IN OVO HOLDING BV

Their core work

In Ovo is a Dutch biotech company that develops automated technology to determine the sex of chicken eggs before hatching, eliminating the need to cull billions of male chicks annually. Their core product uses biomarker detection to identify egg gender early in incubation, directly addressing one of the poultry industry's most pressing animal welfare problems. They have progressed from early-stage feasibility through to a commercially scalable automated solution, following the classic SME Instrument pathway from Phase 1 to Phase 2 funding.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In Ovo's trajectory shows a textbook deep-tech scale-up arc. Their early projects (2017-2019) explored foundational capabilities — egg-based bioreactors (EGGR) and hatchery transparency technology (EVE) — suggesting they were still refining their core approach. By 2020, the large InOvotive project (€2.4M SME-2 funding) signals they had locked in on automated egg sexing as their primary commercial product and were scaling toward market deployment.

In Ovo is moving from R&D into commercial-scale deployment of their egg sexing technology, making them a strong candidate for industry partnerships and supply chain integration projects.

How they like to work

In Ovo operates exclusively as a solo coordinator — all three H2020 projects were single-beneficiary SME Instrument grants with zero consortium partners. This is characteristic of a focused product company protecting its core IP while using EU funding to de-risk its own technology development. Potential collaborators should expect a company that knows exactly what it wants and prefers supplier or licensing relationships over open consortium research.

In Ovo has no recorded consortium partners across its H2020 portfolio, as all projects were single-beneficiary SME Instrument grants. Their real collaboration network likely exists through commercial relationships with hatcheries and poultry integrators rather than through EU research consortia.

What sets them apart

In Ovo occupies a rare niche at the intersection of biotech, animal welfare, and industrial poultry production — a space with very few competitors globally. Their progression through all stages of the SME Instrument (Phase 1, business acceleration, and Phase 2) demonstrates both technical viability and commercial readiness validated by EU evaluators. For anyone working on poultry welfare, hatchery technology, or food supply chain ethics, In Ovo is one of the few organizations with a proven, fundable solution.

Highlights from their portfolio

• InOvotive
  Their flagship €2.4M SME-2 project to commercialize automated egg sexing — represents the culmination of their entire H2020 journey and the bulk of their EU funding.
• EGGR
  Explored egg-based bioreactors, revealing broader biotechnology ambitions beyond their core sexing product and hinting at potential platform technology.