WILMINGTON — The Innovation Space recently welcomed International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) to the table as a partner to help broaden its resources for budding science-based entrepreneurs.
The global fragrance and food ingredient company with an $18.9 billion market cap has entered into a strategic partnership with The Innovation Space and will provide a yearly sponsorship to The Innovation Space along with mentorship and subject experts to its portfolio of start-up companies.
IFF has also agreed to provide The Innovation Space with expert consultation and evaluation of potential startups in industrial biotechnology as well as the health and biosciences market sectors.
“This strategic collaboration enhances our ability to hyper-support high-potential startups and offers an unmatched opportunity to bring world-class commercial insights in industrial biotechnology sectors to entrepreneurs in our ecosystem,” The Innovation Space CEO Bill Provine said in a prepared statement.
Now in its ninth year, The Innovation Space is a nonprofit hub for science-driven startups located on DuPont Experimental Station campus in the Alapocas. With 132,000 square feet of lab and office space, it provides entrepreneurs access to some of the cutting-edge equipment as they work to turn their idea into a viable business.
In 2024, The Innovation Space unveiled its Early Stage Growth Grant for start-ups, connecting entrepreneurs that have secured funding two years of access to the private lab space and equipment on site.
But now with the partnership with IFF, Provide later told the Delaware Business Times it now boosts the profile to attract industrial biotech startups to Delaware.
In exchange, IFF will establish a presence at The Innovation Space, using labs and facilities while also offering expertise to entrepreneurs on site.
Casper Vroemen, the IFF Chief Technology Officer, will join The Innovation Space board, with others who represent strategic partner organizations including DuPont, the University of Delaware and the state of Delaware.
“I am delighted to join the board of directors of The Innovation Space and believe that the synergy of IFF’s global reach and expertise in industrial biotechnology with The Innovation Space’s leadership with startups will create long-term value for all involved,” Vroemen said in a prepared statement.
