Dr' Jeff Th' Gielen, director

1
Dr. Jeff Th. Gielen, director

• Food Valley incubator
• BioPartner Center Wageningen
• 11 March 2009
• www.biowageningen.nl

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Dr. Jeff Th. Gielen, curriculum vitae

• bridging science and business
• Biology
• PhD, Endocrinology (hormonal control of
  reproduction)
• Intervet International, Pharmacology (veterinary
  medicines)
• Institute of Animal Sciences and Health,
  Wageningen UR
• Founder and head Department Marketing Sales
• Founder and director BioPartner Center Wageningen
• Advisory board start-up companies
• Supervisory board Rabobank Land van Cuijk
  Maasduinen
• Award Ereprijs voor Ondernemerschap 2005, City
  of Wageningen (honorary price for
  entrepreneurship 2005)

3
BioPartner

• BioPartner programme 2000-2005
• stimulating entrepreneurship in life sciences
  subsidy from MOE
• successful? YES
• - gtgt 75 life sciences companies
• - change in culture

4
BioPartner Center Wageningen

• The incubator BioPartner Center Wageningen,
  founded in 2001, is an independent company with
  two shareholders
• Wageningen University
• Investment Company of the Regional Development
  Agency East Netherlands

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BioPartner Center Wageningen

• Aim of the incubator is to stimulate
  entrepreneurship by
• creating an entrepreneurial climate
• offering full support, services and facilities to
  start-ups and young companies
• offering tailor made accommodation to start-ups,
  young companies and RD units of multinationals

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Stimulating entrepreneurship

• Partners of BioPartner Center Wageningen
  Wageningen UR, Food Valley Foundation,
  Development Agency East Netherlands, Wageningen
  city of life sciences, Province of Gelderland
• Governmental stimulation programmes, e.g.
  BioPartner (past) and Technopartner (present)
  (member of the Food Valley Consortium)
• Involvement in education e.g. entrepreneurship in
  life sciences

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Stimulating entrepreneurship

• Workshops on various subjects IP protection
  (patent), valorisation of knowledge, business
  administration, financial aspects
• Screening and scouting (inside and outside
  university)
• Coaching and advising start-ups
• Business café business meeting point

8
Stimulating entrepreneurship

• Lessons learned
• Governmental support is very helpful
• No focus on start-ups only
• Many start-ups from other sources than university
• Lack of coaches (experienced entrepreneur)
• Most starters have problems with preparation of a
  sound business plan
• Education in entrepreneurship is needed

9
The incubator offers

• home and services to various businesses
  (start-up, young company and multinational
  ideal mixture) with focus on agro-food, life
  sciences and health
• access to the unique life sciences network in the
  Food Valley (for both RD and business support)

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The incubator offers

• Services, support and accommodation
• Three sites
• University campus (two separate buildings)
• New facilities (three phases)
• Phase 1, start 2002 opening spring 2003
• Phase 2, start 2004 first tenant spring 2005
• Phase 3, start 2005 opening 11 May 2006

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The incubator offers

• gt10.000 sq. m. floor space (three sites)
• multipurpose facilities for start-ups and young
  companies
• tailor made accommodation to life sciences
  companies and RD organisations, e.g.
• . FrieslandCampina
• . Nippon Suisan Europe
• . Kikkoman Europe RD Laboratory
• . Clean Light

12
The incubator offers

• Consultancy to other incubators and to science
  parks (sharing experiences e.g. Leiden
  bioscience park, incubator UMC St. Radboud
  Nijmegen, Gent/Oostende incubator, Food and
  Health incubator Tienen en Health incubator
  Hasselt)
• Tailor made accommodation for companies (10.000
  20.000 m2) Wageningen Campus
• In Wageningen and Food Valley

13
The incubator offers

• BioPartner Center Wageningen offers home to 27
  companies
• Blgg - Brothers Brothers
• FrieslandCampina - Clean Light
• Dyadic - EBI Food Safety
• Farm Fun - Genetwister Technologies
• IsTech laboratories - Alpha Nova Diagnostics
• Ip Star - Kikkoman Europe RD Lab.
• Nippon Suisan (Europe) - Nuplex resins
• TNO-Blgg AgriQ - Topshare International
• Wageningen Academic Publishers - Water Insight
• Amatech/ Hogeschool Wageningen - Co-Capacity
• Pauwe Groep - Meijer Meijaard
• Van Bommel Faunawerk - South Sea Exclusive
  Research
• Van Wagenberg consult - Effab
• Microdish
• BioPartner Center Wageningen offers services and
  support to many other companies

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The Future

• Are we performing well?
• How do we get more new ventures?
• How many companies from abroad do we get in the
  Food Valley?