How can Europe accelerate bioeconomy projects and make them truly investable?
This was the central question explored during BIOBOOST’s final webinar, “De-risking Bioeconomy Projects: Lessons Learned from BIOBOOST”, which brought together representatives from the European Commission, the European Research Executive Agency (REA), investment funds, regional bioeconomy initiatives and EU-funded projects to reflect on the barriers that continue to slow down bioeconomy deployment across Europe.
Far from focusing only on technology, the discussion highlighted a much broader reality: bioeconomy projects are systemic initiatives that require governance, territorial coordination, financing mechanisms, market validation and stakeholder collaboration to succeed.
Why bioeconomy accelerators matter
Opening the webinar, Lucie Blondel, Policy Officer at DG Research & Innovation (European Commission), framed bioeconomy accelerators as strategic tools for Europe’s circular transition, particularly in helping regions transform innovation into deployable projects.
Her intervention positioned the bioeconomy not only as an environmental necessity, but also as an opportunity to strengthen territorial resilience, industrial competitiveness and regional innovation ecosystems.
This broader European perspective connected directly with the experience accumulated by BIOBOOST over the last four years through its Accelerator model in Catalonia.
BIOBOOST’s experience: reducing barriers beyond technology
During the central presentation of the webinar, Míriam Romero, Project Manager at Inveniam Group and BIOBOOST coordinator, shared the main lessons learned from accompanying bioeconomy projects through the Accelerator.
The presentation reflected on recurring barriers identified across supported BioBoosters:
- fragmented governance,
- regulatory uncertainty,
- weak market validation,
- lack of stakeholder coordination,
- insufficient investment readiness,
- and difficulties integrating technical, financial and territorial dimensions within the same project strategy.
One of the strongest conclusions emerging from the project was that bioeconomy initiatives cannot be treated as isolated technological innovations. Instead, they operate within complex territorial ecosystems involving industries, public administrations, biomass suppliers, logistics operators, investors, technology providers and local communities.
As highlighted during the webinar, this complexity requires much more integrated support structures than traditional acceleration models usually provide.
The BIOBOOST Accelerator therefore evolved progressively towards a more systemic approach, combining:
- technical and engineering support,
- business and financing services,
- legal and administrative assistance,
- impact mapping and facilitation services,
- and territorial stakeholder coordination.
The market challenge: competing against mature fossil-based systems
One of the key reflections of the roundtable came from Víctor Falguera, Executive Director at BioHubCat & CIDAFcat, who stressed that many projects underestimate the complexity of entering real markets.
According to Falguera, fossil-based industries have spent decades, or even more than a century, optimising infrastructure, logistics and production systems, while many bio-based alternatives are still trying to prove competitiveness and scalability.
For this reason, he argued that market validation needs to become a central priority from the earliest project stages. Environmental impact alone is not enough if projects cannot compete economically or demonstrate clear market demand.
This was one of the recurring themes throughout the webinar: successful bioeconomy deployment depends as much on market integration as on technological innovation.
Investors need more than promising technologies
The investment perspective was provided by Michael Nettersheim, Managing Partner at the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF), who explained that investors are looking for scalable and economically robust business models, not simply innovative technologies.
From his perspective, investment-ready bioeconomy projects need:
- competitive unit economics,
- clear value propositions,
- credible industrial customers,
- reliable feedstock availability,
- and a realistic pathway towards scale.
Nettersheim also highlighted the importance of “capital-efficient scaling”, warning that many projects fail because they require excessive capital before demonstrating viable market traction. Early industrial validation and proof points were therefore identified as essential mechanisms to reduce risk and attract private investment.
The discussion reinforced one of BIOBOOST’s own conclusions: many bioeconomy projects currently remain trapped between research funding and commercial investment, without enough support structures capable of bridging that gap.
Regulation remains one of the biggest barriers
Regulatory complexity emerged repeatedly during the webinar as one of the main obstacles slowing down implementation.
Lorenzo Valeriani, Senior Project and Exploitation Manager at Meta Group and CircularInvest coach, explained that many projects underestimate the importance of understanding regulatory frameworks from the beginning.
According to Valeriani, projects often focus first on technical feasibility without fully anticipating future regulatory requirements at European or international level. This creates major bottlenecks later, particularly when projects attempt to scale.
The discussion pointed towards the need for:
- stronger legal advisory support,
- regulatory sandboxes,
- standardised permitting procedures,
- and governance models capable of accompanying innovation processes more effectively.
These recommendations strongly aligned with the final reflections presented by BIOBOOST itself, which called for enhanced administrative facilitation, integrated project roadmaps and more coordinated PDA services.
From isolated projects to European learning ecosystems
Another important message emerged from the intervention of Carmen Ronchel Barreno, Senior EU Project Manager at CTA within the BioINSouth project.
She highlighted that Europe still tends to generate fragmented pilot projects that remain isolated within their own territories, limiting replication and long-term impact.
According to Ronchel, accelerators can play an important role not only in supporting individual projects, but also in transferring methodologies, lessons learned and best practices between regions. She argued for the creation of stronger European bioeconomy learning networks capable of accelerating territorial cooperation and reducing duplication of efforts.
This perspective strongly resonated with BIOBOOST’s own experience working within the broader CCRI and circular bioeconomy ecosystem.
A broader lesson from BIOBOOST
The webinar ultimately reinforced one of the clearest lessons emerging from BIOBOOST after four years of implementation: accelerating the bioeconomy is not simply about supporting technologies.
It requires:
- coordinated governance,
- collaboration between public and private actors,
- territorial ecosystem building,
- investment-ready business models,
- regulatory adaptation,
- and long-term facilitation structures.
As summarised during the final presentation, unlocking the bioeconomy requires ecosystems, not isolated innovation.
Closing the webinar, Vessela Stoyanova-Monteleone, BIOBOOST Project Officer at the European Research Executive Agency (REA), acknowledged both the complexity of projects such as BIOBOOST and the consortium’s capacity to deliver meaningful results despite the challenges encountered throughout the project lifecycle.
The final discussion left a clear message: Europe already has technological potential and ambitious bioeconomy strategies. The next challenge is creating the financial, regulatory and territorial conditions capable of turning that potential into scalable projects on the ground.
Webinar presentations and materials
The presentations shared during the webinar are available below:
- Why Bioeconomy Accelerators Matter for Europe’s Transition – Lucie Blondel (European Commission, DG RTD)
- BIOBOOST in Perspective: Key Results, Project Insights and BIOBOOSTER Experiences in Removing Barriers and Enabling Projects – Míriam Romero (BIOBOOST / Inveniam)
- Closing reflections and next steps – Vessela Stoyanova-Monteleone (REA)