Who we are

The High Technology Incubator in Bioeconomy and Circular Economy (IAT) is part of the Extremadura Incubator Network, a distributed network of spaces that provides you with the specialised scientific and technological facilities you need to make your project a reality, wherever you are. The network offers a wide range of advanced services to reduce the investment and initial risk of new technology-based entrepreneurial initiatives.

Objectives

The IAT aims to support the creation of new technology-based companies and accelerate business projects that respond to the challenges and opportunities that arise directly from the market, from the agro-industrial sector itself or from the results of scientific and technological research in relation to the concepts of Bioeconomy and Circular Economy.

We help you to promote business projects aimed at generating new products or processes with high added value.

Obtained from the region’s natural resources and from waste, by-products and co-products of the agri-food industry.

using chemical and/or biotechnology-based techniques for the extraction, purification, bioactivation and synthesis of biocompounds.

with high market and application potential in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical industries, as well as new emerging industries.

La Bioeconomía y la Economía Circular son campos relativamente nuevos, en los que aún no hay consenso en cuanto a definiciones e interpretaciones de los distintos conceptos que abarcan. Por un lado, la bioeconomía engloba al conjunto de actividades económicas relacionadas con la producción, transformación y utilización de recursos y procesos biológicos con el fin de producir y transformar biomasa para obtener alimentos, piensos, materiales, energía y servicios relacionados con los ciudadanos. Por otro, la economía circular es un modelo de producción, distribución y consumo que busca ampliar el ciclo de vida de los productos, materiales y demás recursos, manteniendo su valor el mayor tiempo posible al hacerlos circular una y otra vez dentro del sistema, potenciar la eficiencia y un uso sostenible de los recursos y minimizar la generación de residuos .

En la práctica, implica:

usar de manera compartida, alquilar, reutilizar, reparar, renovar y reciclar los materiales y productos existentes el mayor tiempo posible a lo largo de la cadena de valor;
reducir los flujos de recursos aumentando la eficiencia de los procesos y utilizando menos materiales y/o materiales diferentes para minimizar la huella medioambiental de cada producto;
cerrar los flujos de recursos, reduciendo o eliminando la extracción o uso insostenible de nuevos materiales y garantizando que los productos se reciclen o composten al final de su vida útil.

Al integrar estos dos conceptos la IAT busca impulsar un modelo de desarrollo sostenible económica, social y ambientalmente, que permita hacer un uso responsable de los recursos naturales, valorizar residuos, proteger el medio ambiente y reducir impactos negativos, a la vez que se generan nuevas oportunidades de crecimiento económico y mejora de la sociedad.

La IAT es más que la apuesta de Extremadura por este modelo económico sostenible; es una infraestructura puntera y de referencia para la materialización del binomio Investigación-empresa, la consolidación de nuevos nichos de negocio y de emprendimiento, y una vía directa hacia el crecimiento social y económico desde un paradigma verde y circular.

Innovation journey across the bioeconomy and the circular economy

BIOECONOMY

Economic activities related to the production, transformation and use of biological resources and processes in order to produce and transform biomass for food, feed, materials, energy and services related to citizens.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

A model of production, distribution and consumption that seeks to extend the life cycle of products, materials and other resources, maintaining their value for as long as possible. It does this by circulating them over and over again within the system, promoting efficiency and sustainable use of resources and minimising the generation of waste.

By integrating these two concepts, the IAT seeks to promote an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable development model that allows for the responsible use of natural resources, waste recovery, environmental protection and the reduction of negative impacts, while generating new opportunities for economic growth and the improvement of society.

Partners

The Center Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas de Extremadura (CICYTEX), a public body that unifies all scientific, technological and research resources in Extremadura in the field of agriculture, livestock, agri-food and dehesa, leads this consortium, is the promoter of the infrastructure and provides scientific and technological services to the business projects supported by the IAT.

FUNDECYT-PCTEX, the managing body of the Science and Technology Park of Extremadura, has the space and services necessary for an effective exchange of knowledge, science and technology and offers advanced services to support innovation, entrepreneurship and cooperation for the smart, sustainable and inclusive development of Extremadura. It participates in the IAT by providing services to the supported business projects.

Extremadura AVANTE, a group of public companies of the Regional Government of Extremadura that provides services to Extremadura companies in the different stages of their development, with the aim of making them more competitive, promoting industrial and business development in Extremadura. It participates by providing services to business projects supported by the IAT.

In addition, the IAT has generated an ecosystem of partners around it and through which you can access a large portfolio of collaborators, ranging from driving companies, scientific-technological centres, funding support agencies to key agents to promote business projects related to the Bioeconomy and the Circular Economy.

Thanks to the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Fundación Instituto Cameral para la Creación y Desarrollo de la Empresa (Fundación Incyde) and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, we can make the development of R&D&I in your company easier. Innovation is a long-distance journey and the IAT greatly facilitates the incorporation of this type of process in small and medium-sized companies.

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Where we are

The IAT facilities are located in the facilities of the Cork, Wood and Charcoal Institute, in the “El Prado” Industrial Estate, in Pamplona Street, sector D, plot 64, in Mérida.