SCI’s Bright SCIdea challenge is an annual entrepreneurial competition which allows university students the opportunity to develop and showcase their business skills.
The students are asked to develop a scientific concept that could be commercialised for the benefit of society, and shortlisted teams are invited to pitch their idea at the final, which is taking place in at SCI headquarters in March. You can read more about the 2026 SCI Bright SCIdea finalists here.
C&I spoke to Christopher D'Souza, one of the members of the winning 2025 team ProPrep to find out more about his experience of the competition.
C&I: Could you start by telling us what prompted you to enter BrightSCIdea and what you learnt from the whole experience?
Christopher D'Souza: I heard about the opportunity through a university email advertising a competition for early-stage ideas. With ProPrep still in its early days, I saw it as a valuable opportunity to learn more as I transitioned from scientist to entrepreneur, as well as to secure funding to support development. Through this experience, I was fortunate to achieve both. The key highlight for me was refining my value proposition, clearly articulating how my technical innovation translates into commercial value in a way that genuinely resonated with the market.
Could you tell us a bit about how ProPrep came about and the problem that it is solving?
During my PhD, I needed to produce recombinant proteins for my research. I quickly realised I was working with particularly challenging proteins, also without access to the sophisticated, industrial, and expensive equipment available commercially. Through this experience, I learned a great deal about protein production and began thinking of ideas to make the process more efficient in the lab. I later explored these ideas further and realised it had broader potential, not only for academia and industry research, but also efficient scaling for higher-volume production, niche and personalised clinical manufacturing, and adaptation for other molecule types. Protein-based medicines have enormous therapeutic potential, yet they remain extremely frustrating to research and very costly to produce. ProPrep is the novel, fully automated, and cost-effective protein production platform designed to increase productivity and reduce costs in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Since winning BrightSCIdea, what would you say are some of the biggest hurdles ProPrep has overcome and how did you navigate these challenges?
The biggest hurdle has been translating the concept into a tangible MVP, particularly as ProPrep is a hardware-based product which requires significant time, expertise, and capital. While I had the time, expertise, and belief in the idea, the competition helped bridge the funding gap and provided an additional boost of confidence to move from concept to MVP development.
What would you say to anyone thinking about entering BrightSCIdea in the future?
If you have an idea that you believe could solve a problem, regardless of how big or small, I strongly encourage you to apply. It is an excellent first step in understanding whether your idea has real value, and then learning how to begin translating that idea into meaningful impact. Good luck!
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