NNFCC is involved
in two innovation support schemes, SuperBIO and BioBase4SME. With both projects
reaching halfway point, we thought we
would take this opportunity to
highlight the differences between the two sister projects, especially as two new services in the IB
field are available on the SuperBIO project.
Please find below
the full list of services differentiated by project. Do not forget, through those two
programs, SMEs in Europe can contract services from professional providers at cost
prices, a significant reduction on commercial rates. Furthermore, the projects
are pre-funded by the EU, meaning the SME only pays a fraction of the cost of
the project:
- € 100,000 projects are available via BioBase4SME (with a co-financing share in cash of max. 50% from the SME) and
- € 60,000 projects are available via SuperBIO (with a co-financing share in cash of max. 25% from the SME).
The following services are available in both projects:
- Bioprocess scale-up at BioBase Europe Pilot Plant in Ghent, BE
- e.g. microbial biotechnology, enzymatic catalysis, lignocellulose hydrolysis, downstream separation and processing
- Techno-economic evaluation and technology landscape analysis (NNFCC, nova Institute)
- e.g. examining the cost of each process step at large scale in comparison to the target selling price
- Market research (NNFCC, nova Institute, BCNP)
- e.g. how many people would potentially buy the product, who is the [potential] competition, who has tried to do this before [and why did they fail], what barriers are there to customer uptake?
- Value chain/ feedstock availability analysis (nova Institute)
- e.g. how much feedstock is available, how much would transport cost, how will this change in the future?
- Sustainability and/or regulatory appraisal (NNFCC)
- e.g. identification of regulatory hurdles, government incentives as well as sustainability issues (i.e. GHG emissions and land use criteria for biofuels)
- LCA (nova Institute)
- e.g. analysis of the environmental impact of raw material production, product distribution, product use and product disposal
- Business planning (or business plan review) (NNFCC, BCNP)
- e.g. helping to refine a business plan
The following services are only available in SuperBIO:
- IB processes scale-up and screening at Toulouse White Biotechnology, FR *NEW*
- high throughput strain engineering facilities (incl. plasmid libraries construction, high throughput microbial strain transformation, genome and strain engineering, site-directed mutagenesis, colony picking and high throughput genetic and phenotypic screening)
- INRA's unique facilities enable high-throughput workflows combining over
the whole development cycle.
- Rapid fermentation process optimisation using multiplexed reactors. These can directly feed into further industrial upscaling efforts at BBEPP as part of the SuperBIO project.
- The Polish Technology Platform of Bioeconomy, PL *NEW*
- enzyme production and characterization at lab scale,
- microbial and enzymatic analysis,
- functional screening of microorganisms and fermentation process optimization at lab scale.
- Access to investors (BCNP)
- Subsidy and grant strategy (Biotech Subsidy)
- Innovation capture and patent filing (Gill Jennings & Every)
The following services are only available in BioBase4SME:
- Application testing (REWIN)
- Specifically, testing colourants, bioplastics and fibres (e.g. for packaging applications)
- Mentoring on social acceptance (AC3A)
- e.g. acceptance from local residents when building a plant, or acceptance from any other stakeholders who could potentially block a project.
The types of EU
funding streams that these projects come under is different, which affects the
implementation of the projects slightly.
- SuperBIO is funded by Horizon2020’s “cluster facilitated projects for new value chains” and therefore the focus is on creating or supporting cross-border value chains. This means that every SME that applies for a coupon must participate to the creation of a cross-border value chain. It typically takes at max. 3 months from applying for a voucher to someone starting work on a voucher.
- BioBase4SME is funded by Interreg North West Europe under the priority “to enhance innovation performance of enterprises throughout NWE regions”. Here, there is no need for a cross-border value chain. As a result, the turnover for BioBase4SME projects is faster, with work typically starting a month after applying for a voucher.