DI Bio

The power of good bacteria… and the power of female founders! 💪   Hello world, meet Anja and Rikke.   For anybody not knowing them, you soon will. Anja and Rikke are traveling to all corners of Denmark and abroad with a simple, yet powerful message:   We need more bacteria. Much more in fact, as bacteria hold the key to life.   More down to earth, good bacteria are responsible for keeping us humans healthy while safeguarding a lot of our foods. Think yoghurt and cheese. Every time we remove the good bacteria from our environment with unnecessary chemistry, we give the ugly bacteria a chance to thrive.   We need to change that, and that’s why Anja and Rikke have perfected a range of household care products based on probiotics, thus boosting the good bacteria in our life, while keeping the ugly ones at bay.   Perfect, right?   But wait, just as in 1990s TV Shop, there’s more. Both of the founders are female and this showcases just how diverse the biosolutions sector is.   Female founders are leading the biorevolution, and we are honored to work close with entrepreneurs as Anja and Rikke.   The biorevolution is just getting started, so let’s get down and dirty with the bacteria. 🦠

Taking your startup from garage to global?   We are here for you. 💚   Alex here is one of our best friends at the House of Industry.   In fact, we also hope that Alex will become one of *your* best friends, if you have the ambition of taking your startup from garage to global corporation.   Together with DI Startup and Kost Studio, DI Bio is hosting a startup mashup for all innovative food entrepreneurs on Monday 4 November focusing on how you can scale up your business.   Denmark is home to one of the most innovative biosolutions communities in the world, fueled by great insights and sharp minds of academia, organizations, and entrepreneurs.   What we need to succeed is capital. Lots and lots of capital. And Danish Industry is here to show you the way.   While our event on Monday is full, do sign up for the waiting list and to receive more news – and if you need any advice on how to scale up your startup, Alex and Mikael are here to help you 1:1. https://lnkd.in/dh9qY5ub With your help, we want to take the House of Industry to the House of Startups. See you on Monday, gals and guys. 🚀

“Backpack for the first day of school” 🎒   Simple, but brilliant innovation of BioMason.   Earlier this autumn, Sofie Carsten Nielsen and Mikael Wraae Valsted had the pleasure of visiting Biomason in Jutland.   Concrete is responsible for 8 % of global CO2 emissions, and we continue to use it for construction and infrastructure, simply because we don’t have an alternative.   Our hosts are on a mission to change that.   Inspired by nature, Biomason uses biology to build calcium carbonate biocement. Enzymatic processes from microorganisms replace the need for high energy, eliminating direct emissions.   This is taking place in Bording onsite at IBF A/S (which also deserves a standing applause for embracing innovation), being the world’s first biocement factory. That is, Denmark is also here leading the biorevolution.   At the moment, BioMason can cut CO2e emissions by approx. 60 % with their technology and aiming for 80 % reductions at full-scale production, while being cost-competitive.   And the ingenuity of the technology is plainly that they have found a microorganism that sequesters carbon, receiving a backpack of nutrients to start their first day of school building the biocement.   That’s the beauty of biology. Let’s heavily invest in mimicking nature in their solutions, where they have a head start of hundreds of millions of years.   Thank you Morten and your amazing team for the tour! 🙏

VIP treatment to launch your next big innovation. Sounds nice, right? 😉   It’s your lucky day then.    The Danish government has just unveiled their initiative to make Danish production great again.    This could be a game changer in ensuring high-paying, green industrial jobs being located in Denmark, while advancing the biorevolutions. And the tools to achieve that are concretely:   ✅ Red carpet treatment for any green production in Denmark, including biosolutions   ✅ Designation of industrial zones to gain easier access to infrastructure and utilities   Simple, yet effective, right?    Then let’s do ours to support this policy change and congratulate the Minister of Business Affairs Morten Bødskov for this valuable proposal.    Yes, the government listens, and yes, your voice matters. Make it heard. DI Bio is here for you. 🌱

GEFION TO ADVANCE THE BIOREVOLUTION ... and the two kings started it all 👑 Yesterday was a massive day for the Danish biosolutions sector. As it has escaped no one's notice, the Novo Nordisk Foundation had invited CEO Jensen Huang of NVIDIA and H.M. King Frederik X to open one of the world's most powerful AI supercomputers, Gefion. At the same time, DTU Biosustain could break the news of being selected in using the supercomputer as one of the first research institutions, advancing the biorevolution. That's the power of the Danish biosolutions ecosystem - and it's massively good news for all of us. Concretely, Carlos G. Acevedo-Rocha of Biosustain is co-leading a groundbreaking project alongside Tejs Vegge from DTU Energy. Together, they will leverage Gefion’s extraordinary computing power to map enzyme dynamics and develop enzymes that can convert CO2 into sustainable fuels and chemicals—a crucial step in fighting climate change. Well done, DTU Biosustain for your ambitions and turning the AI revolution into discoveries to better the world with biology. "My friends, you bow to no one." 👏

AERBIO IS GOING TO REVOLUTIONZE FEEDS   And we’re proud to support them 👏   Today, on the cover of Børsen, Aerbio is presenting their business plans to revolutionize the production of feedstock.   Aerbio will quite simply turn CO2 and hydrogen into first feeds and later foods only by the magic of microorganisms (and some sharp minds from the world’s leading universities, of course). Yes, you read that right. In the future, CO2 will become a resource and not a waste product.   DI Bio is especially proud to support them, as they have decided to relocate from Holland and the UK to Denmark. While Denmark is in a global competition within biosolutions, we are still one of the leading hubs – and we need to keep it that way.   So how come Aerbio chose Denmark? That’s because we have:   ✅ Access to some of the sharpest minds in the world within biosolutions   ✅ A thriving community pioneered by not least DTU, University of Copenhagen, BII, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation   ✅ Competitive personal tax codes for researchers (but unfortunately, that’s a temporary solution, which we will need to look into)   Welcome to Aerbio in Denmark, and a huge congratulations to all of us for selecting the Danish hub. This shows the future solutions can be developed and produced in Denmark – but we need the government and the EU to do whatever we can to support them. Thank you Peter Rowe and Kaspar Kristiansen for letting us being part of your journey.

GRASS IS (STILL) THE NEW GOLD   And sports fans know this 😉   Denmark is the world's leader in developing grass for turf and forage. When global tournaments in soccer, tennis and golf are being held, it’s on Danish grass.   80 % of the global production of seeds is actually taking place on Danish turf (pun intended). Talk about a green revolution just before our eyes.   So what makes Denmark the perfect country for harnessing nature’s own variation?   For one, we are lucky to support a global leader as DLF with one of their research sites located in Store Heddinge, spearheading innovation.   DLF has invested massive resources in better the world with biology, for example by pioneering:   ✅ Up to 60 % reduction of nitrogen drainage with a new line of forage   ✅ Up to 40 % reduction of methane from cattle grazing on their forage   We need to support these breakthroughs, which are simply - in all their beauty - nature-based biosolutions.   Thank you Derek Bartlem, Geraldine Lin Bagger and Klaus K. Nielsen for your time and for the tour. We are still blown away by your commitment to a greener world. 🌱

Want to be the coolest kid on the block? Then we’ve got an offer for you 🤓  Folkemødet is the largest political event in Denmark, and we are now planning for our 2025 edition. Expect at least 100,000 guests over the three days, including MPs and MEPs, civil servants and NGOs, ordinary Danes and everyone in between. Attendance is crucial for any startup and corporation alike, who want to build support for their innovative biosolutions. DI Bio is thus hosting an exclusive webinar on Friday 25 October on how to attend Folkemødet. Our value-add and what to expect: ✅ Webinar in English and especially relevant to expats and internationals ✅ Line Kloster Pedersen of Visibuilt, one amazing startup who won hearts and minds in 2024, will provide insights and advice to any newcomer in 2025 ✅ Søren Skafte Overgaard of FRIDAY is our expert on building a platform and message to your stakeholders Sounds okay, right? We’ve got a spot for you at the cool kids’ table on Friday. Sign up through Mikael. ✌️

The biorevolution is coming … and the Danish government is to brew it now ⚗️   You know how the saying goes:   "The future is already here, it’s just unequally distributed."   The same goes for the biorevolution. We are a long way from living in a completely sustainable society, but we are taking strides to reach it.   Today, the Danish government did exactly that by proposing a new Public Innovation Strategy focusing on biosolutions with three dedicated tracks:   ✅ Testing, Scaling, and Demonstration: 60 million DKK to be allocated for testing and development of new biosolutions, specifically to produce food with a lower climate footprint.   ✅ Faster Paths through EU Regulation: Denmark will lead an enhanced effort to examine whether the current EU regulations for new biosolutions should be updated, improved, and accelerated. DI Bio will be a central part of this initiative.   ✅ Strategic Focus on Biosolutions: In addition to the above initiatives, 54 million DKK will be allocated towards public research in biosolutions in 2025.   It shows that it matters. It matters participating in the public debate. It matters showing up and speaking your interests. That’s what we do at DI Bio – brewing the community and giving you a voice.   Thank you a million to Minister for Higher Education & Science Christina Egelund, to Minister for Business Affairs Morten Bødskov, to Minister for Green Tripartite Jeppe Bruus, and several other ministers for prioritizing a more sustainable, more competitive bioeconomy.   We can’t wait to see the final strategy and to be part of the execution of the strategic initiatives. For a more competitive, resilient economy. 🚀

"The McDonald's of biosolutions" No, we were not talking about burgers 🍔 Today was yet another great day for the biosolutions sector. Together with Sofie of the European Biosolutions Coalition, Mikael had the honor of hosting our first - but definitely not last - mini-conference on AI x Biosolutions. AI and robotics have reached a tipping point, and if we harness their powers correctly, can deliver the next frontier of the biorevolution. That's why we invited the community to a mashup with three industry leaders, everyone of them making a compelling case: ✔️ Thanks to Jim from Reshape Biotech for setting the stage, and for making the all-too-true comparison that what the biotech community has at hand is a Nokia, but we need the iPhone to deliver on the green transition (Sorry, Finland - we loved our Nokias). ✔️ Thanks to Henrik from amass for showing quite concretely that research, which before took weeks or months, can now be done in just minutes with AI tools. ✔️ And thanks to Sune from Universal Robots for underlining that Denmark is also (!) the market leader within cobots, just like in biosolutions, and that the marriage of robotics and biosolutions is a match made in heaven. The session ended with MP Linea Søgaard-Lidell providing perspectives on the European biosolutions sector. The ambition from Linea was clear: We need to use all the openings of the new Commission to level the playing field for innovative biosolutions across the board. The snacks were provided by Ida Speyer of Tæmpeh (Foodture), which we are honored as having as members at the House of Industry. You gals and guys are industry leaders in your own right. And the McDonald's comment? That was a brilliant statement by Jim, refering back to a nay-sayer in the community. So that's exactly what Reshape is aiming for - turning the R&D departments of biotech companies into McDonald's restaurants. With that: Onwards and upwards! 🚀