Holger Noack

Background

After quite theoretical PhD studies I was eager to work with something more practical. I started working at an incubator that was niched towards technical innovations that originated from academia. The basic idea was that technical innovations provide a safer investment case as they can be protected from competition through patents.

When I joined the incubator, it consisted of a handful early-stage portfolio companies. Over the years, the number of portfolio companies grew and some made enormous progress. Participating in the development of those companies and witnessing the setbacks, the adjustments, and strategic choices made, I understood that innovation processes rarely are linear.

Moreover, the most important take-away is that a dedicated and balanced team bears more significance for success than the technical invention itself. Most companies became commercially successful with a different product than what was initially envisioned.

In summary, I bring experience from working with close to 60 companies in different stages of development. I have also had my own consultancy with five employees for a couple of years, and I have been part of a European Centre of Excellence of mostly academic partners.

I hope to work with researchers from both natural and social sciences to make research findings accessible in the form of new products, services or processes.

Research

During my research years, I was interested in the bioorganic chemistry of enzymes. I used computational models to identify molecular features essential for a catalytic reaction to take place. Understanding this structure-reactivity relationship helps in the design of synthetic complexes that mimic enzymatic reactivity. Ultimately, the goal was to develop a greener chemistry that consumes less energy than traditional synthetic methods.