1. What is the most important experience you have had in the process of taking the idea to the market?
Great ideas often cost a lot of money to bring to the market in the form of products and services. Perhaps our most important experience in this process is that unique ideas needs to be communicated in a way that allows your stakeholders to really see its benefits to society and/or the environment – not just the industry. This has been crucial in the process of taking our ideas all the way to the market. This journey is not necessarily easy, since somewhere along the way, great ideas needs to turn into great products, and the “greatness” of these products needs to be appreciated by the market.
Another important experience we made as a small and relatively young company, is the importance of collaboration. There is only so much a compact team of three persons can do. If you do not have the best prerequisite to complete certain activities, you need to get in touch with those who have.
That’s exactly what we did through our collaborations with research institutes SINTEF and Nofima.
2. Why is the Tromsø region an excellent location for marine biotech startups/companies?
Tromsø is home to some of the world’s most competent scientists within marine biotechnology and we believe that this is the reason why we see so many startups within this industry in Tromsø. The great thing about this is that the high activity within the marine biotech sector brings a lot of great infrastructure like the Tromsø Aquaculture Station and the BioTep facility which have both been essential to us in terms of research and production.
3. Why is it important to be a member in BioTech North?
The only way to efficiently benefit from the knowledge on marine biotech that exists in the region, is to frequently interact with these people.
Because of the high number of biotech startups in the region, it is not always easy to get an overview of what all these organizations do, and more importantly – what they know. BioTech North’s work of congregating these organizations and coordinating them within an innovation cluster makes it a lot easier for to establish the right kind of relationships. The activities and services that BioTech North offers also allows us to nurture these relationships, while at the same time develop ourselves professionally and as an organization.
4. What are your ambitions for the future?
Our ambition is continuing to be pioneers within development of artificial fish baits, and to be the “spearhead” in obsoleting the non-sustainable use of seafood as fish baits. In doing so, we aim to play our part in 100% utilization of marine by-products and contribute to the propulsion of the blue economy.
