Peter Rowe

Working on something new to improve sustainability, productivity and profitability in a hard to decarbonise sector of the food system.

Biotech Booster is a national program to support commercialisation of biotechnology findings in The Netherlands. This includes subsidy programmes that fund both early-stage (TRL1-3) spinout projects from Dutch research institutes, as well as bringing more mature innovations (TRL4-6) to market. • My main focus is supporting Industrial Biotechnology & Production (Thematic Cluster 1) and Agriculture & Food (Thematic Cluster 2). • Project review: Assessment of prospective subsidy projects, as part of the programme's €250M funding allocation to biotech startups • Accelerator support: Mentorship and content delivery for the Biotech Booster Industrial Biotech Bootcamp (in collaboration with Planet B.io)

Pre-Seed investor into exercise management platform for diabetics.

Once stable foundations were in place for Aerbio I was able to transition out of a managerial capacity, remaining a shareholder and providing ad hoc support for the management team.

Following the acquisition of Deep Branch, I remained part of the Aerbio management team during this time of transition. During this time I acted as CXO, providing strategic support to bridge technical and commercial development and lead on special projects, including: • Drafting business plan and marketing materials, and engaging with prospective investors to secure new equity investment. • Support finalising the start-up of a FOAK CO2-to-protein pilot facility. • Co-ordination of application development in animal nutrition and food ingredient applications, demonstrating strong product performance in aquafeed applications. • Supporting relocation of most functions to Denmark. • Securing additional multi-million euro non-dilutive funding.

Leading the commercialisation of a world-class CO2-to-X biotechnology platform: • >€20M funding secured though direct investment and non-dilutive funding • Oversight of organisational build-out, scaling from three co-founders to team of twenty in less than two years, including recruitment of key hires in management, board and advisory positions • Structuring of commercial partnerships for both carbon dioxide recycling and animal nutrition • Definition and implementation of commercial strategy, including structuring of offtake/distribution, site location and innovation management • Oversaw turnaround of critical pilot project

Supporting cohort of industrial biotech companies looking to use biology to produce more sustainable product across a range of industries.

In Ovo was a Dutch-based biotechnology startup aiming to improve animal wellbeing and efficiency through gender screening of eggs to avoid the killing of male day-old chicks of layers chickens. • Employed via EU-funded EASME innovation post doctoral research associate programme, aiming to take high potential recent PhD graduates into innovative companies to support technical development. • Primary focus was to determine most promising business case for valorisation of fertilised eggs identified as male, resulting in identification of additional revenue potential. • Supporting founders of various ad hoc tasks as part of small team.

Part of interdisciplinary team of researchers as part of GASCHEM project, funded by LanzaTech and the BBSRC. My main focus was developing novel genome editing tools for use in acetogenic bacteria, including: • Analysis and engineering of endogenous CRISPR systems in acetogens • In-house CRISPR experimental design expert • Optimisation of solvent production in anaerobic fermentation • Extensive molecular cloning experience • Supervisor and liaison for several visiting researchers, including Shangai Institute of Biosciences

AlerGenetica was a startup founded by three former senior Genencor (DuPont) R&D leaders. The company was developing a peptide based vaccine for treatments for fungal allergy. As an industrial placement during my undergraduate degree, I worrked as part of a small team of research scientists. Projects included optimisation of fermentation of various filamentous fungi, developing new tools for synthetic biology, and optimisation of production and secretion of heterologous proteins.