Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI

Project

Evaluation of the funding measure "Start-up offensive Biotechnology GO-Bio"

The evaluation of the GO-Bio funding measure examines the achievement of objectives, effects and economic viability. It is carried out ex-post (analysis of all eight funding rounds since 2006) and develops recommendations for a new call for proposals for the funding programme. GO-Bio is a funding offer tailored to the specifics of spin-offs from the life sciences, which supports both a multi-year validation phase in the organization of origin and a multi-year start-up phase of biotech start-ups with extensive grants in order to achieve the exploitation of research approaches from the life sciences with high commercial or clinical innovation potential, in particular by founding a company.

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The aim is to deepen the knowledge of inputs, outputs and outcomes with direct reference to the start-ups or exploitation projects (results, number of start-ups, their success, etc.), as well as a further impact analysis, which is possible due to the sometimes long period of time since the end of funding.

This relates, among other things, to changes in the scientific institutions in which the funded projects were carried out in funding phase 1, to the sustainability of the economic success of the start-ups (survival rate, growth in terms of turnover and employment, further innovation activities and services) or the participation of the team members in funding phase 1 in the development and growth of the company after it has been founded. Impacts can also occur in the respective technology field or in strategic partnerships, e.g. larger companies. The long period under consideration is also suitable for demonstrating the leverage effects of the initial support of start-up preparation by the BMBF on the raising of venture capital (private, public), other research or innovation funding, R&D co-operations with scientific institutions, etc. in the further development of the company.

The starting point of this program-theory-based evaluation is an impact model with well-founded and consistent statements about the impact pathways and mechanisms of the individual interventions, which GO-Bio represents. It is based on the explicit and implicit assumptions that underpinned the concept of the funding approach at the beginning, taking into account adjustments that have been made in the meantime.

Since GO-Bio simultaneously pursues explicit goals of research, innovation and start-up policy, so-called "impact pathways" are traced as part of the target achievement and impact control.

Since GO-Bio is conceived as a transfer instrument from research approaches from the life sciences into commercial use, such impact pathways are closely linked to innovation pathways.

Methods of information retrieval are:

  • Evaluation of programme data on project outlines, funding applications and grants, expert decisions and other documents.
  • Online surveys among institutions that submitted project outlines and funding applications as well as the project managers of funded projects (with and without a foundation)
  • In-depth interviews with applicants (funded, non-funded) as well as start-ups without GO-Bio grants, as well as with people from the GO-Bio reviewers, with representatives of universities, central stakeholders and venture capitalists.
  • Funding portfolio analysis for the embedding of GO-Bio in the funding landscape in the area of transfer and start-ups.
  • Preparation of previous evaluations of Fraunhofer ISI with reference to GO-Bio
  • Profitability analysis

Duration

12.2022-2.2024

Clients

Federal Ministry of Education and Research