drs. SGP (Sebastiaan) Berendse, CEMS MIM

Sebastiaan Berendse coordinates and develops WUR’s activities to generate impact and value added for society. Value creation is, in addition to research and education, the third core task of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and focuses on generating impact through application in practice.

He is responsible for startup policy (including StartLife & the student incubator StartHub), knowledge transfer & IP services, Sharing Research Facilities & Wageningen Campus development, the Science Shop, Wageningen Dialogues, Omnia acquisition and charity fund University Fund Wageningen. His passion is to have a personal impact on global challenges (e.g. circular, protein & energy transitions) by using his business administrative background (RSM Erasmus & Stockholm School of Economics).

Sebastiaan previously worked in consulting, research & education (Delft University of Technology) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (coordinator of the Innovation Attaché network). He has been working for more than 20 years in the field of business development, valorisation, innovation clusters, start-up and scale up support and international cooperation in R&D.

Research results only have an effect when they are applied within society. That is why Wageningen University & Research cooperates closely with companies, governments and civil society to ensure those results can provide added value. We realise this at the Wageningen Campus, where we work together in research projects, transfer knowledge, share our facilities, help start-ups in their initial development and design solutions tailored to global issues.

Due to his rol within WUR he is a boardmember of the foundation UFW-University Fund Wageningen, StartLife (foundation) and member of the IAC & Advisory Board of Shift Invest.

• st. UFW - UniversiteitsFonds Wageningen (15-3-2022/31-12-2099)
  Namens WUR. Stichting UFW ondersteunt WUR naar maatschappelijke impact, door het financieren en ondersteunen van talent en (translatie) projecten. Fondswerving van giften en schenkingen vindt plaats onder het netwerk van het UFW, onder alumni, maatschappelijke organisaties en vermogende particulieren.
• Shift Invest (1-1-2024/31-12-2099)
  Namens WUR lid van de Raad van Commissarissen fondsen Shift-1 en Shift 2. Tevens namens WUR, TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, UTwente en TNO voor Shift-3 fonds lid van de Advisory Board. Het is een venture capital fonds gericht op pre-seed, seed en Series-A bedrijfsinvesteringen in agri,food, health & greentech vroege fase startups. Het fonds is tevens partner in het nationale TTT-Circulaire Technologie spin off programma van 4TU+TNO.
• StartLife (1-7-2023/31-12-2099)
  Bestuurslid (voorzitter) stichting StartLife - namens WUR. Nationale & toonaangevende startup accelerator in agrifood, mede opgezet door WUR, MinEZK en OostNL.