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Planet B.io, the driving force behind the innovation hub at the Biotech Campus Delft and StartLife, a leading agrifoodtech startup accelerator based in Wageningen, have embarked on an exciting mutual partnership. A natural partnership as the domains of food technology and biotechnology increasingly cross paths. Planet B.io will become a so-called Program Partner of StartLife, meaning that biotech-oriented startups in the ecosystem of StartLife will be proactively connected to the network of facilities and expertise of Planet B.io. Vice versa, the agrifoodtech oriented startups in the ecosystem of Planet B.io will be connected to the hub in Wageningen including a wide range of programming and mentors.  

Flavour is a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, influencing the taste and sensory experience of the products we consume. However, behind the scenes, there is a world of innovation and science dedicated to perfecting the flavours we encounter. One such company leading the way in this field is Finwerd Flavours & Fragrances, a Dutch flavour house that uses cutting-edge ingredients, market insights, and consumer preferences to design the perfect taste experience for its customers' products.

Singaporean-headquartered cellular agriculture start-up Umami Bioworks is on a mission to cultivate the future of sustainable seafood by crafting delicious, nutritious, affordable cultivated fish that is better for our health, our oceans, and our future. The company recently joined the Planet B.io community as member. To learn more about the company and its vision, we sat down with Mihir Pershad, the Founder and CEO of Umami Bioworks.

At Planet B.io, we firmly believe that progress is best achieved through collaboration and fruitful partnerships. That is why we actively seek out opportunities to partner with esteemed service providers who are trusted by our cherished community members. In that spirit, we are happy to announce our collaboration with Service Laboratory Delft ‘SLD’– the Quality Control Laboratory for Food, Feed & Pharma, based on the Biotech Campus Delft.

In 2020, the non-profit organization Planet B.io was established to develop the Biotech Campus Delft (BCD) into an open innovation campus for industrial biotechnology. Planet B.io, founded and financially supported by five partners (DSM, Delft University of Technology, the Municipality of Delft, the Province of South Holland, and InnovationQuarter), has been successful in growing the number of companies on the BCD, and creating a supporting network of experts. Today, Planet B.io is happy to welcome a special, sixth partner to its Supervisory Board. ASR Dutch Science Park Fund and Planet B.io will team up to further develop the Biotech Campus Delft into a world-leading campus focusing on modern biotechnology.

At Nature's Principles, they pioneer the circular production of biobased chemicals by using unique fermentation technologies. The Dutch start-up, that recently became a Planet B.io member, is using open mixed culture biochemical production processes, utilizing unrefined and “waste” streams, with a low-cost, low-maintenance, easy-to-operate, highly scalable method, which can produce valuable chemicals such as lactic acid.

In 2020, DSM NL established the Kickstart Fund to support the ecosystem around Planet B.io and the Biotech Campus Delft. With a total annual budget of 200 k€, the Fund supports activities in three categories:  pre-startup support, startup support and ecosystem support. The funds are coordinated by Planet B.io.  

In March 2023, the VitroTEM team embarked on a tour of several prestigious research institutes across the United States. The purpose of this tour was to showcase their latest innovation, Naiad - an automated system for the fabrication of graphene liquid cells, and to demonstrate its transformative capabilities in facilitating the acquisition of high-resolution TEM images. Some of the institutes visited by the VitroTEM team were Harvard, MIT Nano, the University of Illinois, and The University of Maryland.

The Mibiton Foundation, actively investing in the Dutch Life Sciences business since 1994, is happy to welcome Cindy Gerhardt, Director Planet B.io, as newest member to its board of seasoned industry professionals. In this position, Gerhardt will represent the ‘white’ (industrial) biotechnology.