The northern partnership in the field of life sciences and medical technology, the LIFE Cooperative, grew substantially in 2020. Read more in the article below of the LIFE Cooperative on this unique ecosystem.
40 companies, 4,000 FTEs and a combined turnover of € 400 million: The northern cooperative LIFE Cooperative has grown 6.5 percent in employment and revenue in the past year, exceeding the national average. In addition to its size, the cooperative's visibility is also increasing, which contributes to the positioning of the Northern Netherlands as a strong, efficient and innovative region in the field of life science and medical technology.
The cooperative, which was founded in 2015, strives to strengthen innovative power by working together effectively and efficiently. Therefore it seeks the power of sharing; of knowledge, materials, talent and locations. In six years it has grown into a partnership between 40 regional parties. These parties are start-ups, SMEs and also larger companies, together good for 4,000 FTEs and € 400 million in turnover in 2020. This growth of 6.5% is higher than the average national growth in the field of life sciences. “Our growth within the cooperative has more than doubled within two years, which is of course a wonderful result. But even better and more important is that we were able to add a large group of startups and spin-offs to the cooperative that strengthen mutual interaction and ensure even more cross-connections. Recently introduced startups are Ivy Medical, Reperio Medtech, Detact Diagnostics and SG Papertronics, ”said Ton Vries, Chairman of LIFE Cooperative.
Unique ecosystem
LIFE Cooperative is committed to cross-fertilization and collaboration in life science and medical technology. It encourages small entrepreneurs and start-ups to go further and think further and thus contribute to a unique ecosystem of research, development, entrepreneurship and valorisation and the optimization of social and economic impact. In this partnership, the needs of all parties are equally important. By organizing training courses and sharing knowledge, jointly purchasing chemicals and lab materials and jointly visiting international fairs, the group of forty parties involved will jointly become a heavyweight in early phase research and the development of innovative medical solutions.
New diagnostics
Due to the growth of the cooperative, its position in the field of life science and medical technology is becoming increasingly solid. With a larger chain and with significant subsidies and investments in new joint projects, more and more is possible. Not only in the field of innovative research, but also in the follow-up phase of that research, for example in production. Take the Open Diagnostics Ecosystem, which in April of this year received a subsidy of 2.1 million euros (from SNN & gemeente Groningen) for innovative research, knowledge development and the production of new diagnostics (new techniques for making a medical diagnosis). Again, companies, knowledge institutions, care partners and development facilities are joining forces and working together to make the Northern Netherlands a global expert in the development of innovative diagnostics.
Human Capital
In order to facilitate the cooperative and its members in its growth, the various parties also work closely together on the Human Capital theme: training and retaining qualitative and sufficient talent. There is close collaboration on this theme with knowledge institutions such as the University of Groningen, UMCG, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, Noorderpoort and Drenthe College. In this way, training courses can be developed that optimally match the developments. “In the meantime, the LIFE Cooperative has grown into the“ life science job engine ”of the Northern Netherlands and the LIFE Cooperative offers jobseekers the opportunity to develop a lifelong career: from, for example, starting research analyst to CEO of one of the larger companies,” says Peter Ketelaar , board member and leader of Human Capital within the LIFE Cooperative. “The Northern Netherlands is really the place to be and we hope to make that more and more visible”.
Regional forces before global impact
Not only the demand for talent, but also the demand for innovative technological resources for the medical world is high. Especially in a year in which a pandemic broke out. The companies within the LIFE Cooperative have been busy and have shown great innovation and commitment to address the health crisis. In April 2020, the Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland (SNN) made one million euros available for northern entrepreneurs and knowledge institutions that could contribute to the global health crisis through innovative research. One of the five subsidized studies was that of Lode BV, which is now conducting an advanced study into a rehabilitation tool and will market this ergometer within a few months. Although it concerns a regional exchange of knowledge, the results are applied nationally and globally.
By joining forces and supporting each other where necessary, an efficient way is being looked at what can contribute to the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of Covid-19. “But it is not only Covid-19 that emphasizes our innovative capacity,” adds Johannes Wolters, board member LIFE Cooperative and president & CEO Lode B.V. “The willingness to work together, to share, to support and complement each other is a quality of the LIFE Cooperative. That may sound logical, but it has been the recipe for our joint success since 2015 ”.
