Date:              2009-05-28

Organization:   BioNanoferm kft.

Names:           József Prokisch

Subject:         Interview HiZ Edition 16 concerning the company Bionanoferm Kft

 

Questionaire:

About:

József Prokisch is an expert in the field of trace minerals (in the food chain). He is the owner of Dr. Aliment and the founder of Bionanoferm .kft

Interview summary:

The company Bionanoferm was founded in 2008 as a typical spin-off company. The good research results obtained in the university of Debrecen were the main reason for starting the company. The company is founded to utilize a new technology. This concerns the production of selenium nanospheres. These nanospheres can be added to food, to create so called functional foods.  József Prokisch was one of the main researcher and the inventor of the new technique. Currently this technique is in the patenting process.

The company is negotiating with a Hungarian dairy company that produces diet products. Probably they will make use of the patented technique. The idea is to produce instant powder. To this extend they allready produced a pilot amount of 200 kilograms cacao powder.

The company is thinking about creating several consumer products. Beside that the company aims to have an industrial role, as in such that they want to produce half- finished instant powder, which can be sold to industries that can add it to their product as to make their products healthier. This powder should be a concentrate with high amounts of nanoparticles.

Currently the company is looking for investors, which is not easy in the current situation. However money does not seem to be the biggest problem for bionanoferm. The main problem for bionanoferm is to find skilled managers that are able to lead the company. As the company is currently led by a scientist, that rather wants to be involved in science, than in marketing. So what bionanoferm needs is a industrial partner, that is able to provide the right human resources to make the product succesfull. Bionanoferm has a strong position to find such a person, as they have a paten application running, making them the only company in the main markets (USA and Europe) to produce such nanoparticles.

The latest development is a conversation with an investor in the beginning of May. This might probably open possibilities. Investing is made even more attractive, since bionanoferm has recently won a grant application by the NKTH, guaranteeing a 30-40 million forints for product development in a 50/50 ratio (meaning that half of the money will be invested by Bionanoferm and half of the money by the NKTH, up to 40 mn forint) (105 – 140 thousand euro).

Developing of a product will as it seems now take place within the walls of the university. The University of Debrecen has adapted a policy that stimulates innovation actively. The company can be so called “ incubated” in the university. This means that they can get office and laboratory space for research and development. This is the best opportunity for small spin off companies according to Prokisch, as there are many great research groups, representing a lot of knowledge and capital that can be used for doing research. On the other hand does the university also benfit from such cooperations in the field of education and publication of scientific results. It is a win win situation,

About selenium nanoparticles:

Selenium is a trace element in humans with proven effect on health. it is healthy for the cardiovascular system, as well as against certain cancers. Over all it is a strong antioxidant and has a positive effect on the immune system. According to the European food safety agency this can be used as a useful food additive.

The chances for bionanoferm is to use in any kind of food or feed  examples are yoghurts, cacao powders or concentrated yoghurt powder. This idea is to make several product. Less than 1% of a market would allready be a great achievement, as to oversee it.

Although the first product is almost ready it is still possible to make improvements in the product development and diversification. Therefore R&D will stay relevant for the continuation of the company.

About investors: As soon as possible someone should be found. At least before the end of the year dr. Prokisch wants to have a partner for cooperation.

The effect of bionanoferm cannot be overseen at the moment. This depends on the future, and than mainly on the management of the company. The idea is good, but it takes a long way to become successful on a large scale.

In general dr. Prokisch thinks that the Hungarian innovative industry still need to be developed. He thinks that there are many many good idea’s, but the main problem is that in the country itself does not have a strong industrial background.