SynBioBeta 2026 Speaker

Fran Antequera

ATG SynBio Spain

Founder & President

Fran Antequera is a bioeconomy strategist working across agrifood, biomaterials and climate innovation at the intersection of venture building and ecosystem development. He serves as Director of the AgriTech Hub at Misiรณn Andalucรญa (Government of Andalusia, Spain), is Founder & President of ATG SynBio Spain, and acts as Deal Flow Manager & Project Manager at Ivoro Ventures within the EIT Food Seedbed Venture Catalyst.His work focuses on accelerating the adoption of biosolutions by aligning scientific innovation with market validation, industry uptake and investment readiness. He supports startups in partnerships, internationalization and go-to-market strategy, while fostering collaboration between corporates, research institutions, policymakers and investors.Fran has contributed to international biotechnology strategy through engagements linked to NATO, collaboration with U.S. Navy biotech leadership, and participation in working groups within the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC), helping map key stakeholders and strengthen transatlantic dialogue in synthetic biology. He also serves as a Member of the External Expert Advisory Board (EEAB) for Agro4Agri, an EU-funded consortium advancing next-generation bio-based solutions for sustainable agriculture.At SynBioBeta, Fran brings a systems-level perspective on how bio-based innovation can move from promising science to scalable impact โ€” by addressing incentive structures, stakeholder alignment and the practical conditions required for real-world deployment across climate, materials and agrifood systems.

Blue watercolor illustration of a folded protein structure
Blue watercolor illustration of a folded protein structure
Blue watercolor splatter with lime dots
Blue watercolor splatter
var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Reagan

Jarvis

Anocca AB

CEO, Co-founder

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Alex

Rives

CZI Biohub

Head of Science

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Karenโ€ฏ

Akinsanya

Schrodinger

President, R&D โ€“ Therapeutics

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Christopher

Arendt

Takeda

CSO, Head of Research

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Stef

van Grieken

Cradle

CEO

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Michael

Koeris

DARPA

Director, BTO

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Jennifer

Dionne

Pumpkinseed

CEO

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Daniyal

Hussain

GSK

Exec. Dir., Tech BD

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Cynthia

Hong

Novartis

Dir., Search & Evaluation

var(--variable-xyeEn_rYM)

Sarah Lynn

Tao

CSL Behring

Sr. Dir., S&E; Ig TA & Tech Lead

Blue watercolor illustration of a folded protein structure
Blue watercolor illustration of a folded protein structure
Blue watercolor illustration of a folded protein structure
Blue watercolor illustration of a folded protein structure
Blue watercolor illustration of a folded protein structure

SynBioBeta 2027 May 3-6, San Jose, California