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 NPD education, practical  tools,  multidisciplinary expert support  and Science-Industry network. 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, spinoffs 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.