From Lab to Livestock: How Customer Discovery Helped 2C Bioscience Find Its Focus

Questions are the heart of all meaningful research. They drive researchers to explore new ideas, challenge assumptions and expand knowledge. 

A promising discovery in the lab can often answer one set of scientific questions, but when researchers begin thinking about commercialization, an entirely different line of inquiry emerges: Does my innovation solve a problem? How big is the problem? And would anyone be willing to pay for my solution?

For the team behind UC Davis startup 2C Bioscience, answering those questions meant stepping outside the lab and talking directly with potential customers. 

That was the focus of their experience with the National Science Foundation's Innovation -Corps Program (NSF I-Corps), beginning with the Northwest Hub regional program and continuing with the National NSF I-Corps Teams Program. Through a methodology called customer discovery, I-Corps helps early-stage research teams test assumptions about potential users, better understand market needs and identify where a technology can have the greatest commercial opportunity.

"We went into the regional cohort with the thought that we were going to have a scientific discussion," said Dr. Osman Sharifi, a postdoctoral researcher and one of 2C Bioscience's co-founders. "Thankfully, I was wrong.”  

Instead of focusing on the science, the program challenged the team to think about potential use cases, identify customer segments, and learn how to conduct customer discovery interviews, an approach that would ultimately reshape their commercialization journey.

Translating discovery to commercial opportunity

2C Bioscience’s origins trace back to the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at UC Davis, where LaSalle lab discovered a new human gene and later found that it helps address oxidative stress, a condition that can contribute to a range of health issues, including infertility. Sharifi, alongside fellow co-founders and colleagues at the LaSalle Lab, Dr. Janine LaSalle, Dr. Dag Yasui and Christina Torres, began exploring use cases for the breakthrough while also seeking funding and guidance from UC Davis’ network of entrepreneurial support programs.

They considered a range of potential use cases, but by the time they entered the regional I-Corps program, the team was focused on how their innovation could support human fertility and increase in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates. 

“At the regional level, we had to interview 20 people,” Sharifi said. “This was our first time getting out of the lab and talking to strangers about our idea. At the time that seemed very overwhelming.” 

Despite the initial discomfort of speaking with unfamiliar people about customer needs - the interviews quickly revealed that developing an IVF treatment for human use would require years of clinical trials and regulatory approvals.

"We had to make several pivots before we got to where we are now," Sharifi said.

That transition led the team to explore livestock reproduction, where the regulatory pathway was more straightforward and commercial opportunities were ample.

Finding the right customer

In the NSF National I-Corps program, the team expanded their customer discovery efforts and dove deeper into the livestock industry, speaking to more than 100 potential customers, industry stakeholders and representatives from various farms, ranches and businesses around the state. During that process, they learned that beef and dairy operations have very different needs and that cattle ranches and smaller dairy farms generally don't use IVF for bovine reproduction. 

With their expanded outreach, interviews pointed 2C Bioscience toward a range of potential applications involving horses, sheep, goats and other agricultural sectors. However, each new avenue they explored reinforced an important lesson for Sharifi and the team.

"There are a lot of distractions along the way, and they could sometimes come in the form of ‘opportunity’," he said. “People offered good ideas with the utmost sincerity, but they didn’t always fit our model.”

As the team continued interviewing stakeholders across the livestock industry, a clearer picture began to emerge. Conversations with dairy producers consistently highlighted the widespread use of IVF at large dairy operations and the need for improved pregnancy success rates. Those interviews ultimately helped the team identify large dairy farms as the customer segment with both a significant unmet need and a clear path to adoption.

"We nailed down our beachhead market, which was the biggest thing," Sharifi said.

Learning how to distinguish between an interesting idea and a viable market was one of the most valuable outcomes of I-Corps for 2C Bioscience. But the experience also changed the team's comfort level with talking to people outside the academic community about their business idea. What initially felt intimidating became one of the most valuable parts of the process.

"Go out and talk to people," Sharifi said. "They’ll ask questions you never thought about, and you'll learn a lot about yourself and your technology."

For researchers considering the commercial potential of their own discoveries, 2C Bioscience's experience illustrates the value of testing assumptions early and letting evidence shape the path forward.

“I would absolutely recommend I-Corps,” Sharifi said. “It opens your eyes to the business world, which is really important if you’re coming from an academic background.”