#15 How to cross the biotech Valley of Death and manage the bumpy road to scaling bio-based innovations ft. Bio-Base Europe Pilot Plant

Send us Fan Mail Melina Gerdts introduces the concept of disruptive innovation as a necessary force for systemic change in society. She discusses the insights from Natalie Kyriacu's speech on humanity's contradictions and hosts Patrick Rose, the Innovation Manager at SPRIND, a state-owned agency in Germany focused on fostering unconventional technologies. Patrick explains SPRIND's unique approach to funding and supporting innovative projects, emphasizing the importance of a fail-fast culture ...

Send us Fan Mail bCL is back! In this episode of the bioCircular Loop podcast, Melina Gerdts interviews Nemailla Bonturi, co-founder of ÄIO, a startup based in Estonia that focuses on brewing fats and oils through precision fermentation technology. Nemailla shares her journey from being a scientist to an entrepreneur, the innovative processes behind ÄIO, and the challenges of navigating regulatory landscapes and securing funding. The conversation also touches on the importance of sustainabili...

Send us Fan Mail Recorded live at the Pitch Perfect Bioeconomy event in Brussels, this final episode of the miniseries features Hendrik Waegeman, Head of Business Operations at Biobase Europe Pilot Plant, reflecting on what it really takes to scale bio-based innovation in Europe. After two days of panels, pitches and workshops, the big question remains simple: how do we scale successfully? Hendrik breaks it down. Whether you are a startup or a corporate, the fundamentals are the same. Product...

Send us Fan Mail Recorded live at the Pitch Perfect Bioeconomy event in Brussels, this episode features Marc Lankveld, Founder of Tasseikan, on building a biotech route to replace PET with a bio-based alternative. Tasseikan develops a fermentation process that converts sugar into FDCA, a building block for PEF, a bioplastic designed to substitute PET in packaging. Think bottles, food packaging, and applications where strength and gas barrier properties really matter. Unlike PLA, PEF is not bi...

Send us Fan Mail Recorded live at the Pitch Perfect Bioeconomy event in Brussels, this episode features Bram Pareyt, Group Upstream R&D Director at Puratos, on what biomanufacturing actually looks like inside a global food ingredients company. Puratos is a B2B producer of ingredients for bakery, patisserie and chocolate. But behind the scenes, biotech plays a much bigger role than you might think. For Bram and his team, biomanufacturing means enzymes, functional fermentation and using nat...