Background Constantine on webinar
'Waiting for AgTech to get its own Tesla'
The Dutch food and agri sector must ensure that it does not allow itself to be spoiled by foreign countries in technological innovation. The developments in the so-called AgTech abroad are faster than our country, according to Prince Constantijn van Oranje, ambassador of Techleap, the organization that supports young technology companies in their development. "The leaders in AgTech are in countries such as Israel, France, the United States and Sweden. You would also expect the Netherlands to be in that list, but that is not the case yet."
Constantijn spoke on Tuesday 8 February at the webinar about AgriFood & Biobased ecosystems, which was organized by the venturing team of Royal Cosun† The common thread in this digital meeting with various speakers was how young companies such as start-ups (which are developing an innovative concept and introducing it to the market) and scale-ups (companies that want to introduce their concept broadly in the market) can continue. are assisted in their development. Very important, says Constantine. "Startups are essential for the innovative strength and dynamism of our economy."
Techleap, the organization of which is an ambassador, is fully funded by the government with the aim of strengthening the technology sector in the Netherlands by connecting programmes, companies and organizations, sharing experiences and knowledge and collecting data.
Lots of enthusiasm, few scale-ups
Startups, with their fresh and innovative ideas, can be crucial to initiate change processes in a sector or industry. "Eventually, each sector will have its own Tesla," Constantine said on the webinar, referring to the acceleration that Elon Musk brought to the development of electric cars with the arrival of Tesla. However, many sectors are still waiting for such a groundbreaking innovation that can serve as an accelerator for change processes. The food and agribusiness is one of them, says Constantijn, who emphasizes that he is not fully informed about developments in the sector.
The Techleap ambassador sees few startups and relatively few investments in AgTech compared to other sectors and other countries. "I see a lot of enthusiasm, but there are few young companies that are able to scale up with their innovative concepts." According to him, this has everything to do with the size of the nature of the sector. "The sector is traditional, the financing is traditional. The Netherlands, for example, is large in breeding in horticulture and therefore also has a strong international presence in the markets, but I see little disruption compared to other sectors. There will undoubtedly be some sort of disruption," he said. Constantine.
Staying a leader in innovation
He does see the Netherlands being challenged internationally in AgTech, with Israel, the United States, France and Sweden as front runners. "But in the end, of course, we hope that the most important innovations arise here in the Netherlands and that we can also remain a leader in innovation in AgTech." An innovative technology itself does not change the system, Constantijn emphasizes. The market must also be ready. "It has to be an application that is very accessible. The most sophisticated technology does not always have to catch on in the market. Sometimes you have to downgrade a product slightly to give it wider market access and ultimately adoption." According to him, there is also a lot of innovation in the branding. "The technology of Beyond Meat and De Vegetarische Slager may not be unique, but there is a good marketing device behind it that takes the products further."
Gap between research and expansion
The webinar discussed some practical examples of innovations that are in full development and approaching large-scale market introduction. For example, Cosun sees plenty of prospects for developing vegetable protein ingredients, including from beet leaves. In theory, for example, almost as much protein can be obtained from beet leaves as from 1 hectare of soy, calculated Frank van Noord, VP Innovation at Cosun. There are also advanced plans for a beet pulp biorefinery plant in Groningen, although the final decision within Cosun has yet to be made.
Cosun selectively supports start-ups and scale-ups with knowledge and capital injection. It is also one of the driving forces behind the platform GPEC, which provides advice and assistance to young companies active in the development of vegetable proteins. This is how the startup Time Traveling Milkman presented, a company that develops plant-based dairy substitutes such as cream, powders and fibers from sunflower seeds.
Many promising start-ups have great difficulty taking the step from product development to market introduction. "There is a big gap where the research stops and the private investors come in", is the experience of Constantijn. "Many startups eventually run out of money as the development phase progresses. In order to attract money, they create too high expectations among investors. As a rule, they also give away a lot of control to the financiers while the research is still running. Then you are actually already behind. the facts and the market."
Keeping control is important
It also regularly happens that established concerns adopt or acquire startups in order to introduce the innovations into the market and thus gain market share. However, such steps also have their own risks and challenges, Laura Thissen of startup supervisor said Start life† "Concerns do not always have the same goals as the startups, there can be many challenges to bridge cultural differences. But in the end it can be the fastest way to a successful innovation." Constantine agrees. If established concerns really want to make maximum use of the potential of a startup, cultural changes may be necessary. "Also at CEO level," says Constantijn.
He emphasizes that companies should never see investing in a startup or scale-up as charity or as help. "Entrepreneurs who start a startup are professionals and should be treated as such. Serious entrepreneurs who often invest a lot of time and money in their company." Because as beautiful as technological progress is, Constantijn indicated, "Ultimately, the entrepreneur is decisive in the success of an innovation. He must have a vision, the skills and the perseverance."
Constantijn van Oranje, Frank van Noord and Laura Thissen were participants in the webinar AgriFood & Biobased ecosystems, which was organized on Tuesday 8 February by the venturing team of Royal Cosun† This article is a report of the input and discussion of the participants during the webinar.
Eric the Thrush
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