Gokul Nair

Gokul Nair is a co-founder of Impulse Biomedical, a start-up company spun out from the Medical Devices lab at the University of Cape Town, which commercialises affordable healthcare technologies for the developing world. He has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering, both from the University of Cape Town. His Master’s thesis involved the development of a reloadable Adrenaline Auto Injector, which has now been named the ZiBiPen. The technology aims to reduce the recurring cost involved in the treatment of Anaphylaxis. After developing the device, Gokul teamed up with his fellow Masters colleague Giancarlo Beukes to co-found Impulse Biomedical, with the aim to commercialise the ZiBiPen along with other technologies. This was primarily motivated by their desire to see their technologies used by patients that need them and their frustration that research outputs rarely reach market. After completing The Venture Incubation Program at the Graduate school of Business, the team acquired a foundational understanding of how to run a start-up and commercialise research outputs. The team has since won numerous awards both locally and internationally.