BioRegioN - Biotechnology Lower Saxony

BioRegioN GmbH: "Life Sciences to business"

The 2002 established company BioRegioN GmbH is a professional provider of management and marketing support for biotech companies. Our goal is to promote start-ups and to build up a fund of seed capital.

It is often the case that entrepreneurs and successors to existing businesses need capital to turn ideas into products. This is where participatory finance can fill a gap. Participatory finance is equity which investors willing to take a risk (e.g. private persons, companies or holding companies) invest in a company in return for stock.The BONUS! Participation campaign, organised for companies and start-ups in Lower Saxony, offers help in the form of tailored coaching programme. The coaching specifications for life science coaching includes for example support in drafting business plans, help in putting together presentations for investment brokers, banks, equity investment companies and for example job centres. The coach helps when drafting a finance plan, in preparing for and possibly even during meetings with banks, and in preparing for and attending negotiations with investors. The key factor in all coaching activities is the experience and the contacts of the coach. The general manager of BioRegioN GmbH, Dr. Albrecht Läufer, and the company’s shareholder, Dr. Herbert Stadler, are both listed in the BONUS! Coaching Programme.

BioRegioN GmbH powers a network of more than 400 partners from commerce and industry, the scientific community, the administrative field, the banking industry, associations, and other institutions that actively contribute to the development of biotechnology in Lower Saxony. Our network partners are working in the following areas:

• Biomedicine / Genome Research
  
• Biochemical Engineering
  
• Marine Biotechnology
  
• Plant Biotechnology
  
• Environmental Biotechnology

As a particular locational advantage, the BioRegioN has a distinctive and first-rate research and academic scene (universities, colleges, Max Planck institutes, Fraunhofer institutes, the BBA, the GBF etc.) at its disposal.

Since 1996 more than 80 biotech enterprises have been founded in Lower Saxony, 50 cutting-edge projects initiated, and well over 700 job opportunities created. In all, there are 200 companies active in the life sciences in Lower Saxony.

In May of 2001 Lower Saxony was among the three winners of the BioProfile competition initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As a result, BioProfile "Functional Genome Analysis", will receive 15 million Euros in project support funding from this ministry. The purpose of BioProfil is to provide systematic support for the development of products, methods and services up to the point of their clinical application, in the areas of infection biology, neurobiology and stem cell biology.

The purpose of BioRegioN GmbH is to consolidate and further develop Lower Saxony’s position as a biotech location with diverse and world-known scientific facilities and to strengthen its ability to compete in this very important field of opportunity.

Press releases

Further Information: www.bioregion.de/