ClearGate is an Innovation Translation Ecosystem for Startups, Academia and Industry

Bridging the gap from Science to Impact!

Bio-Innovation Translation Network

Brings together and help match research groups and startups with industrial partners to accelerate the journey from discovery to implementation.

NPD Academy

New Product Development Fundamentals education, workshops and training for applied research teams and enterprenuers

ClearGate NPD System

Hybrid New Product Development frameworks tailored for startups and academic research teams. System supported by AI tools to facilitate translational innovation

Experts Platform

Connecting innovators with verified multidisciplinary experts who speak language of science and industry to support the journey from idea to market.

ClearGate is an innovation translation ecosystem dedicated to bridging science, industry, startups, and investors. Our mission is to help transform ideas, discoveries, and technologies into products, businesses, and real-world impact. At its core, ClearGate introduces New Product Development (NPD) as a shared language of innovation, helping diverse stakeholders collaborate more effectively and navigate the journey from idea to market.

The “Valley of Death” in Research Translation

Europe has a strong scientific and research base, but many promising innovations still fail to reach the market.

Despite support from incubators, technology transfer offices, spinouts, and innovation programs, a major gap remains between research and commercialization. This stage, often called the “Valley of Death,” occurs when public funding decreases before enough private investment becomes available.

Many innovations struggle at this point because their real-world application, scalability, and market value have not yet been clearly demonstrated. As a result, development risk remains high, limiting industrial engagement, investment, and successful commercialization.

Figure: The “Valley of death” in innovation observed in bio-based product developments (adapted from Chirazi et al., 2019, Linton and Xu, 2021)

New “Post-Hype Era” for Startup and Spinoff Innovation

We are entering a new “post-hype” era of innovation, where startups face growing pressure to demonstrate real market value, scalability, and commercial viability. Following years of intense investment activity, investors are becoming more cautious and increasingly focused on evidence-based, customer-centric innovation with clear implementation potential.

In bio-based innovation domian many startups have struggled to translate promising concepts into sustainable businesses, highlighting the need for stronger validation, better product-market fit, and more practical commercialization strategies.

Our mission is to help innovators transform scientific ideas into real-world impact.

Excellent science and promising ideas alone are often not enough to achieve successful commercialization and real-world impact.

Bridging the gap between research and implementation requires better translational thinking, stronger industry collaboration, and more practical innovation development approaches.

The ClearGate Innovation Translation Ecosystem was created to support this journey through network, practical education, the tailored ClearGate NPD System with AI-assisted guidance, and multidisciplinary expert collaboration. Its goal is to help researchers, startups, and innovation teams reduce development risk, improve industry engagement, and accelerate the transition from scientific discovery to real-world application.

About Founder

Dr. Aleksandra Szopinska has travelled across three worlds —academia, corporate industry and startups She began her career at the University of Wroclaw, then the Belgian UCL, and the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology before joining the Associated British Foods Group, where she led new product developments and also shaped and tailored NPD practices to enhance their effectiveness. She currently supports startups, spino-ffs and research teams in their journey from idea to market.

Through her experience, she has closely observed the gap between scientific innovation and successful commercialization. Addressing this gap has become her mission.

The author believes that one of the missing pieces in solving the translation gap is the implementation of a common language — the language of New Product Development (NPD) — enabling scientists, innovators, and industry stakeholders to collaborate more effectively and transform innovation into market success. Through her work, she advocates for innovators in the bio-based products sector to become equal partners alongside industry, strengthening joined forces in the journey from ideas to products that benefit both people and the planet.

What our members say?

"NPD Frameworks remind us that innovation needs discipline. Discipline gives bold ideas the chance to survive contact with reality."

Kiran Singh RajputFounder of Vegalaya