Imagine thousands of EU-funded research teams working on better farming, food, forestry, and biotech — but most of their results never reach the companies that could actually use them. CommBeBiz built a structured matchmaking program that takes those research results, packages them into business-friendly catalogues, and connects them directly with industry. Think of it as a dating app between bioeconomy scientists and the businesses that need their innovations. They ran the full program as a pilot across 5 bioeconomy segments and published a reusable blueprint so others can replicate it.
Most EU-funded bioeconomy research never reaches the companies that could turn it into products, jobs, and environmental benefits. Researchers lack business skills and industry contacts, while companies in agriculture, food, forestry, and biotech don't know what's available from publicly funded projects. The result is billions in research investment with slow commercial uptake.
CommBeBiz delivered a tested pilot scheme (BeBizPilotPlan) with assessment, mentoring, and tailored support for bioeconomy research teams. Concrete outputs include a contact list of 100 top bioeconomy industry targets (20 per segment), 3 annual Innovation Catalogues featuring 12-20 business-ready case studies each, and the BeBizBlueprint documenting the full replicable methodology.
If you are an agri-food SME struggling to find research partners for your next product line — CommBeBiz developed a pilot program that screened EU-funded bioeconomy projects across 5 segments and packaged the best 12-20 per year into Innovation Catalogues with business-ready case studies. Their contact list of 100 bioeconomy industry targets provides a ready-made network for collaboration.
If you are a bio-materials company looking for commercially viable research from EU projects — CommBeBiz created Innovation Catalogues covering forestry and biotechnology segments specifically. Their tested methodology for assessing, mentoring, and fast-tracking research to commercial readiness was evaluated across a 3-year pilot with 4 consortium partners in 3 countries.
If you are an innovation intermediary tasked with connecting research to business but lack a repeatable method — CommBeBiz published the BeBizBlueprint documenting their full pilot scheme, including assessment tools, networking formats, mentoring approaches, and training modules. The methodology was tested with real projects and 100 industry targets across agriculture, fisheries, food, forestry, and biotechnology.
CommBeBiz was a publicly funded Coordination and Support Action with EUR 1,672,591 in EU funding. The Innovation Catalogues and BeBizBlueprint were published as project outputs. Based on available project data, there is no indication of licensing fees — the methodology was designed for replication and wider adoption.
The pilot was specifically designed for 5 bioeconomy segments: agriculture, fisheries, food, forestry, and biotechnology. The BeBizBlueprint documents the full methodology for replication. Based on available project data, the approach of assessment, networking, mentoring, and tailored support could be adapted to other research-to-business domains.
As a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), CommBeBiz produced methodology and publications rather than patentable technology. The Innovation Catalogues and BeBizBlueprint were published outputs. Based on available project data, there are no IP restrictions on reusing the methodology.
Each of the 3 Innovation Catalogues featured 12-20 projects with business-ready case studies. The project also built a contact list of 100 top bioeconomy industry targets across 5 segments (20 per segment). Based on available project data, the full quantitative matchmaking results would be in the BeBizBlueprint.
The BeBizPilotPlan provided assessment, networking, mentoring, training, and tailored support to help EU-funded KBBE research projects move toward commercial exploitation. The project worked collaboratively with allied projects BioLinx and ProBio on the FP7 database to avoid duplication.
The project ran from March 2015 to February 2018, a full 3-year pilot period. The contact list of 100 industry targets was built over the entire 36-month duration, while Innovation Catalogues were produced annually.
The CommBeBiz consortium of 4 partners across 3 countries (Belgium, Ireland, UK) is notably industry-heavy with a 50% industry ratio and 3 out of 4 partners being SMEs. The coordinator, Minerva Health & Care Communications (UK), is a private SME specializing in communications — a strong signal that this project was designed for practical business impact rather than academic output. With 2 industry partners and 1 university, the consortium was built to bridge the gap between research and commercial application. The small, focused team of 4 partners suggests efficient execution with low coordination overhead.
Minerva Health & Care Communications Ltd (UK) — use SciTransfer's coordinator lookup service to find the project lead's contact details.
Want to replicate CommBeBiz's research-to-business methodology for your sector, or access their bioeconomy industry contacts? SciTransfer can connect you with the project team and help you adapt the BeBizBlueprint to your needs.
