Delft is known for being a hub for innovative start-up companies, many of which spin-off from TU Delft. One such company is Delft Advanced Biorenewables (DAB), a biotechnology company which recently competed in the BE-Basic Business and Innovation Centre (BE-BIC) Action Lab competition, alongside four other teams of researchers.
The Action Lab competition was a chance for these five teams to develop and work on business plans for their technology, with the guidance of BE-BIC coaches from June until September of 2015. In the award ceremony held September 18, Radix Botanicals, a team from Wageningen University received first prize and 20,000 euros for their product pitch. Incentive prizes were also given to MicroLife Solutions from Amsterdam, and DAB, located here at TU Delft.
The team consisted of three people, Dr. Kirsten Steinbusch, TU Delft biotechnology PhD candidate Susana Pedraza de la Cuesta, and Edmee van Dijk. They presented a business plan for DAB’s rector concept to recover oil from fermentation at a lower cost, providing more product for a lower price. Dr. Steinbusch, Managing Director at DAB, emphasised how the competition helped the team refine their business model. While they already had an idea of who their consumers would be, Action Lab gave them a more “concise, realistic idea of what to do in order to sell your product.”
Dr. Steinbusch told Delta that the team’s success was a great indication that they are on the right track and received an excellent review on the business proposition and technology . She added that the financial support is welcome so they can move on and accelerate their business.
The intention is for the winning teams to further develop their business plans, ultimately presenting an update in 2016 at the ECO-BIO conference. Dr. Steinbusch affirmed that programs like Action Lab are absolutely valuable to small start-ups like DAB, and hopes with their refined business plan to move on to the next stage of up-scaling their innovation.
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