For Startups
Market research & launching customers
Many startups fail prematurely. The main reasons for this are a lack of knowledge of the market in which the start-up operates, and too late to seek feedback in the market (Harvard Business Review, May 2021). Based on specific and in-depth knowledge of agriculture and horticulture, Innova Connect supports startups on exactly these points. Innova Connect provides insight into the market, who its potential customers are, and what their needs are. Innova Connect thus contributes to a sharpened proposition and a deeper insight into the added value of your product, technology or service. In addition, Innova Connect can provide a trusted introduction to launching customers.
>> Reference projecs:
Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies
Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies (AST) is an American startup engaged in the development, production, and marketing of new strains of Trichoderma spp. For this company, we have investigated the marketing possibilities of these strains and we have mapped out how and with which commercial claims these strains can be admitted to the European market.
For Startups
Tailored innovation support
Many startups are based on a groundbreaking new idea that can change the world. But for the time being, as a startup you still operate in the ‘old’, unchanged world. And there you run into regulations that are not tailored to your innovation and important stakeholders who do not understand what you are doing. Innova Connect offers a scan that shows how your innovation would relate to the regulations. If necessary, we can start a lobby to change restrictive regulations. And we support you in your communication with important stakeholders.
>> Reference projects:
Strategy session VitalFluid
VitalFluid – a spin-off from the Eindhoven University of Technology – has developed technology to bring air into the plasma phase and immediately dissolve it in water. This water then briefly acquires special properties, which are related to the unstable nitrogen compounds that are present in the water for a short time. After some time a solution of nitrate in water remains. The technology has potential applications in a variety of sectors, from healthcare to agriculture. Applications in agriculture and horticulture range from seed treatment and crop protection to applications as a biostimulant and a fertilizer. The crop protection market in particular is highly regulated in Europe. However, these regulations are tailored to the marketing of a particular substance. How the regulations relate to a device that gives water short-term biocidal effects is quite complex. To gain more insight into this, and to avoid a stalemate with regard to the regulations, Innova Connect organized a strategy session for VitalFluid at the end of 2019. Various experts from the Netherlands and abroad took part in the strategy session. At the end of the day, a strategy outline had been developed that guided the next steps.
