The Valencian biotechnology company Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence has been awarded the QIA (Quality Innovation Awards) as one of the most innovative SMEs in the world for the search of microorganisms with different industrial applications.

The award ceremony took place in Kazakhstan, attended by the CEO of the company, Manuel Porcar, and Jordi Sebastiá, director of external relations of the Valencian Institute of Business Competitiveness (IVACE), which has accompanied and advised the company in all phases of this award.

This year, the QIA awards, in which the Association of Centers Promoting Excellence in Spain collaborates, among which is the Ivace, has celebrated its sixteenth edition with a total of 728 registered nominations, of which only 24 have been awarded worldwide being Darwin Bioprospecting, a spin-off of the University of Valencia (UV), the only representative of the Valencian Community.

Manuel Porcar, CEO of DARWIN, explains that "it is a recognition of a business model that in the case of this company consists of the development of new products for the industry based on microorganisms and in close collaboration with each of the clients". Beyond probiotics, microbial diversity offers endless possibilities: there are microorganisms capable of degrading plastic, producing biogas or decontaminating sulfate-rich water, among others.

For his part, the director of external relations of Ivace, Jordi Sebastià, expressed his satisfaction that the Valencian Community continues to be on the world map of innovation thanks to the efforts and work of leading companies such as Darwin Bioprospecting, while highlighting the commitment of Ivace and the Ministry of Sustainable Economy for innovation as a mechanism of growth.

The Ivace offers SMEs advice and support at all stages of the QIA Awards, both nationally and internationally, achieving a successful participation this year with 32 companies registered in the various categories.

 Pioneering technology and solutions a la carte

Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence is located at the UV Science Park and offers 'a la carte' microbial solutions. The company has a proprietary technology that allows it to cultivate the uncultivable and grow microorganisms in the laboratory that other companies are not able to cultivate.

This innovative technology has led the biotech company to win one of the three awards in the SME Business Innovation category of the QIA 2023 Awards. Manuel Porcar assures that "this recognition is an endorsement of a business model based on cutting-edge R&D".

Jordi Sebastià also recalled that DARWIN is one of the 50 companies that since 2018 have participated in the European business growth program ScaleUp, supported by the European Commission and awarded at international level, where it was awarded in the 2020 edition. This European program is coordinated by Ivace in collaboration with the SEIMED network and the European Business and Innovation Center (CEEI) of Valencia.

Spain, the country with the most award winners

The different participating innovations came from Botswana, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Rwanda, Russia, South Africa, Serbia, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden and Zimbabwe. Of all these, Spain was the country with the highest number of award-winning innovations in the QIA Awards 2023. The criteria used to evaluate the various entries were based on novelty value, usability, learning, customer orientation and effectiveness.