Shakir Lhakani, also known as startup.papi, is a 22 year old from Toronto, On. He used to study nanotech engineering at the University of Waterloo before taking an extended leave of absence after his second year to pursue his startup. Avro Life Science focuses on the delivery of anti-biotic molecules to the body in less invasive ways than needles or oral consumption. Shakir has recently graduated form Mars District, Y combinator and is currently a Thiel Fellow. At this point, Avro Life Science is looking to secure the last part of its Series A funding. They have currently received more than $2million in pledged funding
What exactly is Avro Life Science and who do you believe can benefit most from your technology?
We are developing skin patches for generic drug delivery and focusing on developing therapeutic solutions for children and the elderly. These are areas of the population which are currently limited to delivery options due to biological restrictions or compliance. In a way, we are trying to be the healthy nicotine patch.
Where do you live most of the time?
I split my time between Waterloo, Boston and San Francisco. Waterloo for the lab, Boston because most of our testing is done there and San Francisco to raise money and talk with our current investors.
Can you give us a little background info about yourself?
First, I love learning new things. I’d happily spend much of my life doing that and if I can combine that with making people’s lives better- all the better. More specifically, I’ve always been involved with health and science and originally thought research was the best way to make an impact in the space. So after high school, I worked at a placement at UofT Engineering in regenerative medicine and tissue molecules. At the lab, we were purposed with building a material that would allow us to replicate tumors in 3-d. At this point, only 2-d images were used- which were great to understand what cells were in a specific tumor; however, it lacked the ability to synthetically test which chemicals would react best in certain situations. From there, I also had a job at a start-up in Harvard- which I was able to see more intricately how and at what rate companies in science fields grow.
What is a sample timeline of Avro Life Science?
Avro formed in March 2016 after winning a small prize (5k) at an annual pitch competition. From there, we were lucky enough to get into a Bader partnership program which expanded our network and allowed us to gain insightful information from other founders. After that, we graduated from Y Combinator and raised the initial of our seed rounds in the Spring of 2018. Next, we started to grow the team (from the original 3 to a team of 12) and achieved some technical milestones. As of now, we recently had some very positive feedback and successful clinical trials. I can’t get into the technicalities- but I can say that it’s a great step for Avro becoming a widely recognized name.
What are some of your hobbies?
Honestly, my life is almost all wrapped up into Avro at the moment- and if you were to ask day in the life of Shak, it might not look to grand. However, I do love playing ping pong at the office (where I am the undisputed champion), going to the gym every day, eating healthy (big chicken and rice guy), box a couple of days a week, play guitar and pass out from exhaustion at the end of the day.
Who are some of your role models?
Jim Wright was a huge influence on me. He discovered a way to deliver Parkinson medication through inhaling. His level of altruism also is something I strive to achieve.
Herbert Boyer founded Genentech, which catalyzed biologic technology like insulin and bacterial growth. He basically made it affordable to distribute life-saving medication to mass populations. He became prominent in the 70’s and 80’s, but everyone in my field considers him a grandfather of life science business applications.
Also, I’m a big Mike Tyson guy. I’m still convinced that he was speaking into every founders heart when he said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” He was also a smaller guy in the ring and gives me hope as a small company in a industry filled with behemoths that it doesn’t matter about the size of the dog in the fight but much more about the size of the fight in the dog- which I think Avro has in plenty.
Finally, would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?
100 duck-sized horses. Come’on Jeff give me something harder than that.
Thanks Shakir for taking the time to participate in this interview. To follow Shak and Avro Life Science on social media, check out the links below:
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