Background

In so called knowledge companies the value of the intellectual capital (human capital=competence, creativity and engagement) is normally 5-15 times higher than the financial capital. In spite of this it does not show up the the balance sheet, which is of course also true both for the structural capital (organization, contact  network, library, computer programs and data-bases etc.) as well as for the goodwill capital which the company has managed to create (benchmarking, track-record, confidence, logotype and other types of intellectual property rights). However, in Ekvitec’s case special emphasis must be given to to the innovation capital since this reflects a long search for priority targets in the Biorefinery domain.

Ekvitec’s business idea

Ekvitec’s goal is to create added value that can be transformed into business initiatives which can create company profiles with a capacity to attract "the best and the brightest". This can be formulated in a number of subgoals:

TO  judge various investment strategies - particularly those falling within the framwork of "ethical  investments" -  in a perspective of technology assesment and social impact analysis,

TO  transform investment strategies into specific risk capital objects which can be expected to have great penetration capacity in new emerging markets,

TO  concentrate  attention on "hypertech"-objects  in this selection process, i.e. on socially relevant inventions that emerge at the interphase between synergistic "high-tech" areas, such as biotechnology/IT,

TO  stimulate the establishment of expert groups charged with applying for grants aimed both at long-range development work and at technology transfer efforts,

TO  make agreements, sign declarations of intent and elaborate technology descriptions in order to prepare selected objects for presentation to a suitable group of investors and entrepreneurs,

TO  seek partners, first in the Biofocus Foundation’s (BF’s) group of Corporate Affiliates, who are prepared to financially support the development of particular objects, and in so doing

TO  honor  the ethical rules which the Biofocus Foundation has established for Ekvitec’s operations,

TO  cooperate  with the Biofocus Foundation and other otganizations  in performing studies and carrying out courses aimed at upgrading the innovation climate and technology transfer capacity of companies.

Ekvitec’s  long-term  strategy

Ekvitec is trying to reflect the interests in business ethics of the Biofocus Foundation by applying market economy instruments to a few carefully selected inventions. They are regarded as capable of spawning activities that both have a clear profit-making potential and a good ability to illustrate a process which gives substance to the concept "growth with fairness".

The industrialized world’s consumption society is firmly attached to a heavy and more and more rapidly revolving fly-wheel, which consists of cheap energy and large investments both in capital and in traditional structures i.a. for health care and education. However, the strength of a flywheel depends on its speed, so many companies now show some enlightened self-interest when they realize that many equilibrium technologies, which poor  countries need to-day, must also be learnt by the rich world in the course of the next half-century.

The Biofocus Foundation’s  technology assesment efforts early selected the Biorefinery as its priority target area for the selection of equilibrium technologies.  Eventually two focal points were selected in view of their catalytic potential: "Physico-chemical Separation Methods for Biological Materials" and "The Climate Shell Concept". Both projects have now reached the exploitation phase when Ekvitec takes over.

Aid-related activities

The experiences which have been gained by the chairman of Ekvitec’s Board (Carl- Göran Hedén), through four decades of research and development in biotechnology,  have not only produced a very large expert network. They have also triggered many aid-related observations, where particularly two ideas have generated many lively discussions with various UN-bodies (UNESCO, UNU, WB etc.): "The Loaded Dice  Principle" and the "Develease"-concept. Both  are highly relevant for the two projects mentioned, but their character explains why they are now attracting attention in wider fields.

"The  Loaded Dice" Principle

One such field is genomics, and particularly then the genetic mapping of human populations (icelanders, faerislanders etc.), which is needed to  inspire the design of new drugs. To prevent the costs for new lifesaving medicines from being driven outside the reach of poor countries, social innovations might thus have to be considered.

One example of such an innovation is BF:s "Loaded Dice Principle". It means that, when an inventor or entrepreneur wishes BF/Ekvitec to undertake special support efforts (advice, risk capital support etc.) those efforts presuppose that the person involved committs himself to couple the size of the license-fees which he demands, to the BNP/capita (or UNDP:s HDI) in the country, where he has an intellectual property protection. Ekvitec is obviously very satisfied if an inventor becomes a millionaire in his home country, but it also regards the loaded dice principle as a painless way to further an essential development process in poor countries.

The "Develease"®-principle

Another experience, which has been gained from aid-oriented activities during the last couple of decades, is based on the fate of expensive equipment, with associated expensive training, when the aid lands in an area with a weak infrastructure. After a few years it is then too often found that the equiment is abandoned, because the specially trained operator has moved to a better paid job than his original occupation. Or perhaps a superior manager decides that a protegé should take over the project. In both cases the result is often that the investment was wasted or even negative, in the sense that it leaves behind a destructive feeling of inadequacy.

In order to prevent such a result BF coined a concept, which for mnemotechnic reasons was called "Develease"   (="Development  with Ease" or "Development  by Leasing". This means that the ownership remains with Ekvitec for 3-5 years, after which it is transferred to the operator or to the university where he works. In the course of the leasing period a fee is charged and added to a local operating fund (which is superwised by Ekvitec) - or the utilization of the equipment becomes subject to the rules of a jointly agreed R&D-program. The progress of this is quarterly reported to Ekvitec.

Whenever biotechnical processes are involved, irrespectively if it concerns the production of fermented foods or beverages, veterinary vaccines, biological  nitrogen fixers or bioinsecticides, it is essential to require good quality standards. In the Develease-concept this is ensured through a franchising contract. This is signed when the entrepreneur has gone through a solid quality control training program and has agreed 1/ to follow a strict manufacturing routine established by the technology provider, and 2/ to permit random tests by BF or its appointed examiners. This then gives him the right to use BF as a seal of excellence as for instance done in McDonald’s hamburger industry.