A researcher who found his way into investing.
I’m Shibil. I work at Speciale Invest, backing companies built around difficult problems in science and technology. My work spans biotech, space, defense and semiconductors.
I came to investing through research, a startup that didn’t work out, and biotech operations. That path still shapes the questions I ask: does the science work, what will it take to make it useful, and what kind of company can deliver it?
Where it began
I grew up in a small town in Kerala, in a joint family. My grandfather was a teacher, entrepreneur and social worker. He was my everything. Much of how I learned to look at the world came through him: stay curious, take people seriously, and try to make yourself useful.
That curiosity took me to IISER Kolkata. I studied biological sciences, explored mathematics and computer science, and did my master’s thesis in biophysics, studying the traction forces of cells. Feynman and Sapolsky became companions along the way. Outside the lab, there were arts, dance, and mentoring students through Ek-Pahel.
From the lab to building companies
After IISER, I worked in a biomechanics lab at IISc. I wanted to take what I was learning beyond research, and in late 2020 I started a women’s healthcare company focused on PCOS. We found some early traction, but I couldn’t build the team and financing needed to scale. The company closed in January 2022.
I then joined TeOra, a Singapore-based biotech startup, leading operations in India. I built relationships with research institutes and CROs, hired and mentored people, and managed animal trials. It taught me how much work sits between an interesting scientific idea and getting something done.
Eventually I took a career break. I explored finance, coding and AI, read widely, and began writing. I didn’t have a neat plan. Those experiments and the conversations they started helped me find my way to Speciale.
Learning in public
Each year I try to put what I’ve learned into something other people can use. That has become investment theses and a fundraising guide, essays, and now Deeptech in First Principles.
I write about biology, AI and deeptech investing at Atoms & Cells. Earlier writing lives on Medium. Publishing is a way to clarify my own thinking and give something back to the people and ecosystem I learn from.
Away from work
I read across history, fiction, philosophy and science. I write poems, make room for art, and keep returning to new things to learn. My bookshelf is a good place to find some of those influences.
Training is part of my routine: swimming, cycling, running, yoga, boxing and weightlifting. I’m working towards a triathlon. I get bored easily; learning a different discipline tends to bring me back.
The path so far
The less tidy version · my anti-resume
I’m proud of the things I tried that didn’t work. They changed what I learned and where I went next.
- Failed 8th math first term exams, but won 17th rank in the state math olympiad the same year.
- Failed 12th chemistry model exams, but became top 1 percentile in CBSE boards.
- Failed IIT-JEE miserably after two years of hard work, but cracked IISER the same year.
- Got D's in multiple CS courses at IISER. Later learned AI and built a GitHub portfolio with multiple interesting projects.
- Failed CAT. Figured I wanted an MBA to start a startup — so just started a startup.
- Failed the startup due to co-founder issues despite figuring out the MVP, but that led me to lead operations of a successful biotech startup.
- Left operations without a job in hand. Unemployed for almost ten months. That period gave me yoga, boxing, weightlifting, investing, AI, writing — and finally Speciale.
Say hello
If you’re building in deeptech, have a question about something I’ve written, or want to talk about science, poetry or philosophy, I’d like to hear from you.