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Beyond the Lab - Making Europe's biotech ambition real
A breakfast meeting in collaboration with Fraunhofer
A biotech breakfast meeting with science, industry experts, policy makers and investors.
- Date
- 29 September 2026
- Time
- 08:45 to 11:00
- Venue
- Philantropy house
- City
- Brussels
Expert breakfast meeting
Europe is a powerhouse in emerging biotechnologies, including food and feed biomanufacturing. Fermentation, complementary protein production, bio-based inputs: we have it all. The question is whether we keep it and scale it, or whether China takes over leadership in these critical technologies while Europe continues to do the incubating.
Speakers
- Andrea Büttner Executive Director, Fraunhofer IVV
- Volker Sieber Chair of Chemistry of BiogenicResources, TUM
- Anna Handschuh Managing Director & Founder,Ministry of Future Affairs
- Nicolas Krink Programme Lead Entrepreneurshipand Biotech Coordination, SPRIND
- Josi Buerger Head of Innovation, Cell Nutrition, Nutreco
Biotech for Resilience and Food Security
In collaboration with UnternehmerTUM, PIVOT
Food biomanufacturing and biotech is critical to security. This closed-door gathering brings together founders, investors and industrial partners operating in Europe's agrifood ecosystem as an official side event of the Munich Security Conference.
- Date
- 13 February 2026
- Venue
- BayWa
- City
- Munich
Agrifood side event - Munich Security Conference 2026
Europe's food systems are under increasing pressure. Geopolitical instability, climate change and fragile supply chains all threaten food security and strategic autonomy. Meanwhile, the deployment of critical biotech innovations is hindered by lengthy and unpredictable regulatory approval processes.
From novel foods to precision fermentation and climate-resilient crops, advances in biotechnology offer a strategic opportunity to strengthen Europe's resilience, accelerate decarbonisation and secure long-term food sovereignty. However, the reality is different. China is massively accelerating its investments in the bioeconomy while the EU is stuck in regulatory pathways, making it hard to invest.
The time to act is now. What role can biotechnology play in securing Europe's food systems and strategic autonomy, and what's at stake for strategic autonomy, resilience, and security?
Panellists
- Prof (ret.) Dr Rune Linding NATO Diana Accelerator
- Pascal Canfin Member of European Parliament, Renew (tbc)
- Arttu Lukkanen Senior Vice President Space & Defence, Solar Foods
- Jasmin Dold Technical Lead, BiGuPro
- Marie Wennergren AgroFood Lead DACH, Astanor Ventures
Closing the Food Innovation Gap! Policy roundtable and launch framework report for a pan-European regulatory sandbox for complementary proteins
With Members of European Parliament, Industry and Investors.
- Date
- 12 November 2025
- Venue
- European Parliament
- City
- Brussels
Policy roundtable
Members of European Parliament, Hildegard Bentele, Pascal Canfin, Eero Heinäluoma hosted this Ministry of Future Affairs roundtable together with Investors, Industry and Innovators and the framework report on a pan-European regulatory sandbox for novel foods was presented.
Speakers
- MEP Hildegard Bentele
- MEP Pascal Canfin
- MEP Eero Heinäluoma
- Frederieke Reiners GEA
- Juha-Pekka Pitkänen Solar Foods
- Melody Violton Investor, F-Capital
- Marie Wennergren Investor, Astanor
- Victor Meijer Investor, Invest-NL
