VOA慢速英语:纽约在生物科技发展上投入巨大
From VOA Learning English, welcome to As It Is! I’mJonathan Evans in Washington.
On our program today, we have two reports abouttechnology companies. Two large Internet companiesrecently bought two technology businesses based inIndia. We will tell you about the deals later in the show. But first, our technology reporter, June Simms, tellsabout some American efforts to develop newbusinesses.
New York Invests Heavily in Biotech Development
New York City and the State of New York are investinghundreds of millions of dollars to become a major player in the development ofhigh tech industries. They have developed 40 workspaces, known asincubators, to assist start-up businesses.
Harlem Biospace is an incubator for biomedical engineering. It gives youngentrepreneurs a low-cost way to develop their ideas and businesses. For alow monthly payment, they are given desk space and use of a laboratory. Theyoung people pay for their own raw materials.
“This is great. The reason is because it is so cheap and it has the wet lab that we need. So I order chemicals that I need, and I’m given the facilities here todo my experiments.”
Tyler Poore and his partner are developing a product that will kill bacteria. Itcan be put on household goods, like a sponge for cleaning. He and the 17others at Biospace share a common goal: to find solutions to biomedicalproblems.
Edwin Vazquez is investigating the mystery of diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. He says suggestions from others in the building make thework environment at Biospace a real plus.
“There’s nothing better than sitting down in a room like this when there is a lotmore people around and you got something that is exciting and you go to alunchroom and you start talking to your other colleagues. All of a sudden,somebody knows a researcher that is doing something similar to you or thatcan complement your research. You get in contact and things happen.”
Leading hospitals and science centers are supporting inventors like KateRochlin, founder of a company called Immunovent. She has developed abrush to test for allergic reactions. The device is placed in the nose ormouth. The test results are correct more often than skin or blood tests.
“And from one single sample from the nose or mouth we can test for a wholepanel of 72 allergens. We found that the blood test identified peanut allergiesonly 50 percent of the time, and we could find it 99 percent of the time. So we are far more accurate for peanut diagnosis and that’s really importantbecause that one in particular is really life-threatening.”
Matthew Owens is the executive director of Harlem Biospace. He says therehave been real signs of success since the company was launched lastNovember.
“We do have companies who are already shipping, getting revenue andgetting products out to customers. So, I think that is absolutely a success."
I'm June Simms.
And I’m Jonathan Evans. You are listening to As It Is from VOA LearningEnglish.
India is home to tens of thousands of computer software engineers and agrowing Information Technology industry. The Internet companies Facebookand Google recently purchased two India-based technology start-upcompanies. The business deals are expected to influence others to launchstart-up companies in the country. June Simms has more.
Interest Increases in Indian Start-Up Companies
Facebook closed its deal to buy Little Eye Labs in early January. Fourengineers in Bangalore launched Little Eye Labs about a year and a half ago. The company builds mobile application software tools. The deal is said to beworth between $10 and 15 million. It is the first time Facebook has purchasedan Indian start-up company.
Google bought the cyber security company, Imperium. Imperium has officesin Bangalore and California. Media reports set the value of the deal at about$9 million.
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Google recently bought the Indian company Imperium. |
The two deals are considered small, but important. Experts say they will help increase interest in Indianstart-ups among foreign technology companies. Suchbusinesses often buy small companies either for thetechnology they develop or the ability of their creators.
Rutvik Doshi is with Inventus Capital Partners, aninvestment company in Bangalore.
“Till date none of these large U.S. companies had everacquired anything in India, nothing to write home about. If they both turn out to be successful for these respective companies, they willthen now start looking at India more seriously, in terms of there is more talent,there is more technology, and entrepreneurship happening here. So from thatpoint of view I think even though these acquisitions may not be very large. But I think from the symbolic point of view, I think it is the beginning of a new era.”
Indian software engineers have gained recognition around the world. Most of the engineers work for big Indian technology companies. But the number ofIndian technology start-up companies is on the rise. Raising money for thesestart-ups is not always easy.
Rajesh Sawhney helped to create a company called GSF Accelerator. Itprovided financial support for Little Eye Labs.
Mr. Sawhney says most of the start-ups in India have worked on developingproducts for the home market. But he says the recent deals with Facebookand Google will lead investors and business people to widen their efforts.
“The time now is to encourage these start-ups to start thinking global and that is what Internet allows today. We need to encourage our bright, young talentin India to now start building products for world markets like Israelis have doneor like U.S. start-ups do.”
Bangalore’s successful technology services and outsourcing industry mostlydoes back office work for Western companies. But this work has put India on the technology map. The success that the industry has created will help openthe door to future growth.
I’m June Simms.
And that’s our program for today. Be sure to join us again tomorrow foranother As It Is. I’m Jonathan Evans. Thanks for listening!
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