Bioketen and Beeing Company: beekeeping innovation for the world from Chile
The companies Bioketen and Beeing Company are revolutionizing the apiculture sector with advanced technology for honey certification and bee genetics.
In Avonni 2024, the companies Bioketen and Beeing Company were awarded in their respective categories, setting a precedent in the Los Ríos Region. This is due to the support provided by the regional Corfo to both.
Bioketen was the winner in the Volcanes ISA category, thanks to the development of Honnig Plus, an advanced real-time PCR kit to identify and certify the botanical origin of honeys.
The kit is not only quick and specific, but it also significantly reduces analysis costs, making it more accessible to local beekeepers. With this tool, producers in the Region of Los Rios, Chile, will be able to certify the quality of their products affordably, which will open better commercial opportunities both in the national and international market.
Patricio Olavarría, CEO and Co-founder of Bioketen, commented on the award, highlighting that the goal is to bring biotechnology closer to different productive sectors. "Without a doubt, this award allows us to show what we do and that there is technology that can enhance competitiveness," Olavarría pointed out.
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On the other hand, also emerged as the winner of the category, Climate Action and Biodiversity Arauco, the Beeing Company, a scientific-technological startup specializing in genetic services for apiculture, which through advanced analysis, detect the breed of bees, their level of Africanization and their ancestral origin.
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With extensive experience in genetics and cutting-edge technology, Beeing Company provides crucial information to beekeepers to improve bee breeding and selection, thereby optimizing honey production and the health of the colonies.
The National Avonni Innovation Award is organized by the ForoInnovación Foundation; the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, El Mercurio and TVN. It is the most important honorary recognition in Chile and seeks to highlight the success stories that are creating value through innovation in various sectors and categories.
Public Support
Both technologies open new opportunities for local beekeepers, and with the support of Fomento Los Rios, through financing lines such as Semilla Inicia and Innova Región, have allowed, for example, Bioketen to perform laboratory tests to optimize and validate the functionality of the kit, and to implement large-scale tests on honey samples, identifying and quantifying native species such as ulmo, tineo and myrtle, as well as non-native ones such as Chilean alfalfa and rapeseed.
In this regard, the CEO of Bioketen stated, "The support from Fomento Los Ríos has been crucial. We had two projects which, starting from an idea, allowed us to begin this, and without these funds, it would not have been possible. We started with a kit project to determine the botanical origin of ulmo honey and then another which allowed us to move forward with another five floral species."
Pablo Díaz Barraza, director of Fomento Los Ríos, highlighted the relevance of these type of projects for the region, "the case of Bioketen is a clear example of the innovation potential of our local businesses. With the support of Fomento Los Ríos, we seek to strengthen the ecosystem of ventures based on bio-science and technology, allowing our companies to not only improve their products, but also tap into new markets".
He added that, "This advancement not only enhances the quality of the regional apicultural product, but also allows producers to distinguish their honeys in the market, backed by a scientific certification of their botanical origin. We once again congratulate the team behind this innovative product on this important AVONNI 2024 award".
The company also has the support of the StartUp Science program, from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, a fund that seeks to promote the growth and strengthening of science and technology-based companies (EBCT) in Chile and in the early stage, through co-financing and technical support in the process of technological development and innovation, in the technical and business validation of new products or services, and with which the company deepened the studies and scope of the kit, today determining fourteen species and with a short-term goal of reaching thirty.
Likewise, Maite Castro, Seremi of Science, Innovation and Knowledge added, "from MinCiencia, we congratulate the team at Bioketen Innovation, whose work has seen great success this year. A few weeks ago they won first place in the Agrifood Tech category of the Transforma Alimentos 2024 competition.
"Now, they receive one of the regional recognitions from the prestigious Avonni Innovation Award 2024. This undoubtedly demonstrates that things are being done right and that high-quality applied science can be done from southern Chile. We feel proud to have contributed to their success through such an effective instrument as the StartUp Ciencia competition, which they won in 2022, and which was very relevant in the development of their project," added Castro.
It should be noted that today they are working on a marketing and dissemination plan to consolidate Bioketen as a pioneer in scientific technology applied to beekeeping with its real-time PCR kit.