Das Programm von Science4Life begleitet Start-ups in Life Sciences, Chemie und Energie von der Idee bis zum fertigen Businessplan. Wer sein eigenes Unternehmen starten möchte, kann seine Idee bis zum 22. Oktober 2021 beim Businessplan-Wettbewerb einreichen. Bei Science4Life wird aus der ersten Idee ein richtiger Business Case, bis heute sind bereits mehr als 1.300 Unternehmen mit Unterstützung von Science4Life gegründet worden. Am 1. September 2021 startet die neue Runde des Businessplan-Wettbewerbs, Gründungsinteressierte sowie Start-ups aus Life Sciences und Chemie können ihre Idee für den Science4Life Venture Cup einreichen. Energie-Start-ups sind eingeladen, sich für den Science4Life Energy Cup zu bewerben. Insgesamt stehen rund 85.000 Euro Preisgeld, Zugang zu einem Netzwerk aus über 300 Branchen-Experten sowie die Science4Life Academy mit Online-Seminaren, digitalen Events und vieles mehr auf dem Plan. Interessierte können sich bereits jetzt unter www.science4life.de registrieren und ihre dreiseitige Ideenskizze für die erste Phase bis zum 22. Oktober 2021 einreichen. Jedes Team erhält ein ausführliches schriftliches Feedback von den Experten, aus dem die Stärken und Schwächen der Geschäftsidee hervorgehen. Die besten Teams werden zu dem digitalen Science4Life Academy-Day eingeladen – hier erhalten sie ein individuelles Coaching und haben die Gelegenheit, ihre Pläne in persönlichen Gesprächen mit Branchenexperten zu diskutieren und weiterzuentwickeln. Science4Life: Idee, Konzept und Businessplan „Das Jahr 2021 hat gezeigt, dass Start-ups auch in Krisensituationen die richtigen Voraussetzungen mitbringen, um schnell auf aktuelle Herausforderungen zu reagieren und wichtige Innovationen voranzutreiben“, erklärt Science4Life-Projektleiter Dr. Lutz Müller. Um Gründerteams bei allen Anforderungen ihrer jeweiligen Gründungsphase zielgerichtet zu unterstützen, gliedert sich der Businessplan-Wettbewerb in drei Phasen: Die erste Phase des Wettbewerbs konzentriert sich auf die Geschäftsidee und deren Marktpotenzial, so dass die Teams Chancen früh erkennen und ihre Strategie rechtzeitig anpassen können. In der zweiten Phase wird das Geschäftsmodell gemeinsam mit Branchen-Experten feinjustiert. In der dritten Phase beschreiben Start-ups das Geschäftsvorhaben im Detail und erarbeiten detaillierte Umsetzungspläne. Interessierte und Gründende haben die Möglichkeit, an allen oder nur an ausgewählten Phasen teilzunehmen.

Nanostructured biomaterial for wound dressings and dermatology to be integrated into Health Care business Evonik Venture Capital’s early investment in 2015 pays off Evonik aims to more than double the share of system solutions in Nutrition & Care by 2030 Essen, Germany. Evonik has acquired German biotech company JeNaCell. The acquisition expands Evonik’s biomaterials portfolio to provide biotechnologically derived cellulose. The natureidentical material developed by JeNaCell is used in medical technology and dermatology for the treatment of wounds and burns as well as in hydroactive skin care. The employees of JeNaCell will continue to work at the development and production site based in Jena, Germany. Evonik recognized JeNaCell's potential in 2015 and invested in the start-up through its own venture capital arm. Following the complete takeover, JeNaCell's portfolio will be integrated into Evonik's health care business. The company accelerates the portfolio shift of its Nutrition & Care division towards system solutions and expands the division-wide technology platform of natural materials for medical technology. The share of system solutions in Nutrition & Care is to be increased from 20 percent today to more than 50 percent by 2030. “JeNaCell has developed one of the most innovative biomaterials for medical device technologies. With the help of the creativity and expertise of JeNaCell's specialists, we will ensure that even more patients benefit from these products in the future,” said Thomas Riermeier, head of Evonik’s Health Care business line. “The acquisition will help us to further strengthen our position as an innovation hub for the world’s leading medical technology companies.” “The acquisition by Evonik is a quantum leap for JeNaCell to realize the full potential of our innovative technology,” said Dana Kralisch, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of JeNaCell. “We are excited to have found a strong and trusted partner to develop our technology platform and a new home for our passionate team of experts. Together, we will expand our customer base and explore new application areas.” The acquisition confirms Evonik Venture Capital’s strategy of investing early in start-ups with visionary technology that are relevant to Evonik's innovation growth fields. “JeNaCell is a great example for the innovation strength and the value that startups can bring to corporations,” said Bernhard Mohr, head of Evonik Venture Capital. “We recognized the importance of the industry shift to nature-identical materials early on and are very happy to have supported the development of this technology with our investment.” JeNaCell began as a spinoff company from the Friedrich-SchillerUniversity of Jena in Germany. In 2017, the company launched its first product epicite, a medical wound dressing for the treatment of chronic wounds, surgical wounds and burns that is based on biotechnologically derived cellulose. It is a skin-friendly and soft biomaterial that provides a healing-promoting microclimate on the wound and can be removed painlessly. Further technologies developed by JeNaCell include soft tissue implants, transdermal delivery systems and dermatological applications. JeNaCell's product developments are complementary to the portfolio of Evonik's Health Care business, which is a leading global solutions provider for innovative materials for medical device and pharmaceutical markets. RESOMER®, now commercially available for more than 30 years, is the industry’s most comprehensive GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) portfolio of standard, custom and specialized bioresorbable polymers for use with implantable medical devices and pharmaceutical drug products. Press Contact: Evonik Industries AG Rellinghauser Straße 1-11 45128 Essen Germany Phone +49 201 177-01 Fax +49 201 177-3475 www.evonik.com  Company information Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of €12.2 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of €1.91 billion in 2020. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers. More than 33,000 employees work together for a common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow. About Nutrition & Care The focus of the business of the Nutrition & Care division is on health and quality of life. It develops differentiated solutions for active pharmaceutical ingredients, medical devices, nutrition for humans and animals, personal care, cosmetics, and household cleaning. In these resilient end markets, the division generated sales of around three billion euros in 2020 with about 5,300 employees. About Evonik Venture Capital With a fund size of €250 million, Evonik Venture Capital (EVC) has made more than 30 investments since 2012, both direct and fund investments. EVC has offices in Germany, the U.S.A. and China and invests in innovative technologies and disruptive business models in the fields of Nutrition & Care, Specialty Additives and Smart Materials, as well as enabling digital technologies. The EVC team of experienced investment managers provide portfolio companies comprehensive support. The investment scope ranges from early stage to growth stage with investment volume per portfolio company of up to €15 million. Disclaimer In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.

Munich-based mk2 Biotechnologies today announced the receipt of several million Euros in seed funding to accelerate the further growth of the company. In particular, the company thrives to accomplish additional development milestones towards industrializing its novel peptide production platform. The financing round was led by OCCIDENT, with significant funds also coming from primeCROWD and SeedBlink alongside co-financing from high net worth individuals. “mk2 Biotechnologies’ objective is to apply its unique platform approach for the synthesis and purification of authentic peptides at large scales which can be broadly applied in several market segments. Using our synthesis technology, we can exceed both the quality requirements and the cost expectations. The key to our process is that we were able to eliminate the existing bottlenecks of established technologies” said Dr. Sebastian Mangold, Managing Director and one of the three co-founders of mk2 Biotechnologies. “The funding committed by this experienced syndicate represents a further validation of our technology and reflects the recent development of the bioactives market. The funding will enable us to continuously improve our platform and ramp up our production in order to move our first product candidates towards the application in volume markets such as cosmetics, food & beverages, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.” This fall, mk2 Biotechnologies will transfer its R&D facilities to the Innovation and Start-Up Center for Biotechnology in Martinsried (IZB), just outside of Munich, which will enable the targeted growth of team, operations and business. “We are very much looking forward to our new facilities and the co-located companies mainly active in the pharmaceuticals industry. We expect to leverage respective synergies and accelerate not only our industrially applicable product candidates, but particularly our peptide-based APIs which are already in the development pipeline” complemented Dr. Sebastian Mangold. Cédric Barra, Senior Investment Manager at OCCIDENT, commented: “We see a lot of potential in the application of high-quality peptides. With the technology platform and the know-how that the team at mk2 brings along, the company is in an excellent position for further development. We are very much looking forward to working with this motivated team in the future.” Ronald Rapberger, Chief Investment Officer of primeCROWD, added: “Being a molecular biologist myself, I’m confident in the ability of this outstanding team to bring the technology from the lab to the mass markets. This will finally make peptides available for currently underserved application areas and at competitive prices.” Peptides, which are short amino acid chains, can have extraordinary properties and modes of action. This substance class has been identified to be very promising for highly attractive applications in the areas of personal care, food & beverages (e.g. flavors, nutrition and conservation), animal breeding (e.g. antibiotics substitutes) and crop cultivation (e.g. fungicide and fertilizer substitutes). However, established production methods are very costly and not scalable. Due to the enormously high prices, despite their often outstanding properties and the broad interest of the industry, peptides have so far not been applicable in products on the mass market. mk2 Biotechnologies precisely addresses this challenge via a proprietary process that allows the scalable and thus cost-efficient production of high-purity peptides for a wide range of applications. Therefore, mk2 Biotechnologies provides the yet missing tool for the application of peptides in mass markets. About mk2 Biotechnologies mk2 Biotechnologies GmbH develops, produces and investigates peptides at highest purity and quality standards using a revolutionary scalable synthesis technology. This way mk2 Biotechnologies enables the production of authentic peptides, regardless of their physical or chemical properties, at large scales and low cost. The pre-seed activities were financed with grants by the Zeidler-Forschungs-Stiftung and the funding programs “FLÜGGE” and “EXIST-Forschungstransfer”. Several early-stage start-up awards including the Science4Life Venture Cup and the TUM IdeAward had recognized the unique approach and its high potential. Press Contact: mk2 Biotechnologies GmbH Dr. Konstantinos Antonopoulos Fallstrasse 9 81369 Munich/Germany E: Konstantinos.Antonopoulos@mk2.bio W: www.mk2.bio About OCCIDENT OCCIDENT is an international venture capital investor with offices in Munich and Zug, is owner-managed and invests own wealth. Its aim is to make a positive contribution to society through sustainable and meaningful investments. OCCIDENT invests in innovative deep tech start-ups with excellent technologies in the fields of life sciences, high-tech and digital with broad application possibilities and the potential for further value-generating developments. The geographic focus is Germany and Switzerland. The preferred stage for initial financing is from seed rounds or later and from 0.5 million euros. OCCIDENT distinguishes itself in particular by its in-depth knowledge of the technology and the versatile support offered to its portfolio companies by its competent team of experts. For more information, please visit http://www.occident.group. About primeCROWD primeCROWD is one of the largest startup investor networks in the DACH region and includes more than 2,500 investors as well as numerous incubators, accelerators and VCs. primeCROWD acts as an interface between investors and startups with a focus on early-stage and growth financing in the technology, healthcare, digital economy and sustainability sectors. Its declared goal is to accompany startups throughout the entire investment process. Since its foundation in 2015, investments in 28 startups and in the amount of more than EUR 20 million have been realized (two exits). For more information, please visit http://www.prime-crowd.com. About SeedBlink SeedBlink is the fastest growing investing platform specialized in sourcing, vetting, financing, and scaling European tech start-ups. The company aims to simplify the investment process for retail and accredited investors by combining crowd reach, business angel flexibility, and Venture Capital expertise, all in one internet platform. SeedBlink’s booming investors community and the selection of start-ups are at the core of the platform’s success, along with optimized portfolio diversification through thesis-aligned matching and engagement tools. For more information, please visit www.seedblink.com.