NextGenBioPest at Biotech Startup Founder!
On May 22nd, 2025, our partner Preagon Biotech took part in the event "Biotech Startup Founder: A Career Worth Pursuing" in Vestec, Czechia. The company delivered a talk and joined a panel discussion on its route to green chemistry as a sustainable alternative to current pesticides, speaking to an audience of about 80 students, investors, biotech professionals and entrepreneurs.
A Different Side of Research Dissemination
Most of the events covered in the NextGenBioPest news section are scientific conferences, field demonstrations or school visits. This one stands out because it focused on the entrepreneurial journey behind the science. Vestec is home to a thriving biotechnology cluster near Prague, and the event brought together people who are building, funding or considering careers in life science start-ups.
For Preagon Biotech, it was an opportunity to share not only what the company develops, but also why and how it chose to build a business around green chemistry for crop protection.
Green Chemistry as an Alternative to Conventional Pesticides
In its talk and in the panel discussion, Preagon presented its route to green chemistry as a sustainable alternative to the pesticides in use today. Green chemistry aims to design chemical products that are effective against their targets while being safer for people, non-target organisms and the environment. Applied to crop protection, it opens the way to selective, low-risk solutions that complement biological control agents and RNA-based approaches within integrated pest management.
This is precisely the role that green chemicals play in NextGenBioPest: one important part of a broader toolbox for managing difficult pests and pathogens while reducing reliance on conventional synthetic pesticides.
Inspiring the Next Generation of Innovators
The panel format gave the audience the chance to hear about the realities of founding a biotech company, from turning scientific discoveries into products to working with investors and navigating the path to market. For the students in the room, it was a concrete illustration that a career in sustainable agriculture is not limited to academia: researchers can also become founders and bring new solutions to farmers.
The presence of investors and industry professionals alongside students and entrepreneurs also created a useful space for exchange, helping to raise awareness of the commercial potential of eco-friendly crop protection technologies.
Innovation Needs Entrepreneurs
Bringing sustainable crop protection solutions from the laboratory to the field requires more than good science. It also requires entrepreneurs willing to take innovations through development, regulation and commercialisation. By sharing its own experience, Preagon Biotech helped make that journey more visible and more approachable for the next wave of life science founders.
We thank the Preagon Biotech team for representing NextGenBioPest in this inspiring setting, and the organisers for creating a platform where science, entrepreneurship and sustainability meet.
