Lab to Lucre

The way from lab to profit

Funding strategy, investor readiness and go-to-market for early-stage biotech and technology startups.

Lab to Lucre helps technology-led ventures in biotechnology and life sciences move from lab to market, from the first idea to funding and commercialisation.

The journey we support startups through:

  1. Ideation
  2. Product validation
  3. Incubation
  4. Funding
  5. Scale-up
  6. Commercialisation
The company

Lab to Lucre

A consulting company for early-stage technology and life-science startups. Lab to Lucre helps founders move from prototype to first customer to first cheque, with a clear plan instead of a list of investor names.

Funding strategy

The right kind of capital for your stage, sized and sequenced so you raise with a plan.

Investor readiness

Story, deck, numbers and answers ready before you meet an investor.

Go-to-market

Positioning, pilots and first customers, so traction shows up before the term sheet.

1:1 advisory

Working sessions on your specific round, market and next 90 days.

  1. Book a 1:1
  2. Written report in 5 days
  3. Your 90-day plan
Book a 1:1 slotNovember 1:1 slots open

Why Lab to Lucre

Why a startup founder should choose Lab to Lucre over a typical fundraising advisor.

1

Fluent in lab and market

The founder is a biotech engineer with a marketing MBA. Lab to Lucre understands your science and turns it into a story a customer and an investor will both buy.

Unlike science-blind deck polishers
2

Built for the early stage

Lab to Lucre covers prototype, first customer and first cheque, the stretch where most founders are left alone.

Unlike advisors who start at Series A
3

A plan, not a pitch list

You get a written report in 5 days and a 90-day plan you can act on, not a list of investors and a vague promise.

Unlike sellers of investor lists

What the market research showed

  • Most fundraising advisors charge a monthly retainer plus a success fee of roughly 1% to 3% of the capital actually raised. Others charge more, with retainers of about $5K to $25K+ per month for 3 to 6 months and success fees of 2% to 8%.
  • Many focus on later rounds, usually from Series A onward.
  • Global life-science advisors bring real science depth, but they mostly serve VC firms, private equity funds and asset managers out of London and Cambridge, MA.
  • Founders' most common worry is paying upfront for investor access with vague deliverables.
  • For deep-tech founders the real gap is commercialisation. As a 2026 panel put it, without a business behind the engineering, the venture stays a side project.
Book a 1:1 slotNovember 1:1 slots openYour first customer, before the term sheet.

About the Founder

Lab to Lucre was founded by Megha Telkar, a biotech engineer with a marketing MBA, to help early-stage technology and life-science startups get from a working prototype to their first customer and first cheque.

Megha spent more than two years in the Bengaluru startup and biotechnology ecosystem as Officer for Innovation and Ecosystem Development at Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre. There she supported life sciences, MedTech and agri-biotech startups through incubation, mentorship, business development and access to grants, angel investors and venture capital.

At BIRAC she analysed about 10,000 startups and independently built a strategic funding playbook that helps investors and grant providers judge startup potential faster and more consistently. Lab to Lucre brings this research, ecosystem network and market sense to every founder it works with.

Connect with Megha on LinkedIn

Send a connection request and mention that you came from the Lab to Lucre website.

Add Megha on LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/megha-telkar-286a5b22a

Know more about the founder

Experience
BIRACBIRAC logo

Intern, Business Systems and Trade Analysis

2025

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)

  • Analysed business systems and trade frameworks influencing emerging biotechnology and life sciences enterprises across India.
  • Conducted structured research on a dataset of about 10,000 startups to identify the variables linked to venture performance, funding readiness and business success.
  • Examined recurring funding and commercialisation barriers faced by technology-led ventures moving from research to market entry.
  • Independently developed a strategic funding playbook that gives investors and government grant providers a standard framework to evaluate startup potential, enabling faster and more consistent funding decisions.
  • Converted complex research findings into structured insights to help founders navigate the funding and commercialisation "Valley of Death".
BBCBangalore Bioinnovation Centre logo

Officer, Innovation and Ecosystem Development

2022 to 2024

Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre (BBC)

  • Managed deal-flow pipelines by identifying high-potential startups and giving tailored advisory support to refine their go-to-market and market-entry strategies.
  • Spearheaded community-building initiatives and founder-focused programming, ensuring seamless event execution in a fast-paced incubation setting.
  • Coordinated with founders, investors, government bodies, mentors and industry representatives to strengthen ecosystem partnerships and startup engagement.
  • Enabled access to grants, angel investors and venture capital based on each startup's development stage and funding needs.
  • Facilitated business development, branding, partnerships and networking by connecting innovators with industry partners and domestic and international markets.
  • Supported startup participation in biotechnology, technology and investment events and forums, increasing visibility and relationship-building.
  • Delivered end-to-end incubation and accelerator support to life sciences, MedTech and agri-biotech startups through mentorship, technical assistance and access to advanced laboratory infrastructure.
  • Supported startups across ideation, product validation, incubation, funding, scale-up and commercialisation, and helped define scale-up strategies and regulatory compliance pathways.
Certifications
Introduction to Alternative Investments (ALTIN), HarvardX / Harvard Business School Online, verified certificate, Oct 2026 Fundamentals of Quantitative Financial Modelling, University of Pennsylvania Generative AI for Excel and Business Leaders, IBM Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation (prior-art search) Drug Delivery and Principles, NPTEL
Projects

Strategic funding playbook

BIRAC, 2025

A standard framework that lets investors and government grant providers evaluate startup potential, built independently to make funding decisions faster and more consistent.

Funding strategyInvestor readiness

Startup performance research

BIRAC, 2025

Structured analysis of about 10,000 startups to find the variables linked to venture performance, funding readiness and business success, and the barriers between research and market entry.

Data analysisMarket research

Deal-flow and founder programming

Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre, 2022 to 2024

Managed the startup deal-flow pipeline, advised founders on go-to-market strategy, and ran community-building events that connected startups with investors, mentors and industry.

IncubationEcosystem building
Skills

Startup scouting and innovation

Startup research and evaluationTechnology scoutingEcosystem mappingVenture assessmentIncubation support

Research and business analysis

Market researchBusiness systems analysisStartup data analysisTrend monitoringQuestionnaire design

Funding and commercialisation

Startup funding and grantsAngel and VC networksInvestor readinessScale-up and market accessCommercialisation pathways

Programme and stakeholder management

Programme coordinationStakeholder engagementStartup outreachMentorship coordinationEvent support

Strategy and business development

Strategic planningBusiness developmentDigital marketing and brandingNegotiationProblem-solving

Industry knowledge and tools

Biotechnology and life sciencesMedTech and agri-biotechIPR and prior-art searchRegulatory pathwaysBasic bioinformaticsExcel and PowerPoint

Achievements

BioSpectrum Excellence Awards 2023
Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023
Global Bio-India 2023
Startup Investors Summit, April 2024
Certificate of Merit on stage
Receiving an award on stage
Receiving a certificate on stage
Certificate of Appreciation, Bosch Global Software Technologies
On stage with fellow participants and faculty
Receiving a certificate with teammates

Best Incubator in Tier-1 Cities

Global Bio India 2023

Contributed to Bangalore Bioinnovation Centre's recognition.

Best Managed and Interactive Incubator

Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023

Supported the centre in earning this award.

Best Incubator Exhibit Award

Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022

Contributed to the centre's award.

Special Recognition Certificate

BIRAC, Government of India

Awarded by the Managing Director of BIRAC for exceptional research contributions.

Best Summer Internship Project Award

2025

Outstanding performance among about 1,500 students during the BIRAC internship.

Charcha 2.0 Debate Championship

Winner, 2024

First place in the debate championship.

Ask about your business

Tell me about your startup and pick the help you need. I read every query and reply by email. November 1:1 slots are open.

Which service do you want? (pick one or more)

Download the founder's profile

A one-page summary of Megha's experience, skills and achievements.

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