Among the myriad of challenges faced by biotechnology company start-ups, including limited labor and financial capital, is how to develop a compelling basis for large companies to engage with them in strategic alliances. These relationships are critical for customer-oriented companies to contribute to revenue streams via sales and licenses and for positioning the start-up for potential future exit through acquisition or public offering. Formation of such relationships can be uniquely hindered in an emerging field in which an ever-increasing number of companies are jostling to establish their primacy. A good example is the growing anticipation of microalgae as an industrial platform to satisfy the drivers for the new era of sustainability.1 Following a brief overview of the field of microalgae, we describe here some of the factors that catalyzed the development of beneficial alliances during the evolution of our start-up company, Kuehnle Agro-Systems, Inc. (KAS), with examples from our two business segments.
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