National Biodiversity Future Center invests in Bio4Dreams incubator

The National Biodiversity Future Center (Nbfc), Italy’s first national research and innovation hub dedicated to biodiversity, acquired a minority share in the life‑sciences incubator Bio4Dreams through a reserved capital increase formalised on 23 April 2026. This marks the first time a centre created under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) has taken direct equity in a private company.

Nbfc’s investment is part of Mission 4 of the PNRR, which funds the transition from research to enterprise, using resources from the Ministry of University and Research and the EU’s NextGenerationEU programme. Bio4Dreams, based in Palermo and active since 2018, supports the full pipeline from scientific discovery to market – scouting, due‑diligence, company formation, pre‑seed and seed funding, incubation, acceleration and capital raising. To date it has evaluated over 2,600 projects, selected more than 145, incubated 59 startups and taken stakes in 21 of them.

Through the partnership, Nbfc will provide its scientific expertise, data, technologies and infrastructure on biodiversity, sustainability and the One Health approach, aiming to turn research outcomes into new enterprises that protect Mediterranean terrestrial, marine and urban ecosystems.