Genopole, France’s leading biocluster for biotechnologies and genomics, continues to innovate with the launch of Protopia, a new, advanced prototyping platform aimed at transforming R&D in biotech sectors. Protopia will be a resounding next-step in support for innovative biotech start-ups and businesses. It aims to accelerate project upscaling and preindustrialization while also empowering interdisciplinary partnerships.
Protopia: An integrated scientific environment
A distinguishing feature of Protopia is its integration of a multitude of scientific disciplines under one roof.
It combines:
- a cell culture laboratory: for the manipulation and study of living cells, which are essential tools for cell-therapy development, biomaterials research and preclinical trials.
- a biochemistry and microbiology laboratory: which will enable the analysis and characterization of chemical and biological compounds and prototyping capacities for innovations ranging from bioprocesses to the production of bio-ingredients.
- an ingredients elaboration and analysis laboratory: conceived to support the development of innovative ingredients in such domains as biochemistry, health or food & agriculture.
The integrated infrastructure gives companies access to a complete range of tools and services to successfully carry out prototyping projects in an environment that encourages partnerships between scientific and technical disciplines. With the emergence of such leaders as Gourmey, Algama, Nutropy, Standing Ovation and Yeasty. Genopole is positioned to become a reference hub for the alternative proteins sector.
Protopia will bring complete conception-to-upscaling support to foodtech start-ups, including concept validation, the minimum viable product, acceleration and growth.
Protopia: Inter-business synergy and collaboration
Beyond that advantage of integrated science, Protopia will also be a shared-use platform, allowing businesses from different sectors to work together on innovative projects. This resource and expertise mutualization should not only facilitate the R&D of intra-platform entities but also favor inter-entity partnerships.
Whether emerging biotech start-ups or established corporations, all businesses will benefit from Protopia’s shared infrastructures and competencies.
A key element of France 2030
Protopia falls solidly within the France 2030 investment plan, which seeks to strengthen technological innovation with the goal of meeting tomorrow’s economic, environmental and industrial challenges. As part of Genopole’s bioeconomy axis, Protopia will contribute strongly to decarbonizing industry and improving production means, two major aims of the France 2030 national strategy.
The bioeconomy is an approach built upon the sustainable use of biological resources to create products and energy. It is thus a primary contributor to France’s efforts for reducing its carbon footprint. Protopia, with its advanced approach to prototyping, will be a catalyst for innovation in that objective, enabling the development of more sustainable bioprocesses and support for the transition toward a greener economy.
Protopia: Scientific and business accompaniment for start-ups
Another advantage of Protopia Protopia will be its ability to guide newly founded companies on their voyage to innovation. More than a technological infrastructure, Protopia will propose personalized scientific and business accompaniment for start-ups. This assistance will include services for upscaling (the passage from laboratory innovation to volume production) and for pre-industrialization, a crucial phase where numerous projects fail due to a lack of resources or needed competencies.
Protopia intends to address that issue by offering support to biotech start-ups in the pre-commercialization phase so that they can overcome the technological and economic obstacles frequently found on their path forward.
