INTERNATIONAL UPDATE

Meet the Member Interview with Anne Timm from INOFEA

The 5th Floor is an international collaborative pro-work space where members are able to enjoy international collaboration benefits in our 5th Floor locations and connections throughout the world. We would like to introduce you to Switzerland member, Anne Timm.

1. How did INOFEA come about?

INOFEA has been founded in February 2014, as a spin-off of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland. We own a patented enzyme technology which makes enzymes used in the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and food ingredients 20 times more stable and recyclable. This helps our customers to reduce their energy consumption by about 15%. Since our enzymes can be used for sustainable continuous manufacturing processes 20 – 50% less waste occurs, which is economically and environmentally of high interest.

2. Could you give us a short overview of INOFEA?

Aside from the many physical and mental health benefits of creating genuine connections, relationships also improve business. In other words, if people feel like a business not only cares about them, but also identifies with them, then they are more likely to support a business. To further elaborate, there are clear differences between networking and connecting: networking is an activity through which people are able to develop a clientele and transfer information. Connecting, on the other hand, is a form of relationship building, which does more for a business than networking alone. We have very experienced, skilled and motivated team members in INOFEA. One of them is our Head of R&D and Production, Dr. Rita Correro, who developed our enzyme technology in the recent years. In her team there are Lars Grossniklaus and Anna Ruf, both working intensively on our customer projects. On October 01, our new Business Development Manager Nilesh Shah joined the team having like myself, many years of industry experience.

We are working with top Pharmaceutical and Food companies, have supply and license agreements in place. Our customers value the benefits our technology brings. We add additional benefits to biocatalysts by immobilization and shielding of enzymes. The shieldIn the words of the late poet Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” A business person may meet twenty people a day through networking, but through connecting via emotion, the business person will not be forgotten. This can lead to many benefits for a business, such as new referrals, and referrals received through real connections increase the quality and likelihood of securing leads. In the context of coworking, ing is like a cocoon, providing a better stability to the enzymes.

3. What makes INOFEA future-oriented?

We support our customers to reach their sustainability goals. Take the food industry as an example; food companies need to ensure that we have for the fast growing population on our planet sufficient healthy food and on the other side to use our resources of farm-land in an efficient way. The reduction of energy and other raw material consumption is essential. More and more people move away from eating meat and alternative protein sources become important. We are with our technology exactly supporting these future oriented targets. coworking is arguably the best way to create long-lasting relationships. Connecting and building an emotional repertoire via coworking with others outside of your business, then, often results in an explosion of new ideas that can only exist through this mutual kinship. Coworking also allows for a diverse pool of connections which helps to remind that there is something to learn from everyone; ideas are made malleable and those with whom one connects can aid in forming an idea into something to be put into action. In addition, building genuine relationships through coworking can lead to

4 . INOFEA is a company founded and based in Basel. What do you particularly appreciate about this region?

The region of Basel is a very lively region, we have here many startups and large international companies, so it is easy to get in contact with our clients and partners. And of course, the proximity to the University of Applied Sciences, two of our founders are working there as Professors and support us from a scientific point of view. Finally, the fifth floor offered us the wonderful opportunity to bring our labs with the offices together, we have now the privilege to work in new labs perfectly equipped with all what we need.