship, but his goal is to accrue as much skill and exposure to the deep tech industry as possible. In addition to completing due diligence, he will work closely with Kate and JR to further develop his skills in strategy, commercialisation, and developing business plans.
"I'm looking forward to being exposed to all the new ideas," Abhi told us, "the range of deep tech areas that Bridgewest Ventures is involved in is exciting, and I look forward to contributing my expertise in the life science area. There is something really cool about seeing deep tech on a very proximal level, where it can impact people positively and hopefully be able to make a big difference in the healthcare space."
After Abhi finishes his thesis at Bridgewest Ventures, he would like to work professionally as a consultant or within a deep tech startup.
Interested in an internship at Bridgewest?
A Bridgewest internship offers hands-on learning behind the scenes of the NZ innovation ecosystem. If you have a passion for deep tech innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit, we’d love to hear from you. We’re committed to diversity and encourage people from all cultures and backgrounds to apply for our programmes. The next round of our intern programme will open in November 2021, follow us on LinkedIn to stay informed.