News

Over the past year, Planet B.io has supported a diverse group of innovative companies through the Kansen voor West vouchers. These vouchers are designed to help entrepreneurs take the next step in developing and scaling sustainable bio-based and food innovations by providing targeted support for advisory services, process optimisation, and establishment.

It’s been a year since Planet B.io’s Let’s Talk Bio Scale-Up event brought together leading scale-up experts, and the journey continues. We sat down with Stef Denayer, Stakeholder Relations Manager at Pilots4U, to explore how the platform has been renewed, what it now offers innovators across Europe, and how it helps connect them with open-access pilot and demo facilities to accelerate their path from idea to market. From a rebuilt digital platform to on-site study visits and travel vouchers for pilot plant engagement, discover the latest developments in Europe’s infrastructure for scaling biobased innovation.

Finding the right talent is a common challenge for biotech start-ups and scale-ups. While researchers are essential, hands-on laboratory technicians often make the real difference in day-to-day lab work. In this article, Rianne Veldt-Meijer from MBO Rijnland explains how MBO students gain research experience, where they add value for biotech companies, and why they may be the practical edge your lab needs.

Gianmarco Marino and Fer Klinckhamers (Plant One Delft BV) share last year’s improvements and about their hidden treasure. 

Martijn Bekker, expertise leader microbial cell factories, from the Wageningen Food & Biobased Research (WFBR), shares his 2025 improvements and is confident that the use of optical spectroscopy will mean a new way of working for industrial fermentation processes within the next few years. 

Mickel Jansen, Principal Scientist BioProcess Development of dsm-firmenich, shares last year’s improvements and reflects on scaling, innovation, and keeping the end in mind.

Robyn Eijlander, Science Innovation Manager and Program Manager at NIZO and BFF, shares last year’s improvements and shows off a nice bracelet.

Europe has the talent and ideas to lead the protein transition, but turning these into economic impact remains a challenge. On October 8–9, Planet B.io joined partners across Europe at NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam to kick off the EU-funded APROVALS program, launch the Invest-NL framework on Novel Foods and hear the latest updates from Cellular Agriculture Netherlands and other players from the Dutch future food ecosystem.

Hendrik Waegeman, head of business operations from Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, shares last year’s improvements and makes a comparison between a fermentor and a dinosaur