Study Visit and Scale-Up Workshop @ Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Belgium
December 2
Free
Agenda
| 8:00 | DEPARTURE shuttle bus at Brussels Airport |
| 9:00 – 10:35 | STUDY VISIT to the BIO BASE EUROPE PILOT PLANT |
| 9:00 – 9:10 | Welcome By Wim Soetaert, CEO, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 9:10 – 9:40 | Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant: Scale-up and so much more! By Speaker TBC, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 9:40 – 9:50 | Q&A |
| 9:50 – 10:35 | Seeing is believing: Guided tour of the facilities By multiple guides |
| 10:35 – 11:00 | Networking Coffee Break |
| 11:00 – 15:00 | SCALE-UP WORKSHOP: WIN the SCALE-UP CHALLENGE: BUILDING EFFICIENT, SCALABLE and ECONOMICALLY VIABLE BIOPROCESSES |
| 11:00 – 11:05 | Introduction: Framing the aim and content of the workshop By Hendrik Waegeman, Head of Business operations, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 11:05 – 12:10 | SCALE-UP WORKSHOP – PART 1: WIN the SCALE-UP CHALLENGE: BEGIN with the END IN MIND What do I want to achieve? When is the right time to scale-up? How should I set my priorities? What should I be prepared for when starting to talk to investors? How do I align my fundraising? |
| 11:05 – 11:15 | Why do I need an external expert view on my process? By Alex Patist, COO Arzeda & Paebble |
| 11:15 – 11:23 | Help, where do I start? Introducing the Scale-Up Accelerator Network (SAN) By Esthèle Goure, SAN Responsible, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 11:23 – 11:32 | Supercharge growth through strategic fundraising By Katelijne Bekers, Co-Founder & CEO, MicroHarvest, TBC |
| 11:32 – 11:40 | The Investors POV By Joy Faucher, Forbion Bioeconomy, TBC |
| 11:40 – 12:10 | Panel discussion / Q&A moderated by Hendrik Waegeman, Head of Business operations, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 12:00 – 12:50 | SCALE-UP WORKSHOP – PART 2: WIN the SCALE-UP CHALLENGE: I HATE to BURST your BUBBLE, BUT the ECONOMICS WILL NEVER WORK |
| 12:00 – 12:10 | Why you need to think of TEA early on By Koen Clymans, Owner & Director, UR Bright Side |
| 12:10 – 12:18 | TEA across TRL scales, from early development to installation design choices: The R&D POV By Fernanda Thimoteo, PhD Candidate, Project Manager, BBEPP |
| 12:18 – 12:26 | TEA across TRL scales, from early development to installation design choices: The Engineering POV By Iancu Avram, Project Manager, BBEPP |
| 12:26 – 12:50 | Panel discussion / Q&A moderated by Hendrik Waegeman, Head of Business operations, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 12:50 – 13:30 | NETWORKING LUNCH |
| 13:30 – 14:45 | SCALE-UP WORKSHOP – PART 3: WIN the SCALE-UP CHALLENGE: DEMOCRATIZING BIOSOLUTIONS: FROM NICHE TO COMMODITY |
| 13:30 – 13:38 | Cost advantaged fermentation with DAB.bio technology By Eric van der Meer, CEO, DAB.bio |
| 13:38 – 13:46 | The future of AI in biomanufacturing By Diogo Pinto & Alexander Verschraegen, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 13:46 – 13:54 | Smart sensors for autonomous and decentralized follow-up of fermentation processes: the first results! By Amir Atabaki, Co-Founder & CEO, Perceptra, TBC |
| 13:54 – 14:02 | Ready-to-Use starter cultures for scalable and reliable biomanufacturing: the first results! By Troels Prahl, Co-Founder & CEO, Swan Neck Bio, TBC |
| 14:02 – 14:10 | Sequential fed-batch method By Semiramis Yilmaz, Researcher, VIB, TBC |
| 14:10 – 14:18 | From niche to commodity By Will Van den Tweel, COO/CTO, Those Vegan Cowboys |
| 14:18 – 14:45 | Panel discussion / Q&A moderated by Hendrik Waegeman, Head of Business operations, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant |
| 14:45 – 14:50 | CLOSING |
| 15:00 | DEPARTURE shuttle bus for Brussels Airport |
| 16:00 | ARRIVAL at Brussels Airport |
Registration & Practical Information
Target audience
All bioeconomy stakeholders, where possible with a focus on BioInnovators (Technology Owners).
Registration
Via the online registration form for Pitch Perfect and Boost the European Bioeconomy 2026.
!! The number of participants for the Scale-Up Experience Day @ Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant is limited to 150. Upon registration you can indicate your expression of interest to participate, your participation will be confirmed ASAP!!!
More information & Accommodation
Free shuttle bus
A shuttle bus will depart from Holiday Inn Express and at Sheraton Brussels Airport at 8 am sharp on Wednesday December 2nd, 2026 and will be back at Brussels Airport around 4 pm.
Please, contact: Katrien Molders at katrien.molders@bbeu.org.
