Serbia and "Ginkgo Bioworks": Joining Forces for a New Bioeconomic Center and Research & Development Accelerator

As part of this planned cooperation, "Ginkgo Bioworks" and the Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia will work on establishing a Startup Accelerator that will utilize the horizontal platform of "Ginkgo Bioworks" and their extensive expertise to support Serbian companies developing biological products. Within this Accelerator, startups will be able to leverage the services of this company for research and development (R&D) from start to finish, enabling faster progress on projects that would otherwise require significant resources and infrastructure.

All startups and larger companies will have the opportunity to benefit from the new BIO4 campus in Serbia, a key initiative that puts Serbia on the map of global scientific achievements as a new center for bioeconomy in Europe.

In addition, the Memorandum of Understanding signed between "Ginkgo Bioworks" and the Government of the Republic of Serbia will explore and develop partnerships to implement new biosecurity capacities in Serbia, including efforts to implement innovative pathogen monitoring programs at various strategic points.

Minister Dr. Jelena Begovic stated that this collaboration further strengthens the position of the BIO4 Campus as an attractive place for research and development in the European environment. "The presence of Ginkgo, one of the most advanced biological companies in the world, within the BIO4 ecosystem will bring benefits to other actors in this sector as well. The Government of the Republic of Serbia, recognizing the economic and health benefits of the ongoing biorevolution, strongly supports the vision of becoming a leader in Europe in this field. On this occasion, we warmly invite other companies that wish to accelerate their research and leverage the partnership between BIO4 and Ginkgo", she concluded.

"The activities at the BIO4 Campus and the dynamic ecosystem developing in Serbia represent an outstanding community with a common motivation to solve key challenges in health, society, and the environment through biology", said Austin Che, Co-founder and Head of Start-up Innovation at Ginkgo Bioworks.