Help for animal-free startups

Guide for Dutch animal-free startups

What is animal-free innovation and how do you do it? An English-language guide containing examples from over 26 companies shows how this works in practice. 
Read more in the TPI guide booklet: 26x better and faster without the use of animals (22 November 2019).

In the Dutch Life Science database, startups can include the term ‘animal free testing’ in their profile, allowing them to be found in searches using that phrase. In this way, they can be found more easily in the database, which is managed by HollandBIO and Health~Holland.

Animal-free Venture Challenge

Using digital 3D animals for anatomy lessons instead of actual animals: that was the winning submission for the first ever Animal-free Venture Challenge run by the Dutch Society for the Replacement of Animal Testing (Stichting Proefdiervrij). The winner of the second edition was a submission in which new medicines and treatments for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias could be discovered by studying human heart cells in a petri dish or test tube.

Through this challenge, the Dutch Society for the Replacement of Animal Testing aims to increase and accelerate the impact of animal-free research. The challenge comprises a programme lasting 10 to 12 weeks, in which an animal-free scientific breakthrough is converted into a business plan. Teams of researchers are given support to convert their ideas into a successful business.