Planet B.io has welcomed a sixth partner to its Supervisory Board: ASR Dutch Science Park Fund. Together with the other five partners DSM, Delft University of Technology, the Municipality of Delft, the Province of South Holland, and InnovationQuarter, they will further develop the Biotech Campus Delft into a world-leading campus focusing on modern, industrial biotechnology.
First stage completed
The transformation of the Biotech Campus Delft (BCD) into an open innovation hub for multiple companies and organisations was intended to happen in two stages. First, Planet B.io was founded in 2020 and got access to a DSM building (the Beijerinck Center) as a ‘proof-of-concept phase’. After a complete renovation of the building, modern labs and offices could be rented out to young biotech companies. In addition, Planet B.io created a network of experts and tools to support companies in their growth and the Beijerinck Center quickly filled up.
Recently, a second DSM building was made available to Planet B.io, which will be available to rent out this summer. However, it was always foreseen that a successful proof-of-concept phase would mean that additional capacity would be needed on BCD to facilitate and house more or larger companies. Today, DSM and Planet B.io enter the second, ‘growth phase’ of the BCD development, by exclusively partnering with ASR Dutch Science Park Fund (DSPF).
€500 million
DSM will remain the landlord of the Biotech Campus Delft, including the infrastructure and the utilities. DSM and ASR DSPF have entered into an exclusive agreement in which ASR DSPF invests up to €500 million in real estate at the location over a period of 20 years. DSM, in turn, will improve the accessibility of the campus to enable the long-term development of the location.
ASR DSPF will soon invest in two new buildings on the BCD. One new global head office for the Food and Beverage business group of DSM, which will also provide state-of-the-art facilities for applications in food, and one new multi-tenant scale up building. In time, the fund shall acquire the existing multi-tenant buildings that are currently let by Planet B.io. In doing so, the fund will take over the real estate and facility management activities from Planet B.io, allowing the team to focus on their core activity; building a strong ecosystem that adds value to the companies at the BCD, and make the campus flourish and grow further.
Impression of the Biotech Campus Delft by BARCODE architects
Strengthening of innovation ecosystem
Paulien Herder, chair of the Supervisory Board and dean of the faculty of applied sciences at the Delft University of Technology: “We are happy that our new partner ASR DSPF supports and further strengthens our innovation ecosystem vision. The collaboration with ASR DSPF gives Planet B.io, including their partners and the companies at the campus, an outlook to a healthy future full of growth potential.”
