Corbiota accepted for Scale-up.NRW acceleration program
Corbiota selected as one of 11 startups in NRW for program of the Ministry of Economy, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy Corbiota is the fourth successful spin-off from Chemovator, the business incubator of BASF SE
Corbiota GmbH has been accepted into the Scale-up.NRW program. This places the former venture of Chemovator, the business incubator of BASF, among the top 11 startups in North Rhine-Westphalia.Scale-up.NRW was not only commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, but is also closely supported by it.
For Corbiota, a producer of sustainable livestock feed solutions for increasing productivity, animal health and welfare, the admission to the program is an important milestone on the way to internationalization. After all, the aim of Scale-up.NRW is to support high-growth Scale Ups in addressing the special requirements of rapid and international scaling.
Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur: «Our program is designed to continue to support the successful founders and to help them develop their full potential. The success of Scale-up.NRW illustrates the innovative strength of our startup scene, from which North Rhine-Westphalia as a location for startups also benefits. These success stories are role models and encourage young talents to become founders as well. I am very excited to follow the development of the teams in the upcoming 18 months.»
From the 77 applications submitted, a selection of around 30 startups was firstly invited to in-depth interviews. Subsequently, a jury and the program management decided on the final 11 startups of the second cohort. «For Corbiota, this is not only another milestone in our sales-driven scaling, but also recognition for our scientific work and the establishment of professional structures in recent months,» says Julia Rohde, CEO of Corbiota.
The company from Düsseldorf was established on August 15, 2022, after the idea had been developed in the intrapreneurship program of BASF. Chemovator offers the opportunity to test business ideas and develop them until market readiness, with the aim of spinning them off subsequently. Markus Bold, Managing Director of Chemovator, says: «As an initial investor, it is a pleasure to see that Corbiota as a young startup receives support from another strong organization. The acceptance into the Scale-up.NRW program will enable Corbiota to accelerate the delivery of a powerful innovative tool to customers leading livestock breeding into the future.» Both, Chemovator and BASF, continue to have close ties with Corbiota as a shareholder, reflected in high-profile members of the supervisory board.
Joining Scale.up.NRW marks the continuation of a positive development
In addition to positive research results and the establishment of professional structures, the past months have been an exciting as well as successful journey for Corbiota GmbH. The approach of a CO2-neutral, automated production has attracted significant interest, especially internationally. Winning the startup award AGRI FOOD’Ture Challenge in Dijon last fall, the invitation of the economic development agency IOWA for talks with the aim to win a partner for market entry in the USA, as well as the opportunity to present Corbiota at the event InvestMidwest in front of the 20 major VCs in the USA are exemplary for this. Promising contacts in other countries such as the UK, Hungary, Austria and Denmark have already been established. In Germany, Scale.up.NRW is the second prominent program Corbiota has successfully participated in. Recently, for instance, the company was approved for the industrial Bioeconomy funding program. To drive organic growth in 2023, the next step for the feed producer is to expand its sales team. Thus, Corbiota plans to hire more than 10 additional permanent employees during the year. Right now, there is a job opening in the Customer Service department. Thanks to its inclusion in the Scale-up.NRW network, Corbiota can be expected to achieve this and other goals.
About Corbiota GmbH
Corbiota aims to create a more sustainable modern farming by providing young animals with natural and animal-friendly nutrition. Feeding young animals with Corbiota’s earthworms strengthens their eubiosis, the natural balance of microorganisms in their gut and immune system and triggers their natural instincts. They grow up stronger, healthier and more resistant towards diseases, reducing the need for antibiotics treatment — one of the biggest global challenges in today’s farming. In addition it has a positive financial impact on fatteners of conventional livestock production . Corbiota started in 2019 as a venture of Chemovator GmbH, the business incubator of BASF, and was established as an independent company in 2022. Corbiota GmbH is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.
For more information, please visit: www.corbiota.com
About Chemovator GmbH
Chemovator is the business incubator of BASF — available for all BASF employees with innovative ideas around chemistry. Complementary to the existing innovation landscape of BASF, Chemovator offers a protected space to test new business ideas, products or innovative services and turn them into investable and scalable business models.
The wholly-owned group company within BASF SE was founded in 2018 and is located in Mannheim. Here, Chemovator offers an unconventional startup environment with plenty of space for creativity. From early validation to successful commercialization, all Venture Teams receive support from experienced entrepreneurs and investors, who have built startups and new businesses from scratch. Their support ranks from coaching over mentoring to providing extended network opportunities.
