From lab idea to business idea: ‘Researchpreneur’ Katherine Dybdal-Grasberger wants to make a positive impact with sustainable, plant-based protein ingredients.
Together with two other Innovator Fellowship alumnae, she founded NOLA
Can you tell us about your personal and professional background?
Katherine Dybdal-Grasberger: ‘I’m originally from the U.S., where I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry.
I then moved to Denmark, where I did a Master’s in Molecular Nutrition and Food Technology at Aarhus University. For my Master’s thesis, I studied the performance of plant and whey protein mixtures using commercially available food-grade plant proteins.
I really enjoyed the research, which was aimed at the creation of nutritious and sustainable plant-dairy protein hybrid foods.
I continued in research to get my PhD, and I dived deeper into the same topic of understanding how mixtures of plant and whey proteins can be used to create novel food structures.’
What inspired you to apply for Innovator Fellowship?
Katherine: ‘I heard about the programme through my promotor, who encouraged me and Simone Bleibach Alpiger, my future co-founder, to apply.
I have always been interested in entrepreneurship and developing my own company has always been in the back of my mind, so it seemed like a great opportunity.’
“EIT Food’s Innovator Fellowship offers a highly stimulating six-month programme coupled with key skills acquisition and mentoring to translate a lab-idea into a business idea. The programme was created to enhance the career prospects and employability of researchers and professionals working for the agri-food sector. They receive high-level training on entrepreneurial skills and one-to-one mentoring, allowing them to impact the food systems and immerse in the EIT Food ecosystem and its opportunities.’ ‘Participants aiming to bring their innovations to market can further refine their ideas through EIT Food's Seedbed Incubator and the Food Accelerator Network.”
NOLA was developed during the EIT programme and today, you, Simone, and Roberta are continuing to develop the company. How did the Innovator Fellowship programme impact that journey?
Katherine: ‘The programme was instrumental in the creation of NOLA as a spin-out of Aarhus University.
Simone was also doing her PhD at Aarhus and we were already discussing our ideas at that time.
The very reason we applied was because we had the ambition to establish a company together.
We didn’t know yet what it was going to be, but we identified the business opportunity in our research and developed the business concept during the Innovator Fellowship together with Roberta Bosu who joined our team during the programme.
We won the challenge, and we decided to continue building NOLA Protein Ingredients together afterwards.’
Tell us about NOLA’s evolution so far. Which steps have you taken and what is your mission?
Katherine: ‘Our mission is to transform rapeseed into a sustainable ingredient for plant-based food. At the moment, we’re not a registered company. We are further developing the technology while working as postdoctoral researchers at Aarhus University. Our business is still in its early stages but we have been very happy with all the support we have gotten so far.
After the EIT Innovator Fellowship, we started talking with potential customers to gain insights and validate our business model. These conversations were really valuable as we moved on and applied for several different grants.
The first being a small grant from BioInnovation Institute shortly after the EIT Innovator Fellowship. Since then we have received Spin-outs Denmark from Vilum Foundation and Innoexplorer, from Innovation Fund Denmark, a Danish organisation supporting research with commercial potential, to fund the development of a prototype and pilot testing.
In addition to that, we have taken whatever opportunities we can to get our name out there, build connections and gain new experience. One of those occasions was Nordic Innovation Fair in Copenhagen, where we had the chance to talk one on one or to smaller groups, and received the award for best poster.
Another memorable opportunity was my participation as a guest speaker at the 2024 Global Food Security Summit in Abu Dhabi. Mario Roccaro, EIT Food's Education Programme Manager, was there as a guest speaker too.
There are several different opportunities that have come out of both of these events, whether it be simply gaining experience, connections we made or learning about other potential funding options.’
What are your goals for the future?
Katherine: ‘Once we are ready to launch our product on the market, we will target B2B companies in the food industry. Our focus will be on the Danish market to start with, but we want to expand to other European countries as well.’
In what ways did EIT Food support you on your entrepreneurial journey?
Katherine: ‘Simone and I are both researchers with a desire to have a big impact with our work. We came into the programme with lots of ideas based on our research and really welcomed EIT Food’s support to understand how to turn our research into a business case and to frame it so it can be understood by investors and other companies.
The EIT Food Innovator Fellowship helped us to bridge this gap and identify the business potential in our research, validate and test our idea in a risk-free environment, pitch and talk with mentors, gain access to grants and learn the early aspects of developing our business model.
The programme boosted our confidence and afterwards also our visibility through LinkedIn.’
Nola has an all-female team. Does that bring additional challenges?
Katherine: ‘As a young, female entrepreneur I am aware of the boarder challenges women can face in securing funding or in being taken seriously.
Luckily, we haven’t faced any obvious hurdles so far but we’re also operating within a network that is very supportive. My hope is that as long as our business case is strong, it will be clear that we’re the right people in the lead- regardless of gender.
The fact that we’re an all-female team – Simone, me, plus Roberta, another alumna, who is responsible for our communications – is just a coincidence. What matters is that our skills complement each other and make us stronger as a team.’
Would you recommend the Innovator Fellowship Programme to aspiring entrepreneurs?
‘Yes, it is a very good programme if you have entrepreneurial ambitions, or if you just want to learn more about your options. You will be sure to acquire new skills that are valuable, even if you don’t start your own business afterwards.
For instance, it is also important for academic researchers to be able to present your results in an attractive way so they can be easily understood by other researchers and people who are not scientists themselves.’
“The EIT Food Innovator Fellowship helped us to bridge this gap and identify the business potential in our research, validate and test our idea in a risk-free environment, pitch and talk with mentors, gain access to grants and learn the early aspects of developing our business model. The programme boosted our confidence and afterwards also our visibility through LinkedIn.”
NOLA's impact on society & environment
People How is NOLA impacting our Society?
We intend to influence consumer behaviour or consumer health, albeit indirectly as we’re a B2B company. With our plant proteins, we will help food producers make better and healthier plant-based foods with our protein ingredients.
Planet How is NOLA impacting our Environment?
It is super important for us to make a positive impact on the environment. That’s why our method of processing rapeseed is mild and less energy-consuming than traditional production processes. We also use the whole seed in order to avoid any waste.