Near licensing miss for €70m scaler
- publish258
- Oct 28
- 2 min read
Tech ventures often think too narrowly about licensing at the start: it certainly wasn’t in the original plan at Infinite Roots, reports an EPO / EIC case study
Tech ventures often miss the chance to collaborate more widely and reap the rewards in different commercial scenario by thinking too narrowly about licensing. It certainly wasn’t in the original model at Infinite Roots in 2018.
Based in Hamburg, it’s a biotech with the ambition of transforming the food chain and creating a alternative to meat by fermenting the roots of mushrooms, the mycelium. So far it has raised €70 million and employs over 70 people.
Licensing represented a switch in how it had thought about its business strategy. The attractions were to generate revenues prior to getting regulatory approval for selling their products in Germany, to enter other geographical markets and to expand the company’s knowledge of how to scale up the technologies for production. The risk was that they might jeopardise their future growth if any IP escaped.
Help came from two sources. An EIC coach helped them develop this additional business case and a former IP manager from a major chemicals company joined the company as IP lead. Their input was essential for drafting a set of terms in three to four weeks, saving months of time and fees, as well as keeping the momentum going in negotiations.
Two candidates were in the frame as partners: one to extract nutrients from leftovers and the other to optimise the fermentation of the mycelium. In both cases, it was a matter of dealing with an industry giant who pushed back hard on the terms.
However, Infinite Roots’ negotiators and leadership team now had a clear grasp of the essentials of payments, the extent of use and what IP was involved, as well as duration, limitations and termination. They were able to define beforehand when to continue negotiations and when to step away, which gave them greater confidence and strengthened their position.
• 'The full article, ‘Licensing for Higher Growth’ by Thomas Bereuter, Adéla Dvořáková and Viorel Peca,, appears in appears in the 2025 edition of Managing Intellectual Property Today, published by Novaro, ISBN: 978-1-0685644-1-3. See here for further details.
